Tuesday Things.
1. I don’t listen to the radio much, but whyyyy must they start playing Christmas music on November 1st only to stop it on December 26?! Can’t they wait until New Years Eve or something?
2. Can’t even get over these adorable peppermint bark cookies. Adding them to my list!
3. Eddie can eat the same food over and over again and for weeks he has been getting these mini donuts as his Saturday night dessert. I’m pretty sure I am now ruined on donuts as I don’t even want to touch them anymore. Whyyyyy.
4. What did you guys think of The Affair?! Oh my gosh – best episode yet this season. Freaking Pacey. Also! I just realized that Nashville will be starting up on CMT in a few weeks. I wonder if it will be as good?
5. I desperately need this unicorn hot chocolate in my life.
6. Christmas falling on the weekend is so depressing, while we’re on the topic of first world problems. I wish it could always fall on a Wednesday. So much time off! I mean, since it’s normal that I still think of my time in school year breaks.
7. I’ve been thinking about something else lately: with all of our technology and kids getting phones at the age of, like, seven, do they google about Santa?
8. Do I really need an instant pot? Tell me the secrets. Because I have no more kitchen space. But they are such a THING right now.
9. Are you already thinking of 2017? Do you make lists of goals? I’m in between wanting to plan for it but wanting to enjoy these last weeks of 2016. I’m going back and forth between making mini plans and immersing myself in the end of 2016.
10. I’m filming a Q+A video, so leave your questions below!
39 Comments on “Tuesday Things.”
I think you need an Instant Pot! I love mine and it saves so much time. Plus in my opinion it makes the best rice! It also makes super quick mashed potatoes, chicken stock, and obviously all the meats you’d normally have to slow cook. When we got ours we got rid of our rice cooker and one of our two crockpots, which helped with space.
Which model do you have? I just saw they have bluetooth on the fancy one so you can program it from your iPad. I’m not that cool.
I have two goals for 2017!
I really want to learn a cool party trick. Not one I can learn in one day, something I really have to work at that’s really impressive. Right now I’m leaning toward solving a Rubik’s cube (but then I have to fit a Rubik’s cube into my ‘going-out’ clutch…)
I also want to try to join Mensa. Or fail at getting in. Whatever. I want to be smart.
You need to learn that opening a champagne bottle with a big ol’ knife trick.
Haha, #8…I feel the same way! I have about every appliance…do I need another? ….yes :P
I refuse to get an instant pot as long as I’m living with a tiny apartment kitchen, I literally have zero space for it. As far as Christmas falling on a weekend, I am so with you, just annoying.
No way! It is great that it falls on a weekend! Totally makes the weekend a long one since we have off Monday… Do you know how much is stinks to go to work on the 26th?! hah
I love the fact that Christmas is on a weekend! That means I can take less vacation time out of my paycheck and still enjoy the holiday.
And I need all the vacation time I can bank since I’m going on maternity leave in April! That’s the most exciting thing going on in my 2017. :-)
Have a great holiday Jessica!
Ugh I’m struggling with the same debate. Do I REALLY need something to cook things faster>? I really do love that slow cookers slow it down and I can leave and not think about something for hours….
Love my Instant Pot! So easy to use. I made Minestrone soup in it the other day, fried the hamburger in it and everything. I still use my crock pot for some things, but still think the Instant Pot is worth having!
Christmas falling on the weekend, so lame! Not everyone gets a bunch of time off during the holidays (I work in the food industry) so it definitely can be a bummer!
I’ve done ZERO goal setting/planning for 2017. And frankly, it’s been great. I used to devote a lot of time to this, and what I learned from last year, is it’s easier to set a handful of specific habits. This last year my biggest habit was saying no as much as possible – even to things I really wanted to do, or normally would do with a goal of having several “empty” weekends during the year. It’s been great.
On the topic of peppermint bark cookies, last weekend I made the Epicurious Chocolate Candy Cane sandwich cookies (peppermint buttercream is the BEST) and I used chopped TJ’s peppermint bark in place of the crushed candy canes. I HIGHLY recommend it! I also made them “open faced” sandwich cookies rather than sandwiches to avoid squishing said buttercream all over my shirt when I bit into them.
I think if you have a slow cooker you can brown things in you might not need the Instant Pot. Buuut I do think it’s much more versatile than a slow cooker so I gave my crockpot to a college student! I love how chicken turns out in the IP because I think the slow cooker makes it dry, and it speeds ion brown rice, etc. I did feel kind of tricked by claims like “steel cut oats in 3 minutes” – lie, because that doesn’t count the time it takes to come to pressure. So it’s not really AS fast as they make it sound, but I still really like it!
THE AFFAIR OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. dyyyying. you are the only person in my life (sad? creepy?? idk?! idc?!!) who watches the affair & i’ve been dying to see what your thoughts were. best episode this season by far. what do you think it means?? who do you think stabbed noah now?? i have a theory, but i really hope i’m not right.
also, on the instant pot front, i caved & bought one on black friday since my crock pot has been on the fritz lately. still haven’t used it yet & need some inspo. kind of counter-intuitive since it’s supposed to be able to do everything, but i’ll keep ya posted. :)
I love my Instapot so much I gifted one to my Mom and sister and then my other sister bought one. Between that and my Vitamix I don’t need to use much else but I think just the ease of use for cooking things fast is amazing. I steam eggs in it to make soft boiled eggs, make stock, chili/stews, even steamed beets in it last night for salads. It saves so much time!
My boyfriend is an elementary teacher and he said one of his students asked Siri if Santa was real! Now she has to keep the secret for other students. She tells them to “go ask a scientist” or “go to the North Pole to find out for yourself.” Girl knows how to keep a secret, haha.
Side note: I tried asking Siri if Santa was real and she wouldn’t tell me…
I am also debating the instant pot. My friends have been making such delicious dinner in theirs but I just feel like if I get any more kitchen stuff its going to end up spilling over into other rooms of the house!
Kari
http://sweetteasweetie.com/
Nobody NEEDS an Instant Pot but boy oh boy is a great tool to have. I use it more and more every month and haven’t had any failures yet. I really dig it. I get what you say about the Christmas music. When I was a child they never played it 24/7 before the holiday but interspersed the music with the regular playlist. It was always so exciting to catch a holiday song on the radio while driving with mom and dad.
I’m SUPER excited that Christmas is on the weekend, because otherwise I normally work Christmas Eve day for a half day and then hustle the day after Christmas (I manage a Credit Union. We don’t close except On The Holiday) unless I use vacation days. This is the first year in years I don’t have to scramble from work immediately to Christmas Eve dinner.
YAY!
Loving the Affair! And? Also super curious about the Instant Pots…
yes to setting a thousand goals/resolutions for 2017 ! my 2016 has been truly awful in many ways (dont cry for me to bad nobody died). so i am determined to have 2017 be better ! and what else could make it better other than endless lists of things to do and not do. LOL
I don’t tend to do resolutions or anything but I just made a 2017 reading list!! We just moved about 5 minutes from the library so I’ve gotten back into reading tons! My goal is 24 books for the year which is pretty conservative for me but I’m hoping we will add a baby to our family this year too!Â
I ordered myself an Instant Pot on Black Friday so I need you to get one so you can tell me how to use it! ? I’m still terrified I will blow my house up. My grandma talked me into it and she loves hers.Â
My question would be, how do you incorporate more vegetables into your meals when you don’t feel like eating salad all the time, such as currently when it’s freezing outside.
Also, my coworker and I were just talking about the santa thing. I asked my galaxy phone and she said, “He is if you believe in him.”
You need an Instant Pot but also a healthy dose of reality. It isn’t the be-all, end-all appliance that people like to say it is. What is perfect about it in my experience is one, it does not get hot on the outside so does not heat up your kitchen in the summer, and two, since no steam escapes it does not stink up the house like a slow cooker does. Especially great when cooking bone broth or stock or hard boiling eggs, which it excels at. There is no better, easier way to cook a big pot of organic brown rice. Period. It is perfect every time. I bought a second one to use in the motor home as well. Wonderful thing.
Regarding kids googling Santa – yes, yes they do that. That’s how my kids found out last year :( I was SO sad and bummed!! But then I do always tell them that they can’t believe everything they read on the internet, so just because they read somewhere that Santa isn’t real, doesn’t mean it is true.
I don’t have the instant pot but I have an electric pressure cook  that is very similar. I love it. I make this amazing mexican beef in it (from nom nom paleo.) I love my crock pot but the instant pot can make awesome stock in 90 minutes, cook a whole spaghetti squash in like 3 minutes, etc. THEre is a place in our kitchen for both.
Man I’m so right there with you on the InstaPot and goals. I want both but do I neeed both now?
I started making vague running goals for next year and before I knew it, I’ve got a whole year’s worth of races lined up, haha! Now I’ve started to think about personal goals since I clearly got fitness ones lined up. Curious about instapots but i’m with you, no more space!
Ooh! I can’t wait to watch The Affair now! I haven’t seen this week’s episode yet. I loved last week’s, so if this one is even better, I’m PUMPED!
Whenever I see recipes that are for the instant pot, I look for the crock pot adaptation. I figure if I’m happy with what the crock pot does, I probably don’t need another appliance, right?
Number 7 just blew my mind, and then got me all depressed! Heck!
I dont have an “instant pot” but i do have a pressure cooker which is exactly the same thing and i LOVE IT. I got it this summer after I saw my friend make the best mac and cheese EVER in it in like 15 minutes. Its also awesome for nights when you have no idea what to make for dinner OR forgot to take something out of the freezer. Toss whatever you want in and BOOM dinner in under 20 minutes. Its awesome. I love a slow cooker for the way the house smells but this is like the most convenient thing EVER.
Also a quick add, I for sure am convinced I’m going to blow up my kitchen every time I use it. Just wanted to tip you off on that. Its scary.
So I am not the only one who has this fear?
I bought my instant pot this past summer when it was on sale, I really LOVE it.
Nom Nom Paleo has some great receipes.
The Affair this week was SO GOOD! Really, lately, as long as the episode doesn’t have Helen in it, I’m happy. Gimme all the Pacey! And I’m sick of Juliette. I can’t watch it Sunday nights tho – creepy guard gives me nightmares so I watch it during daylight hours, like a proper 33 year old traumatized by creepy scenes, child.
Instant pot/pressure cooker, my Dad has one and ADORES it. Makes great meat (ham especially) and chili (tips are to fry the meat separately to cut down on grease, and drain the tomatoes or you get too much liquid). Personally, I just have pots, pans, and a coffee maker. Really hate extra kitchen things.
My seven year old wanted to Google if the Tooth Fairy was real, so I decided to tell her the truth instead of letting her find out whatever was on the internet. Then she asked about Santa and the Easter Bunny so now it’s all over. Freaking Google!
I have the Instant Pot and I love it. I would want you to have it too for a very selfish reason that i can then use your recipes :)
Selfishly, I hope you get an Instant Pot so that I can have some new recipe inspiration! Tonight we tried to make black bean soup with smoked turkey and…it was our first failed dinner in two years of making dinner almost every night! I know it has to happen, but MAN. Come on! So, yes, please please get an IP! Also, if you do, you can make 30 minute cheesy, delicious mac n cheese (on Dad Cooks Dinner blog). YUM!
Based on that donut picture, I want to say your donut game is out of this world….but considering you said you don’t want to touch them, I feel that I need to offer to eat them all. Never mind that they’re Eddie’s!