A Southern Girl

I’m In Love With My Instant Pot…

Recipes • Reviews

Do you hear that? That would be the sounds of angels singing. I’m not talking about just a couple of angel’s singing either.. I’m talking a whole choir! I have finally discovered the Instant Pot! Where have I been this whole time? If you aren’t familiar with what the Instant Pot is, then let me tell you… this ain’t your Mama’s pressure cooker. This electric pressure cooker is so much more than a presser cooker, but more about that later. The Instant Pot has changed how I think about meal times. More often than not, I dread dinnertime… like really dread it. I have been in a dinnertime rut and this is just what I needed. Also, the time I have saved in the kitchen has made it worth every single penny. I swear, I am not a paid spokesperson or receiving anything in return for my recommendation. I got mine on sale when Amazon dropped the price to $68 for Black Friday. Knowing what I know now, I would have GLADLY paid full price for it. Since I have had it, the only days I haven’t used it is when we’ve gone out for dinner.

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Ok, so back to how versatile the Instant Pot is. Any time I thought about pressure cookers, I always thought of the typical things they are used for, like roasts, stews, etc. I had no idea how far pressure cookers have come. Did you know that you can make a cheesecake in a pressure cooker??? I didn’t. Rice? No problem. Do you like to sear your cuts of meat before cooking them? Yes, please. What about making your own yogurt? Sure! With the rice, saute, and yogurt features it’s a breeze! I’m all about making delicious meals while only using one pot. It’s the second best thing to enjoying delicious meals that I had zero hand in preparing. 😉
You can also use the Instant Pot as a slow cooker. Plus, almost any slow cooker recipe can be converted into a pressure cooker recipe. Most are easy peasy to do. Some of the things that I have made so far: Mississippi Roast in 1.5 hours (super delish and tender), a whole chicken in 30 minutes (literally fall off the bone good), 3.5 lbs of pulled pork in 1 hour (soooo good and tender). I seriously look forward to finding new things to cook in this pressure cooker!
Like I said, I have used it every single day since I’ve had is, aside from the days we have gone out for dinner. I think so far what has impressed me the most is the fact that I took frozen, boneless chicken breasts from the freezer and I had them cooked, shredded, and bbq chicken sliders assembled in less than 30 minutes. I cannot tell you how many times I have forgotten to set down something to thaw from the freezer. This is definitely a game changer!
Word has it that hard boiled eggs are super easy to peel after doing them in the Instant Pot. That may be my next venture.  Another favorite I hear a lot is how quickly you can bake potatoes and sweet potatoes. Honestly, the list is endless.
I had toyed with the idea of getting a pressure cooker for a few years, but honestly, they always seemed super intimidating. I’ve heard the horror stories and fear kept me from trying one. Man, I wish I hadn’t been such a chicken! The safety features on the Instant Pot are top of the line.  I hate to say it’s fool proof, but after using it, I’m honestly not the least bit worried of any accidents.
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Soon, I will be posting my favorite accessories and recipes that I have tried so far. If you already have an Instant Pot, please post a comment with your favorite way of using yours! I’m still very much a newbie, and love hearing of all the ways to use this mean machine. 😉
**There are affiliate links within this post. I do get a tiny percentage of any item sold by clicking on the links provided. It is no additional cost to you to purchase this way. I only recommend products I use myself and that I would recommend to my own family. I am in no way affiliated with or receive any compensation from Instant Pot. I just love it, and have been shouting it from the rooftops. 😉

Erin Condren Life Planners 40% off…

Just For Fun • Planner Love • Random Ramblings • Reviews

If you’ve ever wanted to try an Erin Condren Life Planner, now is the time. All planners are 40% off and there’s plenty of year left to get some use out of them. They are clearing their stock to make room for the new planners coming out in June.  If you’ve been following my blog, then you know how much I love mine. 🙂 Plus, if you use this link HERE you can save an extra $10 off your first order. Just click the link and sign up for an account and then they will email you a coupon code. Just make sure you use it within 30 days. Enjoy!

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Here are the links to my previous posts about this awesome planner. 

PATIENCE IS NOT ONE OF MY VIRTUES

REVIEW OF ERIN CONDREN LIFE PLANNER

Erin Condren Life Planner vs. The KIT Planner

Crafts • Planner Love • Random Ramblings • Reviews

Here it is.. I finally recorded my first official YouTube video, so please don’t be too harsh since I’m a newbie at this. (I’ll get better, I promise 😉 )

I tried a different planner for a couple of weeks.. yep, I only made it a couple of weeks… maybe not even that long before going back to my Erin Condren Life Planner aka ELCP. I’ll never stray again.. watch the video and you’ll see why. I’ll be doing a more in depth review of the ELCP at a later date… once I recover from the anxiety of doing this one. 😉

If you are interested in an Erin Condren Life Planner, you can save $10 off your first order by using this link and signing up for an account. CODE FOR $10 OFF After that, you’ll be sent a link with the coupon code. The code is only good for 30 days, I believe.. so don’t create your account until you are ready to order. If you don’t see the email, be sure to check your junk folder.

If you would like to purchase a KIT Planner,  visit their ETSY STORE. 

If you shop at Target.. this app is a MUST!

Random Ramblings • Reviews

So let me tell you about my new favorite app.

Cartwheel

 

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How have I not known about this before now??? I can’t believe all of the savings I have been missing out on. It’s no secret that I hate, loathe, DESPISE, Walmart and everything they stand for. Some will argue that Target isn’t that much better, but I beg to differ. Just walking through the doors at Walmart causes my blood pressure to rise and I break out in a cold sweat. It’s not pretty. At all. So we broke up.. it wasn’t me.. it was them.. I haven’t stepped foot in a Walmart in over a year and it feels wonderful. I highly recommend it.

Anyway, I am a devoted Target shopper. The nearest one is about 30 minutes from my house and the nearest Walmart is about 5. I will happily drive the extra 25 minutes. 

If you shop at Target and you don’t have this app then you need to stop what you are doing right now and get it. Get it now! It is so cool.

You can browse hundreds of deals or just scan the barcode on things in your cart to see if there are extra savings on those items. When you find a deal, just add it to your personalized barcode and they scan it at checkout. It’s that easy. You can add up to 10 items each time you shop. Woo Hoo!

I saved $4.69 on my first shopping trip. 

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Here’s a link that explains more.. check it out HERE.

 

** I’m not compensated by Target at all! I’m just passing this info along.

Here….. take my money. $$$

Reviews

I’m a sucker for anything that promises to make me look better. Eye creams, wrinkle creams, ‘use this so you don’t get a wrinkle’ creams. I seriously bought stickers that you stick to your forehead to ‘iron’ out wrinkles while you sleep and keep the frown lines at bay.

frowniesThat’s all well and good if you don’t mind trying to sleep with cardboard on your face, and even risking the occasional paper cut. That’s basically all they are.. thick paper with sticky stuff on the back. Maybe I didn’t give them a fair shot, so I couldn’t bring myself to throw them away. I may try them again later out of desperation.

In my milling around on the interweb I came across Ipsy. What is Ipsy you say.. well, Ipsy is a monthly membership for beauty products to try before you buy. Well, I guess you are ‘technically’ buying them already since the membership isn’t free, but anyway… each month they send you several beauty products to try for the bargain price of $10 a month. You fill out a little questionnaire about your beauty style and hair color/skin tone/etc. and they send you products according to your answers.

My first bag was in July and I got some bronzer, a lip crayon, some eye shadow, some beach spray for hair, and a couple of other things.  That’s another thing, all of your products come it a cutesy makeup bag. The jury is still out on if it will be worth $10 each month or not.. but that’s the beauty (see what I did there 😉 ) of Ipsy… you can do a month to month membership and cancel at any time. If you want to check them out and maybe try it for yourself here’s the link to their site. IPSY

 

Patience is NOT one my virtues…

Planner Love • Random Ramblings • Reviews

Shopping for school supplies was always my favorite part of going back to school… I had to have cool pens, folders, binders, notebooks, etc. To this day, office supplies and stationary still make me smile. Nerdy, I know. The thing is, I have since realized I’m far from alone in my obsession.

Which brings me to what I’m afraid will be a new addiction of mine… Erin Condren Life Planners.  I bit the bullet and ordered one a little over a week ago after watching a ton of YouTube videos of people who swear by them.  I’ve always been a sucker for buying planners, only to have them sit and collect dust after a couple of weeks. I buy them with the best of intentions and never use them because they are not what I expected them to be or they are more of a hassle than they’re worth. Not to mention, I always got the kind that I had to write in all the dates myself. Who wants to do that? Not me.  Oh, but this is where Erin Condren heard my silent pleas (not really) for the perfect planner to help me get organized. I know, most people would say… “Just use your calendar on your iPhone. Duh.”  I tried that but I’m the kind of person that needs to physically write stuff down.. I will grab a random piece of paper and write something down that I’m suppose to remember, only to lose the piece of paper. I needed an intervention. These planners seriously look amaze balls. They have a ton of covers to choose from, and once you choose a design.. you can customize it. You can change the colors, add your name, a favorite quote.. really the possibilities are endless.

Here’s where the ‘patience is not one of my virtues’ comes in.  Each planner is hand assembled, so it takes roughly 3 weeks to a month before you receive it considering thousands of women everywhere are ordering these suckers.  Watch this video below of Erin herself walking you through her Life Planners.  If you decide you can’t live without one and want to place an order for your very own, just use my link and you can save $10 off your first order. Once you create an account at ErinCondren.com you will receive an email with your coupon code. You must use the link HERE to sign up and qualify for the $10 off code.

 

**UPDATE**

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It has arrived and I’m in love. You need this in your life.. I promise.