Recipe ~ Cheater Instant Pot Spaghetti

As always, if you just want the recipe, without the story behind it, click here.

My regular, Instant Pot Spaghetti recipe is definitely WAY better than this, but we all know that sometimes, we just need something really fast and easy, and this spaghetti hits all the comfort food buttons in short order along with the quick and easy ones. 

 I, again, borrowed from the bare bones IP spaghetti recipe I found online elsewhere for this, but it is still more involved than that one. 

You can just omit the  majority of the ingredients, other than the pasta, sauce, and water, and it will basically be that other recipe, and will be a passable quick meal, but so would just having a pack of ramen with a few spare condiment packs stirred in. 

 

The added ingredients only add an extra 5-10 minutes, and make SUCH a difference in the final product, that I feel like it's worth it every time. 

 

Also, like most on this site, this recipe is for a BIG batch, that either feeds a lot of people with 6-8 LARGE servings (as in, there aren't side dishes in the meal - it IS the meal), or has leftovers to eat later, whether that means you're having it for every meal until it's gone, or portioning, packaging, and freezing for next time you need something even MORE quick and easy, like a freezer meal. 

 

Cheater Instant Pot Spaghetti

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15-25 minutes (including time to come to pressure & natural release time)
Yield: 6-8 servings

Equipment:

•  Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker

Ingredients: 

    • 2 lbs Ground Beef, Meatballs, Italian sausage, or other meat (can reduce for cost or health)
    • 1-2 Tbs minced garlic (OR 2 tsp garlic powder for faster & easier)
    • 2 med onions, chopped, diced, or sliced, as preferred (OR 2 tsp onion powder for faster & easier) 
    • 1 Tbs Italian Seasoning (to taste)
    • 2 Pound Spaghetti Noodles
    • 2 (48 Ounce) Jars Spaghetti Sauce
    • 1.5 Jars Water 
    • 2 (29 Ounce) Cans Diced Tomatoes or tomato sauce

Directions: 

    • Set IP to sauté and add ground beef.   
    • Add garlic, onion and Italian seasoning.   
    • Cook, breaking meat up until browned & onions (if using) are tender.  
    • Break spaghetti in half and place on top of meat.   
    • Pour in spaghetti sauce, tomato, and water, ensuring pasta is completely covered in liquid. 
    • Seal and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes w/natural release 
    • Stir well & serve

Notes:

Recipe ~ Easy Tomato Basil Bisque (from canned soup!)

As always, if you just want the recipe, without the story behind it, click here.

This is a way to super elevate canned soup into something that looks, smells, and tastes like gourmet fare, but takes almost the same amount of time as just heating it up without the additions. Why would you ever want to settle for less again!?

You probably have most of the  ingredients on hand already, especially considering there are plenty of substitutions, and most of it can come from cans, the freezer, your garden, or...

The real deal is usually made with stock, milk, and heavy cream, but half and half is more commonly on hand, is half milk and half cream, and there is already stock in the canned soup. You can also mess around with whatever you have on hand. If you have cream, great! Use half of that and half milk.. or more cream if you have skim milk. Just remember that the more fat in the milk parts, the more rich and creamy it will be.

Before pureed butternut squash in a can was more common, I just used the baby food version if I didn't have frozen cubes of home made on hand. Canned pumpkin (pure pumpkin, NOT the pie mix!) or, as a last resort, canned carrots, smushed up or whirled in the blender/food processor work too. 

I use fresh basil from my garden now, but I used to use dried from the store, and it was still great! You just add it in a little earlier to give it time to soften up and meld well with everything. 

One thing you do NOT want to substitute is the butter! Use REAL butter! If you don't want to or can't use real butter, it's better to simply omit it all together, rather than ruin it with margarine or spread. It will still taste good, just not quite as decadent. If you substitute some kind of vegetable oil spread or margarine, it won't mix in properly, and will leave an unpleasant film on the roof of your mouth.

This goes great with grilled cheese sandwiches, especially extra sharp cheddar on fresh, home baked sourdough pugliese (recipe forthcoming soonish), but any good grilled cheese complements it well!

Easy Tomato Basil Bisque

Equipment: 

• Medium large saucepan
• Whisk
• Measuring stuff 
• Large spoon for stirring
  

Ingredients: 

•  2 cans (10.75oz) condensed tomato soup
•  2 soup cans half & half*
• 1 can (14.5oz) diced, sliced, or stewed tomatoes*
•  1/2 Cup pureed, cooked butternut squash*
  
•  About 1/4 Cup fresh basil, roughly chopped, not packed (or 2 Tbs dried)
•  1+ tsp freshly ground black pepper/pepper medley (to taste)
•  1/2 stick real butter, cold*

Directions:

•  Empty cans of soup into pan and whisk until smooth.
• Slowly whisk in half and half until it is all fully incorporated.*
• Place pan on medium low heat.
  
• Stir in tomatoes and squash.
• If using dried basil, add it in now.
  
• Continue to heat on medium low, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan to avoid sticking. 
• DO NOT allow soup to come to a simmer or boil! This will separate the dairy.
• Once soup is just below simmering, add fresh basil and keep on heat for another 2-3 minutes
• Remove from heat and add butter, stirring until fully melted and incorporated. 
• Serve hot and enjoy!

*Notes:

• Half and half can be substituted with  a 12 oz. can of evaporated milk + the rest of the second soup can water, or one can fresh milk and  one can heavy cream. You can just use milk, but it won't be as rich and creamy.
  
•  Adding the dairy slowly, whilst constantly whisking helps keep lumps from forming.
• Italian Style tomatoes are ideal, but any canned tomatoes will be good.
  
• Butternut squash can be substituted with pumpkin, other similar squash, or carrots. Butternut is best, but any of these will provide a version of the warm, almost toasted nutty depth of flavour the butternut brings.
  
•  DO NOT use butter substitute. If you don't have/can't use real butter, just omit it.  

Recipe ~ Phukifino Soup

As always, if you just want the recipe, without the story behind it, click here, or check out the AllRecipes Link. And if you make it (or someone else makes it and you eat it), PLEASE leave a review there too!

This is a surprisingly inexpensive, quick, and super simple recipe for something so hearty and satisfying! 
It's got a bit of a kick, but that can be easily toned town or (if you must) eliminated.

 This was invented by my former owner, Owl, sometime in the mid 2000s. It is another of those things that was the result of some imagination, combined with being poor and needing to feed everyone with what was on hand. So, as usual, he started pulling out things we had on hand, and went from there. 
When my youngest child asked what he was making for supper, he laughed and said, "Fuck if I know!", and then, immediately followed it up with, "Soup!" So, from then on, it became known as, "Fuck if I Know Soup". Because it was SO good that it needed to be made again and again.

I have since tweaked the recipe a bit, to my own tastes, and renamed it slightly, partly so it is AllRecipes safe, and, of course, because I love plays on words and the way it kinda looks like maybe some non-English word, if you're not paying attention. 
It's perfect as a side dish or as a meal on its own.

Phukifino Soup

Equipment: Large pot, Dutch oven, or Instant Pot


Ingredients: 

• 2 Tbs butter/olive oil/some kind of fat
• 2-4 med onions onion, chopped or sliced
• 1/2 - 1 lb smoked sausages cut into disks about 1/4 inch thick
• 1-5 drops Dave's Insanity Sauce (or private reserve, or other preferred hot sauce, but I really like the smoky taste of Dave's) to taste
• 2 Tbs Rum extract
• 1 Cup dry orzo
• 2 Tbs each chicken and beef bouillon/base OR substitute meat/veg/bone broth for water
• About 8-12 cups water (Or fill IP to max line)
• 1/2 lb sour cream (more or less to taste)
• 12 oz or so shredded cheese (I prefer sharp cheddar, but any kind/s should be good)

Directions: 

1. Sauté onions in butter until they start to turn transparent.
2. Add sausage and continue sautéing a few minutes longer, until the sausages are just heated up.
3. Stir in orzo, bouillon, rum extract, and Dave's, and keep stirring mixture until sausages are nicely browned.
4. Add water (or broth), bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer until pasta is almost done. (OR set Instant Pot to high pressure for 1 minute with natural release, or 3 minutes with quick release)
5. Add sour cream and sprinkle in cheese, stirring soup constantly until smoothly and evenly distributed.
6. Remove pot from heat and serve

Thrifty Kitchen Tip ~ Quick, Easy, and Basically Free Marinades

As usual, we're going with the theme of, "don't throw it away"!

Those  unused condiment packs from take out or delivery meals, like spice or seasoning packets, dipping sauces, salad dressings, honey, sweet and sour, soy sauce, hot sauce, jams/jelly/preserves, etcetera, as well as your own leftover bits/dregs of salad dressing, beer, wine, spirits, soft drinks, juice, mixed drinks,and all manner of other small bits of stuff can be reused and turned into delicious marinades, glazes, and other additions to meals. 
Sometimes, you even find something that ends up being the "secret ingredient" that pushes a good meal over the top to awesome! 

I often go hunting in the kitchen for the almost empty bottles of sauces or salad dressings to incorporate into a spur of the moment marinade. 

Use a little bit of water, beer/ale/lager/etc, wine, coffee, soft drink or juice to pour in almost empty bottles and shake up to get the last little bits out of the bottle and into your delicious creation!

As you add each new ingredient, use your nose. Smell the mixure. Smell things you have around to possibly put in it. Smell what you want to marinate. Imagine how those will be combined! Science has revealed what home cooks and famous chefs alike have known all along; 80%-90% of how food "tastes" is actually how it smells!
So put your sniffer to work to whip up an amazing, on the fly marinade for your next meal or few. 


And remember, it's not just meats that you can marinate a few hours or a few days to turn a decent dish into a decadent delight that will impress the heck out of everyone who tastes it. 


As for how to save those little condiments and culinary bits and bobs...



Packs that are unopened and/or already individually packaged can go right in the freezer as-is. I like to put them in Ziploc, freezer bags, just to keep them together and easy to find. 

For stuff that isn't pre-packaged, check out this post.

Recipe ~ Creamed Lemon Herb Chicken Rice Bake

As always, if you just want the recipe, without the story behind it, click here, or check out the AllRecipes Link. And if you make it (or someone else makes it and you eat it), PLEASE leave a review there too!

 
As is often the case, this recipe came about because I needed to use up stuff before it went bad, and my search for a recipe didn't yield the results I wanted. 

 This time, I had a lot of extra thyme on my hands, from the necessary pruning of my herb garden, a couple lemons that were beginning to get elderly, an abundance of carrots (3+lbs!), and a nice bunch of kale that was in danger of being squished too much in an overly full produce crisper drawer. 
So, it was time to start getting creative. Some kind of lemon thyme chicken and rice was obvious to me, so I started looking on the net. 

There are lots of recipes out there for lemon thyme chicken, and it's pretty popular and is definitely tasty, but wasn't quite what I was looking for. I wanted something more hearty, that would be an entire meal, and didn't need a ton of steps. I was also kind of craving a creamy sort of dish, and knew I wanted the carb base to be rice. 
Most of the recipes I found that were even close to what I was thinking called for a ton of extra steps and extra pans that were, IMO, unnecessary. Also, pre-cooking the chicken and onions in extra oil, just to put them in a pan that already has oil? Why? More time, less healthy. Just no!


So, that is how this dish was born! 
It is perfect for when you will be home, but have other things to do, cause you can do a few minutes of work and then just leave it to do its thing with minimal checking and no stirring, turning, basting, etc. 
It's also great for tossing in small amounts of whatever veggies you have on hand, but not really enough for a dish on their own. 

You do need to make the marinade and put the chicken in it at least a couple hours in advance, but if you just put the chicken straight from the freezer into the marinade the day or 2 before, you will be marinating it whilst it thaws, so more efficient and easier. 

Here are a couple photos of the marinade mixture all ready for the chicken to be added. 

I like easy! Don't you?

Don't forget to save the bones for free, delicious, homemade chicken broth!
              

Creamed Lemon Herb Chicken Rice Bake

INGREDIENTS:

    •  6-8 or so chicken thighs w/skin and bones (you can do skinless/boneless, but it will be less flavourful and more dry)

 
    • Marinade
        • 1/4 Cup olive oil
        • 1/3 cup lemon juice
        • 2-3 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
        • 1 med-lg sliced onion
        • 5+ cloves minced garlic
        • 2-4 sprigs thyme
        • 1-2 sprigs rosemary
        • 2 Tbs or so oregano
        • 1 Tbs onion powder
        • sm-med lemon sliced
        • Black pepper to taste (I use about 1 Tbs)
    • 2 cups uncooked rice
    • 4-5 cups chicken broth or water
    • 1 can French onion soup*
    • 2 cans cream of mushroom soup*
    • 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
    • 1/2 tsp black pepper or to taste
    • 1 large or 2-3 med/small carrots, sliced or chopped (optional)
    • A handful or so kale, roughly chopped (optional)
    • Whatever veggies you have on hand and need/want to use
              
*(You can omit the soups, and use extra chicken, beef, or veg broth, and add a cup of milk and a couple Tbsp flour)

DIRECTIONS:
Earlier in the day or up to 2 days prior:
    • Combine marinade ingredients in a Ziploc type bag. Tear the herbs into smaller pieces and rub/bruise them between your fingers as you drop them into the bag.
    • Squish everything around in the bag, rubbing bag sides together, until everything is well combined and onions are kind of soft.
    • Add chicken to bag and squish around more until all chicken is well coated
    • Squeeze all excess air from bag and store in the fridge at least an hour or so, preferably overnight, up to 2 days, turning the bag over once or twice a day to marinate evenly.
Day of:
    • Preheat oven to 350°F.
    • Remove chicken from bag and set aside (or just be careful when dumping marinade stuff)
    • Combine rice, veggies, soups, water/broth, and half the marinade mixture (including solids) in a cast iron Dutch oven or greased casserole dish.
    • Stir well, until everything is evenly distributed.
    • Dump chicken and remaining bag contents on top of rice mixture.
    • Arrange chicken, lemon, and onion pieces evenly across the top.
    • Season chicken with salt, pepper, or other seasonings (I use Montreal steak seasoning) to taste.
    • Bake for an hour or so (until rice is tender and chicken internal temp is 175°F**).
   
**(Yes, the chicken is SAFE to consume when cooked to 165°F, but thigh meat should be cooked to 175-180°F in order to dissolve the connective tissue, resulting in more tender, juicy chicken. Science! It works.)