Forget Noah, I'm looking for Steve Carell
It has been raining for the last three days. I'm not surprised. This is my last full week at home with my girls before I start back at working at school full time. School only starts after Labor Day if you are a student. So of course I had all kinds of outdoor activities planned to make the most of the little bit of summer we have left. So of course Mother Nature decided to intervene. She's kind of a brat like that.
I could have been outside briefly yesterday. Could being the key word. See on Wednesday night, it rained. Not just a little bit. Like Biblical proportions, Winnie the Pooh sailing away from his house rain. At one point I heard we had a little over four inches of rain in a two hour time period. By the time the rain was done it was said we had over eight inches. I have no idea. My rain gauge only counts to five. This was not good for my basement. Water in the basement is not normally a problem at this house. The last house we lived in however, big problem. Like instead of a couch in the rec room, we had a canoe. To say I was surprised when I went to start washing laundry and ended covering my feet in water, would be putting in mildly. Four letter words every where. At this point you might say "Well it's a good thing the other adult in your house was home". Please. Don't make me laugh. My abs are sore from all the scooping and mopping. The other adult was home. The problem? Once I informed him there was water in our basement his concern became saving his $13, recently finished, Star Wars puzzle. A puzzle that was not only clear on the other side of the basement but also on top of a table. The $2500 washer and dryer sitting in two inches of water? Not such a big deal. Insert eye roll here.
As a result Wednesday night and early Thursday morning was spent babysitting the basement. I sat watching the rain fall waiting for the animals to start gathering and Morgan Freeman to show up. Fortunately, neither of those things happened. By the time my children were awake and ready to party Thursday morning, I had slept for maybe three hours. Some problems coffee can't even solve.
Hey, have I mentioned I live next to a creek? No? I live next to a creek. Imagine my surprise when I looked out my front windows Thursday morning to see the area in front of my house blocked off. When I finally got around to calling the city to ask what was going on this is what followed:
"We are worried about flooding."
"So I can't leave my house?"
"We are trying to discourage people from driving down your street."
"So I should leave my house?"
"Only if you start to see water rushing down your street."
"Has that happened before?"
"No. Knock on wood."
That's encouraging.
In between mopping floors, ringing out wet towels, and making sure years of children's art projects were safe, I checked out my front window like someone waiting for Publisher's Clearing House to show up with that big check. Suddenly my Queen Bee appeared. "Mom, what are you making us for supper?"
Crap. There are still children in my house and I have to feed them. I'm fairly certain they ate lunch. I have no idea what they ate for lunch but I know they ate lunch. Twinker A would have told me if she missed a meal.
My Instant Pot should wear a cape. It saved my day. I can't even begin to describe how much I love being able to throw food in, press some buttons, and walk away. I don't have to baby sit a stove top. I don't have to wash more than one pan. Seriously, get this thing a cape.
At some point during the day I must have realized I would need to feed my children. Earlier that day I had made a quick trip to Aldi for milk. I ended up coming home with five packages of chicken thighs. They were 1/2 off! That's a fantastic deal! My subconscious must have been working over time because there was a package of thighs just hanging out in my fridge. This is the scenario in which I image the phrase "Winner. Winner. Chicken Dinner!" came into existence. I always have noodles in my house. Between chicken and noodles, I'm half way to a meal. What else is hiding in the cupboard under my stairs? *Ok, it's the pantry but it's also literally a cupboard under my stairs. If you are as much of a Harry Potter fan as I am, are you ever referring to it as a pantry? I didn't think so.* Hey, there's a jar of alfredo sauce in there! Now, before you start to judge me about my choice in food from a jar versus fresh, let me remind you that I don't care. Do I prefer fresh sauce? Yes. Did I have the time or the desire to make a fresh sauce? Nope. And please, don't tell me how easy it is to make your own. In case you forgot what my day had consisted of, please refer to the top of the page.
So I had chicken, noodles, and alfredo sauce. Another peak in the fridge found me some peas that had been made as a side a few nights before. Let's take those too! Now I've cleaned a Tupperware container out of my fridge and the girls get veggies. Work smarter, not harder.
The final result went something like this:
2 lbs chicken thighs (Mine were thawed but you can use frozen in the Instant Pot if you wish.)
10 oz of egg noodles
1 jar ( 15 oz) alfredo sauce
1 1/2 cups of peas (Mine had already been cooked once so they were a little mushy at the end. If you don't want mushy, use fresh or frozen)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
Olive Oil
Salt and Peper
1.) Turn your Instant Pot on to Saute. Let it get to "Hot". Once the display reads "Hot", add some olive oil to the bottom of the pot. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place chicken in the pot. Cook until brown on both sides. For me this was about 3 minutes on either side. In my experience, cooking the chicken through is not an issue at this point. The chicken will cook through to proper temperature once you have added the remaining ingredients and set your pot.
2.) Remove chicken from pot. At this point, I like to splash some of my broth in the bottom and scrape the bits. Press the "Keep Warm" button twice to turn the pot off. Add your noodles, sauce, and broth. Stir everything together. Make sure the noodles are covered. Place the chicken on top of the noodles.
-This part is optional. I used a steamer basket for my peas. I added the peas to my steamer basket and placed the basket on top of my chicken. If you don't have a steamer basket, you could either throw the peas in with the noodles or wait and add them at the end. If you stir in peas right after pressure release, replace the lid and let things sit for an extra minute or two. There should still be enough heat in the pot to cook the peas.
3.) Press the "Manual" button and adjust the time to 8 minutes. Walk away. Go back to your basement and finally start the laundry you were unable to do while you were mopping up water.
4.) When the timer finishes, wait five minutes before quick releasing the remaining pressure. If you didn't add your peas before, add them now and replace the lid. I give everything one last stir before serving. If you noticed I did not mention chopping the chicken at any point. I leave my chicken thighs whole. At the end of cooking, they are tender enough that they break up when I stir before serving. If you want smaller pieces, remove the chicken after pressure has release, shred it, return it to the pot, and stir.
5.) Serve. I wish I had a picture to show you but my kids were hungry. They were not about to wait for me to take a picture.
I feel like I need to add a few extra points here.
1.) I promise, this was far easier than the above instructions would lead you to believe. If you've never used an Instant Pot, I'm sure you are staring blankly at your screen wondering what in the world this crazy woman is talking about. That's fine. I understand. The Instant Pot is kind of an overwhelming device until you learn how to use it.
2.) About the Instant Pot- The one thing I have learned since I started using my Instant Pot is that everyone's results are different. I have no logical explanation for this. It's just the was things are. My way of doing things, may not work for you. The noodles might be too mushy for your liking. The chicken might be too dry or not cooked. This is just the way I did things and it works great for me. I have found that with every new recipe I try, there is always a little bit of tweaking required.
3.) I'm not a chef. I have no professional training. My methods and measurements are not exact. They may sound funny. Again, this is what works for me. Try not to think of this so much as a recipe but more as a starting point. Let this be an idea for you. Follow it to the letter if you want but keep in mind I wrote this with wiggle room.
All of that being said, I just want to take a moment to thank anyone who is reading this. Even if you think I'm slightly insane and that this post was pointless, you took the time to read it. That means something to me. Now, on to the rest of my day. That is of course, if the way out of my garage isn't still blocked off.
I could have been outside briefly yesterday. Could being the key word. See on Wednesday night, it rained. Not just a little bit. Like Biblical proportions, Winnie the Pooh sailing away from his house rain. At one point I heard we had a little over four inches of rain in a two hour time period. By the time the rain was done it was said we had over eight inches. I have no idea. My rain gauge only counts to five. This was not good for my basement. Water in the basement is not normally a problem at this house. The last house we lived in however, big problem. Like instead of a couch in the rec room, we had a canoe. To say I was surprised when I went to start washing laundry and ended covering my feet in water, would be putting in mildly. Four letter words every where. At this point you might say "Well it's a good thing the other adult in your house was home". Please. Don't make me laugh. My abs are sore from all the scooping and mopping. The other adult was home. The problem? Once I informed him there was water in our basement his concern became saving his $13, recently finished, Star Wars puzzle. A puzzle that was not only clear on the other side of the basement but also on top of a table. The $2500 washer and dryer sitting in two inches of water? Not such a big deal. Insert eye roll here.
As a result Wednesday night and early Thursday morning was spent babysitting the basement. I sat watching the rain fall waiting for the animals to start gathering and Morgan Freeman to show up. Fortunately, neither of those things happened. By the time my children were awake and ready to party Thursday morning, I had slept for maybe three hours. Some problems coffee can't even solve.
Hey, have I mentioned I live next to a creek? No? I live next to a creek. Imagine my surprise when I looked out my front windows Thursday morning to see the area in front of my house blocked off. When I finally got around to calling the city to ask what was going on this is what followed:
"We are worried about flooding."
"So I can't leave my house?"
"We are trying to discourage people from driving down your street."
"So I should leave my house?"
"Only if you start to see water rushing down your street."
"Has that happened before?"
"No. Knock on wood."
That's encouraging.
In between mopping floors, ringing out wet towels, and making sure years of children's art projects were safe, I checked out my front window like someone waiting for Publisher's Clearing House to show up with that big check. Suddenly my Queen Bee appeared. "Mom, what are you making us for supper?"
Crap. There are still children in my house and I have to feed them. I'm fairly certain they ate lunch. I have no idea what they ate for lunch but I know they ate lunch. Twinker A would have told me if she missed a meal.
My Instant Pot should wear a cape. It saved my day. I can't even begin to describe how much I love being able to throw food in, press some buttons, and walk away. I don't have to baby sit a stove top. I don't have to wash more than one pan. Seriously, get this thing a cape.
At some point during the day I must have realized I would need to feed my children. Earlier that day I had made a quick trip to Aldi for milk. I ended up coming home with five packages of chicken thighs. They were 1/2 off! That's a fantastic deal! My subconscious must have been working over time because there was a package of thighs just hanging out in my fridge. This is the scenario in which I image the phrase "Winner. Winner. Chicken Dinner!" came into existence. I always have noodles in my house. Between chicken and noodles, I'm half way to a meal. What else is hiding in the cupboard under my stairs? *Ok, it's the pantry but it's also literally a cupboard under my stairs. If you are as much of a Harry Potter fan as I am, are you ever referring to it as a pantry? I didn't think so.* Hey, there's a jar of alfredo sauce in there! Now, before you start to judge me about my choice in food from a jar versus fresh, let me remind you that I don't care. Do I prefer fresh sauce? Yes. Did I have the time or the desire to make a fresh sauce? Nope. And please, don't tell me how easy it is to make your own. In case you forgot what my day had consisted of, please refer to the top of the page.
So I had chicken, noodles, and alfredo sauce. Another peak in the fridge found me some peas that had been made as a side a few nights before. Let's take those too! Now I've cleaned a Tupperware container out of my fridge and the girls get veggies. Work smarter, not harder.
The final result went something like this:
2 lbs chicken thighs (Mine were thawed but you can use frozen in the Instant Pot if you wish.)
10 oz of egg noodles
1 jar ( 15 oz) alfredo sauce
1 1/2 cups of peas (Mine had already been cooked once so they were a little mushy at the end. If you don't want mushy, use fresh or frozen)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
Olive Oil
Salt and Peper
1.) Turn your Instant Pot on to Saute. Let it get to "Hot". Once the display reads "Hot", add some olive oil to the bottom of the pot. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place chicken in the pot. Cook until brown on both sides. For me this was about 3 minutes on either side. In my experience, cooking the chicken through is not an issue at this point. The chicken will cook through to proper temperature once you have added the remaining ingredients and set your pot.
2.) Remove chicken from pot. At this point, I like to splash some of my broth in the bottom and scrape the bits. Press the "Keep Warm" button twice to turn the pot off. Add your noodles, sauce, and broth. Stir everything together. Make sure the noodles are covered. Place the chicken on top of the noodles.
-This part is optional. I used a steamer basket for my peas. I added the peas to my steamer basket and placed the basket on top of my chicken. If you don't have a steamer basket, you could either throw the peas in with the noodles or wait and add them at the end. If you stir in peas right after pressure release, replace the lid and let things sit for an extra minute or two. There should still be enough heat in the pot to cook the peas.
3.) Press the "Manual" button and adjust the time to 8 minutes. Walk away. Go back to your basement and finally start the laundry you were unable to do while you were mopping up water.
4.) When the timer finishes, wait five minutes before quick releasing the remaining pressure. If you didn't add your peas before, add them now and replace the lid. I give everything one last stir before serving. If you noticed I did not mention chopping the chicken at any point. I leave my chicken thighs whole. At the end of cooking, they are tender enough that they break up when I stir before serving. If you want smaller pieces, remove the chicken after pressure has release, shred it, return it to the pot, and stir.
5.) Serve. I wish I had a picture to show you but my kids were hungry. They were not about to wait for me to take a picture.
I feel like I need to add a few extra points here.
1.) I promise, this was far easier than the above instructions would lead you to believe. If you've never used an Instant Pot, I'm sure you are staring blankly at your screen wondering what in the world this crazy woman is talking about. That's fine. I understand. The Instant Pot is kind of an overwhelming device until you learn how to use it.
2.) About the Instant Pot- The one thing I have learned since I started using my Instant Pot is that everyone's results are different. I have no logical explanation for this. It's just the was things are. My way of doing things, may not work for you. The noodles might be too mushy for your liking. The chicken might be too dry or not cooked. This is just the way I did things and it works great for me. I have found that with every new recipe I try, there is always a little bit of tweaking required.
3.) I'm not a chef. I have no professional training. My methods and measurements are not exact. They may sound funny. Again, this is what works for me. Try not to think of this so much as a recipe but more as a starting point. Let this be an idea for you. Follow it to the letter if you want but keep in mind I wrote this with wiggle room.
All of that being said, I just want to take a moment to thank anyone who is reading this. Even if you think I'm slightly insane and that this post was pointless, you took the time to read it. That means something to me. Now, on to the rest of my day. That is of course, if the way out of my garage isn't still blocked off.
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