I love to cook, and even more so after I had kids. I wanted to be the super mom that made fresh home cooked meals for her kids. Let’s be real though cooking is – messy and time consuming. The easy way out sometimes is to pull something out of the freezer. BUT buying an instant pot was life changing.
I bought the instant pot last summer only because it was on sale. I had no clue how to use it and frankly speaking it sat in the box for 4 months because its intimidating! I would look at it and say to myself, “that thing looks way too confusing, and I don’t have time to figure it out.”I was so wrong. It is the most convenient and efficient cooker I have EVER used.
Time
It has saved me so much time (like tons). Once the meal is in there and you have set the time – you can walk away. The meal then cooks and switches to keeping the food warm or turns off depending on what you have chosen. The instant pot cooks 70% faster than a slow cooker. If you’re Indian and are comparing it to our mom’s Indian pressure cookers: IT IS 100% safer (those things are crazy).
The instant pot cooks with high heat which comes in handy in thoroughly cooking your food. The temperature is between 239 degrees F to 244 degrees F, it kills toxins that slow cookers may miss. In addition, vegetables and other foods will maintain their nutrients by being cooked at higher temps.
Scent Free Cooking
I like to make Indian food, and Indian food aroma can spread throughout the house. My dear husband would walk into the home and be bombarded with the smell of onions and masala. I’ve switched a lot of my Indian meals to instant pot meals. Not only has it saved me time, but my house doesn’t smell like a restaurant anymore!
Neat and Clean
Using the instant pot reduces the amount time you will spend cleaning your kitchen. There is only one pot to clean in the Instant pot. No stove messes at all. The is a WIN WIN in my book. I dread kitchen clean ups.
Healthier Meals
Whatever your work schedule consists of I promise the instant pot is going to make your life easier. It’s so easy for everyone to use. With a little bit of planning, you can have your instant pot meal all ready for you the moment you walk in the door. So you can have “fast food” that is far more healthier. The Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Cookbook was a great buy for me to get started. I’ve been able to keep things ready and my husband will come home and just dump it in the instant pot and start the IP.
I initially had bought a 3qt instant pot but real quickly realized that the 6qt was way more handy dandy plus had more functions.. I did a lot of research and bought this one. It is the most efficient for me: Indian food, baby food, snacks, homemade yogurt, and even ghee!
Pro Tip #1: For larger beans like Rajma (Kidney Beans) or Chole (Garbanzo Beans) you will need to up the cook time to 90 minutes instead of the pre-set 30 minutes. Smaller beans will cook just fine with the default setting.
Pro Tip #2: For those of you with young children like me, the Instant Pot Duo has a sterilize feature that can be used for baby bottles and breast pumps – such a convenient feature!
When you take a trip with your sister for Spring Break it is a Chick Trip and Family Trip all mixed into one! This year, we set our sights on some southern charm and headed to Charleston, South Carolina. We loaded up our mini’s (all four of them) and pulled off a fun and memorable trip complete with loads of laughs!
What to do:
Carriage ride:
A great way to get your bearings for this quaint city is to take a carriage tour. We hopped over to Palmetto Carriage Works for a ride through Charleston‘s historical district. We absolutely loved our guide, Jim. He was knowledgeable, relevant, and funny! We would highly recommend starting your trip to Charleston with this tour to understand fun spots to visit. As women and as bloggers, we found the story about the Grimke sisters who were early advocates for abolition and women’s rights to be pertinent and interesting. It was a refreshing reminder of women in history and a great teachable moment for our young children! The streets of Charleston are lined with historical homes that make the city truly a place to visit! We got lucky with a morning ride so it wasn’t too hot or too cold.
When we arrived at our hotel, our rooms weren’t ready. In an attempt to kill some time we drove over to Patriots Point and BOY are we glad we did (literally a 12 minute drive from the historic downtown area)! We walked over to the USS Yorktown and toured the ship. Tickets were $22 for adults and $14 for kids. Definitely worth it! The boat was easy to navigate with tours that are clearly marked (audio tours are also available)! We were traveling with 4 young kids who all found the ship’s many rooms fascinating. Aboard the ship you see where crew ate, slept and lived life while on board. The top of the ship was lined with fighter jets from both the navy and marines!
This is an awesome stop for both kids and adults! We went on a simulator that showed what it would be like as a pilot of a fighter jet, this helped jump start the kids imagination when we made our way to see the jets in real life (tickets were $6 per person). I would allow about 3-4 hours to check out the ship. Next door is Fort Sumter, of you plan to do both you would be looking at a full day outing depending on the ages in your group.
Sullivan Island : Lighthouse and Beach
We had planned to stop at Sullivan Island during our planning for the trip. I should warn that we went in the month of April for Spring break and the weather didn’t quite hold up for the beach. We made a stop over at the lighthouse which we could only see as we walked past it. Not the most picturesque lighthouse, but something to see nonetheless. Just past the lighthouse was a boardwalk to the beach. The kids loved collecting shells while we basked in the spring sun. It wasn’t quite warm enough to get in the water, so keep that in mind when planning a visit in the Spring months. A quick mention, if you have young kids and your hopes of spending a day at the beach get ruined, there is a park with playgrounds just up the road that was a savior for us!
What to eat:
Basil
Situated right off King Street in Charleston Basil is a Thai restaurant that has absolutely delicious food! With a blend of vegetarians and non-vegetarians in our group this was a sure bet for dinner. Most dishes can be substituted for tofu. In general we are regulars to Thai food, but I must say the food here stood out! Their Pad Ke Mow is a must try! My kids love Panang curry…unfortunately Basil didn’t offer this but had Massuman curry which was a perfect substitution! If you like Thai, you’ll love Basil.
Basic Kitchen
While shopping with the kids, we were looking for a lunch spot. Upon a recommendation we ended up at Basic Kitchen. This place was gorgeous! It had a light and airy feel and was clean and well staffed. They offered a good selection for the kids menu which made the kids…and us happy! We tried the bbq tempeh, cauliflower wings and avocado toast…all three were so good! This is a must stop for good clean and vegetarian eats!
What a fun Mexican restaurant! You can’t miss it off the main road once you get onto Sullivan Island. This place offered both indoor and outdoor seating, we sat indoor since it was a tad on the chilly side the day we went. They offer an extensive menu of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. It wasn’t like most Mexican restaurants with the standard quesadillas and burritos. They had an array of salads and bowl options as well! Come on, as people who love spicy food, they even had a hot sauce bar…my favorite was the blue agave sriracha..made in Austin, of course! Over lunch we noshed on guacamole and chips, and even sipped on some Paloma’s….we even spotted a celebrity from the show Southern Charm…Austen! I would definitely recommend this place. Of course, you know the chicks at ChicksAndSalsa can’t pass up a food spot for some “chips” and salsa!
Where to stay (or not):
Hyatt Place
We waited until the last minute to book our trip so we had very few options for hotels. We ended up at the Hyatt Place which we didn’t love. When we pulled up they were not very helpful. There was no one to help with our bags or even greet us. We helped ourselves to unloading our luggage onto the cart and then again upstairs…. this made for a terrible first impression! The room easily fit 6 of us, we had two double beds and a pull out sofa bed. The pool was indoor and decently kept, the kids liked that the water was heated so they enjoyed their time! Our room stay included breakfast…we thought this would be a good perk, but the food was just OK and the dining area was very crowded.
We were grateful to have something to start to the day, but truthfully we preferred to have breakfast out of the hotel. Overall, we are grateful to have had a place to stay, but would not recommend the Hyatt place, especially if you are big on service!
All in all, the city is so unique and distinct from the Chicago and Atlanta landscape that we are used to! We loved driving on the beautiful bridges, being by the water, shopping on King Street, and of course eating in Charleston!
Another one for the books, check out our other travel posts here!
We feel so grateful to have created a platform that allows us to write on topics that hit close to home. In recent times, “bullying” has become a buzz word and hot topic. Movies like “Wonder” bring to the forefront that bullying can start as young as elementary school. With children of
our own, tolerance and inclusion is critical now more than ever, especially with the introduction of cyber bullying. The word “bully” generally insinuates a situation in which one uses intimidation to make another feel excluded or oppressed. We feel a responsibility to take control of bullying in our own hands by starting with our own home and through our blog as a platform.
The Campaign
We recently heard about the PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center and wanted to attach ourselves to their mission of anti-bullying. The term “bully” is sensitive, but we’ve come to realize it sees no age limit or boundaries. “Choose Kind” takes a stand against bullying and promotes rolling up your sleeves against it.
Our children hear and see everything we do, so leading by example is the best we can do for the next generation. As parents we are influencers on our children. We’ve all heard the expression “the apple does not fall far from the tree,” therefore if you are critical and judgmental in your home it will likely reflect through your children.
Fortunately for adults, given our experiences, we are equipped with the tools to handle situations that make us uncomfortable. Teaching those same tools to our children is so incredibly important and is our responsibility in reshaping future generations. Growing up it was not uncommon to hear our parents tell us, “if you have nothing nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.” That standard still holds true today.
Take Action
We as parents need to be aware and vigilant and the Chicks of ChicksAndSalsa have decided to roll up our sleeves against bullying and hope you will join us on this mission! Take the pledge to speak up, reach out and be a friend and consider purchasing a shirt to show your support!
Oftentimes, when we think of the word “bully,” we picture a small, sweet, little kid getting beaten up by a group of much bigger kids. He is outnumbered and not really looking for a fight. He looks fearful and doesn’t fight back much.
Bullying has changed these days — and I’m not referring to the trending topic amongst school moms hurdled around whispering during after-school pick-up. I’m talking about the type that not a whole lot of people talk about…mainly because it sounds pretty silly. I’m talking about the mom bullies. Mom bullies are the ones that are usually telling her own kid to not bully others, or are telling someone else’s kid to not bully — but she is the worst offender of them all. She talks the talk about “inclusion” and “kindness” but she’s the one spreading the toxicity.
Women Uplifting Women
She’s the one who intentionally organizes play-dates, birthday parties, and outings excluding others. Her intent is never to really target the kid involved, but the mom…she somehow excludes the kid to get to the mom. She has made her intentions a sport and will go out of her way to exclude the moms she doesn’t want around. She rotates friends — or best friends in almost a “flavor of the month” type fashion. She will approach another mom about an issue her kid is having with her kid in probably the most one-sided manner. She will accuse other kids of being mean while she’s blind to her own kid’s ways.
You would think I have a personal anecdote or an agenda in writing this…I don’t! In fact, I’m the wallflower that watches this all go down. I’m the observer — the one people don’t think that’s paying attention, but sadly I am. I see things others don’t. I see the pain and impact it makes on the kids. I see the concern on a kid’s face when they realize that everyone was invited but them. I see the mom’s that feel excluded, but hold their heads up so their kids don’t see her embarrassment.
Women Uplifting Women
Raising a child these days is hard enough — do we really need to bully each other to make ourselves feel better? Do we really need to use the little amount of time and energy we have left in our day dealing with the drama? Do we really need to show our kids that this is what adulting is all about? To one up another or put others down? NO!
Stop The Hate
Stop the hate — stop the mom bullies. Call them out and exclude them until they come around and show them what inclusion means by befriending her. More-often than not, these moms have been hurt themselves and this is their coping mechanism to shield herself from the potential haters out there. She needs the extra TLC and some time, but eventually she will come around. And if not…let it be and move on. Life is way too short for the nonsense — make it count!
6 Quart Instant Pot (My Recommendation) | Instant Pot Cookbook | Accessories for Steaming
