I thought long and hard about a perfect gift for my girls. They are so busy and the dreaded question, “what’s for dinner?” always lingers at the end of the day. My daughter gets home from work after dark, builds a fire in the wood burning stove and walks the dogs before hubby gets home. After all of that, cooking is hard. My daughter-in-law has two little ones all day long. All moms with young children are exhausted at the end of the day.
What could be more perfect than pouring “dinner in a jar” into the instant pot and pressing a button at the end of a long, hard day?
I went through my recipes and converted the instructions to be used in their instant pots. “Dinner in a jar” could also be used for crockpot cooking.
It was a little overwhelming in the beginning when I was making out my grocery list. When I started putting ingredients in jars, my table looked like this. But it was fun layering food in the jars. I think they are beautiful!
This is Three Bean Chipotle Chili Mix. It includes beans and spices. It is ready to add meat and tomatoes. Note: I precook a large portion of meat at a time, divide it into meal size portions, freeze it for later use. This makes cooking dinner a breeze, at the end of the day.
This recipe came out of a great book, Gifts from a Jar: Soups, Chilis & More.
This recipe is Ultimate Veggie Soup Mix. Just add water and (optional) meat and a few of your favorite vegetables. Here is a tip that I learned along the way. Put smaller ingredients on the bottom and larger ones on the top. As you can see in the jar on the left, the orange colored lentils are sifting towards the bottom. The jar on the right has a prettier display.
Nutty Orzo and Brown Rice Pilaf Mix has dehydrated vegetables, spice, and chicken broth. I included instructions to cook it in the Instant Pot. Add a meat and dinner is on the table!
I think my girls are going to love “dinner in a jar”!
The Recovering Perfectionist 