My dad is on a keto diet, so I wanted to experiment with a ‘keto-friendly’ creme brulee.  Regluar creme brulee has a lot of sugar in it, but has very simple ingredients, so I figured I would try just replacing the sugar with Truvia, a sugar my dad had on hand.

I am overall semi-satisfied with trial 1.  I decreased the sugar in half, as per Truvia’s directions, but the creme brulee wasn’t as creamy as usual.  I could try increasing the time by a few minutes to see if that at least solidifies it a bit more (it wasn’t runny, but it wasn’t solid either), and the sweetness was lacking so next time I’ll add in another half TBS of Truvia.  The Truvia DID NOT work for the topping, so I added in a half teaspoon for the top.  You can see where it burned, before I put on the sugar.

Recipe: Creme Brulee, Test 1 (makes 6)

2 cups heavy cream
6 egg yolks
2.5 TBS Truvia
1 TBS vanilla extract
sugar

Whisk the egg yolks and Truvia together until the Truvia as dissolved. Add in the cream and vanilla extract, being sure not to beat. Strain through a mesh strainer, and then pour into ramekins. Cover the ramekins with foil.

In the instant pot liner, fill with 2 c. of water, and place the metal trivet on the bottom on the pot. Stack the creme brulee to fill the pot. Set on manual high pressure for 7 minutes. Let it naturally release pressure. When done, uncover the foil from the ramekins, and cool completely in the fridge. Use .5 tsp of sugar for the tops, and caramelize using a (pretty awesome) torch. Enjoy!

Save

For my birthday my parents got me an Instant Pot. For months it sat in the spare room where I house most of my cooking appliances (oh the joys of a small kitchen and little pantry space) because I was terrified that it would blow up when I turned it on. I knew it had to be easy, otherwise people wouldn’t be so obsessed with them, but still the fear lingered.  Finally, after making plan after plan to cook something I just went for it.  I made a whole chicken, and it was a miracle.  Tender, moist, and just falling off the bone… I was sold.  The next week after I finished my chicken I made a pork roast so I could have carnitas for the week.

I didn’t even end up crisping the pork to make it true carnitas.  It was divine, and so easy.  From the minute I took the pork out of the fridge all the way through pulling the roast, I was only 1.5 hours in.  For about an hour of that time I was doing other things, waiting for the Instant Pot to do it’s thing.  It was magic.

Last week I made the realization that my local grocery store often has meat on sale on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  They must pack it on Fridays for the most part and then the sell by that falls mid-week.  Beef is usually only a little on sale, but this week pork was half off.  For perfectly good pork.  I bought two packages, one for this week and one for the freezer.  I’ll be doing most of my meat shopping mid-week from now on!

To make this I winged what I threw in, because I didn’t have everything I wanted on hand.  Next time I want to try apple juice instead of ginger ale… the first time I made pulled pork I used orange juice and it was too much.  Some recipes use just water, but I like the sweetness of juice (or in the case, pop).

Recipe: Instant Pot Pulled Pork

3 Pounds Pork Roast, cut into large chunks
Spices to taste… I used
Cumin, Chili Powder, Chili Flakes, Oregano, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Salt, Pepper, Chipolte Seasoning
1 Orange, sliced
1/4 Red Bell Pepper, Sliced
1 Ginger A le
Olive Oil

Turn the Instant Pot onto Sautee. Add in olive oil, pork. Brown. Add on top all your seasonings and bell pepper, toss to mix. Place orange slices all on top of pork, followed by the ginger ale. Turn the instant pot onto manual high pressure, for 25 minutes. Natural Release for 15-20 minutes, before Quick Release. Transfer meat to a heat-proof dish and pull. Enjoy!

Save

I’ve been painting a lot lately.  I’ve been wanting to set up my ceramic studio, but between work and a social life it just hasn’t quite happened.  Instead, while I’m teaching, I paint.

Mostly I watercolor animals.  Poppies.  Mushrooms.  Flowers.  Nature, intertwined with itself referencing a dream-state only achieved by setting your mind free of the constraints of our society.  It’s fun.  The kids enjoy it, and I feel like I’m finally settling on a style of my own.

So many moons.

Today I also decided to dabble in a little acrylic, and some figurative work.  A portrait.  This is the rough base layer.  There’s some fixing to be done, but for 45 minutes of work I’m happy enough.

I am a little late in planting.  I always knew how expensive setting things up would be, but maybe just not exactly how much.  With all the other household expenses that come with being a homeowner, putting the raised beds together has been a slow process.

I finally had the time to do it though, and plant the starts that my dad built.  I have tomatoes, jalepenos, carrots, and snow peas in this bed.

I’m not so sure about the soil I bought, but like my dad says, if they want to grow they will grow.

I had to enclose the entire box so that the dogs wouldn’t get into them, they like to run over everything, and have taken a liking to both garden boxes.

I’ll do the smaller bed next week, my roommate is going to chainsaw part of a tree off, so that we can fit the short fence around the box.  Then I’ll be able to do the herbs and lettuce, as well as two pepper plants that didn’t quite fit in the bigger box.