recipe roundup!

so after a good long stretch of taking the lazy route for dinners via door dash and uber eats, i decided to start dipping into my large stash of recipes that i've been saving.  between my *two* instant pots plus the new air fryer, i've been having a lot of fun...and probably saving a good amount of money to boot.

the ikea meatballs are an oldie but goodie.  next time, i'm going to cook them in the air fryer and it'll be easier and faster.

i'd bought a bag of lemons and decided that i wanted to finally tackle a recipe i'd been holding on to for lemon curd using the instant pot.  and i can't believe i waited so long, because it was beyond easy - and super delicious.

the next morning, i did a quick google search for an easy scone recipe and i found a great one.  these came out perfectly tender and just slightly sweet, and since i had the lemon curd (and a jar of english-style cream) to serve them with i skipped the glaze.  this recipe is a keeper.

i used more lemons to make a batch of lemon bars using a different recipe, one that used a shortbread-y crust instead of the traditional flaky type.  it wasn't love, so i'll be on the hunt for another one.

with all of the rain we've been getting, it's been soup weather.  i found this recipe for lemon chicken meatball soup and while it looked and smelled good...i wasn't a fan.  i don't really know why, but i don't think we'll redo this one.  if you decide to try it, let me know how you like it.

this is one of my most favorite instant pot meals to make - kalua pork, served with cabbage, plain white rice and hawaiian macaroni salad.

the bean and i love poutine, and even better with chunks of braised short rib.  and so i looked for a good recipe using my instant pot and came up with another keeper:

for more air fryer fun, i tried this recipe for chicken nuggets and served it up with some homemade ranch and stouffer's macaroni & cheese.  the bean doesn't like pickles, but both of those recipes incorporate some pickle juice and they loved this meal.  and yes, i 'fessed up and told them because i didn't like feeling like i was hiding something.  heh.

i love the mini vanilla scones from starbucks, but you know i'm on a starbucks hiatus.  so i pulled out this recipe and used some of my homemade vanilla paste and YUM.

the old lady requested spaghetti for dinner one night, so i used a recipe for meatballs to be cooked in the air fryer along with my trusty marinara sauce.  so good.

the bean was hit with a craving for korean fried chicken one day, so the air fryer came to the rescue again.

i used to make quickie red velvet pancakes for the bean all the time with store-bought pancake mix.  one morning, they had late start at school and asked for some and while i was out of pancake mix, i found an easy recipe and threw it together.  the cream cheese glaze is not to be missed...the icing on the cake, if you will.

another incredibly easy dinner came in the form of furikake salmon cooked in the air fryer.  i tell you, this thing is a godsend.  

i got to try my hand at char siu pork, trying out a recipe for the instant pot.  this marinade was incredibly fragrant, and what i learned for next time was to put it all together much earlier so that the meat could soak up as much of that flavor as possible.  i followed the recipe to the letter, but cooked it after the minimum two hours' marinade time and it could have used that extra time for sure.  still, it was good and i'll probably make it again one of these days - maybe i'll try my hand at homemade bao next time.

the bean recently discovered a love for pesto pasta, and when they requested that i make some for dinner i found an easy recipe to try.  i didn't have the heart to tell them that i really don't like pesto, but i'm always happy to take on a new challenge - plus, i figured that the old lady would probably like some since she loves pasta of all kinds.  i found a recipe to put it all together and topped it with some leftover air-fried chicken and fresh grated parmesan, and it was a huge hit.

and i've saved the best for last - scrolling through my instagram feed one day resulted in me pulling out the ingredients for these fluffernutter cookies almost as soon as i finished reading through the recipe.  these cookies are AMAZING.  and everyone in the house loves them...because peanut butter and marshmallow are two of the best things on the planet.  if you share in that love, you must try these cookies immediately. 

you're welcome.