Waste Not Wednesday….Pressure Cooker

I’ve told you before that I love my pressure cooker.  It has been SUCH a time saver and money saver.  I’ve been known to burn a simmering pan of food because I was sewing up two more quilt squares.  Since the pressure cooker….no burned food.

My family loves what we call challupa  meat.  I don’t know if there’s a real name for it…but that’s what we call it.

In my pressure cooker I put:

One small pork roast
1 lb pinto beans-dry
1/2 chopped onion
2 T minced garlic
3 T chili powder
I filled the pot to half full with water

I closed the pressure cooker and put the heat on high.  Once it started hissing, I turned it to low and kept in on low for 25 minutes.  I let the pot sit.  Later I opened the pot and poured half of the water out (I saved it in case I needed it later). I took the roast out.  I used my immersion blender and chopped up the beans.  I shredded the pork and put it back in with the beans.  Stir and it’s ready to eat.  If you want it warm, put it in microwave to warm.

It’s great on nachos….great in tortillas too.  We like it better than taco meat.

I do have to tell you about my immersion blender.  I love it.  I had one previous to this and made my kids’ baby food with it.  I lost one when moving and bought another.  The next one I burnt out.  I had recently purchased one again but now the design is different.  It comes apart and can have a beater attachment.  I used it once, hated it and returned it.  I thought I would be patient and hope that I found one at at thrift store.  The other day at Goodwill, Hubby found this one.  I am so happy.  It’s the right design and at $4, it’s the right price….

Being patient and waiting for what I really want really works for me most of the time.  I typically can find things used if I am willing to wait it out….  $4 at Goodwill certainly beat the $39 price at Wal-Mart….if you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender or potato masher.  The goal is to crush the beans, not puree them. Oh, it’s yummy.

You can see more good ideas over at We Are That Family.