I was wondering how it would be any better than my crockpot. I think I'll use the crockpot more.

Zen, I would suggest using what you have to get back into the habit or into the habit for the first time of cooking before buying something. A new gadget won't make you start cooking if you are not already doing it.

Remind me are you on a restricted diet?

I haven't gone the instant pot route yet. I do use my crock pot pretty often and I now use my air fryer instead of roasting veggies in the oven. However, this article on nifty things you can make in the instant pot has me interested. [link]

I have an instant pot, but have never gotten around to using it. 

Same. It always seems like more trouble than it's worth.

It's probably better to gather a couple of recipes that are easily adaptable and that you can quickly get comfortable cooking. Like a sheetpan chicken, pantry pasta, a grain bowl. Those are all standards for us.

I made sheetpan fajitas the other night served over limed cauliflower rice and it was sooooo tasty. Basically just strips of chicken, onions, and peppers tossed in a jerk spice mix and roasted.

The huge factor for me is having a menu plan. I do a whole 4 weeks at a time. It takes me a few hours, but then I don't have to do any planning for a month. Zen, if you are low carbing it I can send you the month plan with recipes that I sent to Sophia. If you are doing carbs then just have real rice where it calls for cauliflower rice and so forth.

I really enjoy pouring through recipes and cooking. Right now the crock pot has chicken, rice, and veggies in it cooking food for the dog. Need to fatten up the pup.

Laura, I would love to see your meal plan if you're willing to share.

We use our instant pot constantly. Some of that is that I make yogurt in it every week, and it's a very nice rice cooker, but the big thing is that we don't have to figure out what's for dinner in the morning, like you do with a crock pot (we've also been frustrated that, even on low, the crock pot still boils because of "food safety" or whatever. P'shaw). It definitely speeds up cooking times, but it's not a magic bullet.

I would recommend InstantPot for: 1)People who want a rice cooker, but don't want a uni-tasker 2)People who eat a lot of yogurt 3)People who have foods they would make more often if it didn't take so dang long.

We've been using MealLime, which is a (free!) meal planning app. You pick the recipes you want, then it generates the shopping list. The directions get super basic. The nice thing for us is that we have one conversation where we figure out what's on the menu for next week, and then every night, there are few or no decisions to make (e.g. "we need to make the fish tonight because those tomatoes are nearly done."). Because of our schedule and leftovers and stuff, we end up cooking off of it 2-3 times a week. I'm a little worried we're gonna get tired of their stuff, but it's been a couple months of working well so far.

I really should be much better about meal planning but I am the worst. I've been doing pretty well the past month or more making the occasional batch of muffins and freezing them, then eating that for breakfast. Proud of that at least, even if it's not super healthy (the current muffins have carrot in them, that's healthy right?). My biggest struggle though is eating when I'm not hungry. Either because I'm bored or munch, or there's something tasty that I want to keep shoving in my mouth...

Today's exciting plan has been "wake up with headache, take meds, go back to sleep for several hours, have some breakfast, contemplate returning to bed". Maybe will try to add laundry in there?

Insent, Pix.

I think the instant pot has to happen. In part because my rice cooker is shot and needs to be replaced anyway. I love yogurt so worth a try for that.

I haven't done my April plan yet pending my nutritionist appt on Wednesday. Today I had Italian wedding soup which was yum. I took some tuna steaks out to thaw and will likely grill kabobs with them and some peppers or whatever I find in the fridge.

The whole decision making thing is the worst for me. I need to have a plan. Have to check out my leftovers in the freezer for the next couple days, because not sure what the path is going to be after Wednesday.

Exciting Tuesday planned with son, DIL, and her parents. The 6 of us are doing an escape room after we do tacos and sangria. I think it should go well because we have 6 totally different brain types, IMO.