I am always cautious about making sure that my recipe posts don’t turn into complaint bombs of the misdeeds that the little tot has conducted. But my life revolves around him every second of my life (at least it does when I’m not working at the office), and he is practically always by my side. Yes, almost always. Even when he plays with his toys, he will make sure that I am within sight and within his radar – once I step out of the room, or show any intention to do so, he will immediately shoot up, head towards the door and lead me back into the room. I’m constantly held captive by this little mobile energy power bank. Help!
Recently, the boy started to come out of his secluded world a little and began to understand the positive implications that come from giving me some space and time to complete my chores in the kitchen. For instance, he gave me 5 minutes (not a lot but good enough!) worth of his time to wait quietly in the kitchen while I kept the laundry away; the remaining two hours or so of my evening was dedicated to his play time. That’s not a bad deal, considering I could get at least one thing done before I sold my life away to him. Another example was when he understood what I meant when I said that I needed time to cook rice for him. Well, his lunch and tummy were in my hands and that quite convinced him enough to stay away for a bit of time while I set the table up for lunch.
It still means though that I’ll always have to be quick in whatever I do lest he starts to get impatient and lose it, because once he does, the rest of the day goes downhill from there and I’ll have no peace and quiet forever. I’m therefore relying a lot on my pressure cooker to churn out appetising dishes because it’s so convenient and easy to clean up after that – five minutes – that’s all the time I have !
One of my most successful recipes (and probably my favourite one so far) is this instant pot mac and cheese recipe. It’s so fast (unbelievably fast!) and so yummy you’ve got to try it at home too, even if you have no little ones to bug you for it. And if you do have, well, your little ones are definitely in for a yummy good treat.
Ingredients:
- Bacon: 4 strips
- Olive oil: 1 tbsp
- Butter: 1/2 tbsp + 2 tbsp
- Breadcrumb: 1 cup
- Macaroni: 200g
- Salt: a pinch
- Water: 2 cups
- Egg: 1
- Evaporated milk: 180ml
- Mild cheddar: 90g, grated
- Sharp cheddar: 200g, grated
Method:
- Bake bacon strips for 10 – 15 min at 200 degrees Celsius until golden brown and crispy. Cool down, break into bits with the back of a knife and set aside.
- Heat oil and 1/2 tbsp butter in wok. Stir in breadcrumbs. Stir-fry for 5min till golden brown. Set aside.
- Place macaroni, salt and water into pressure cooker. Press ‘Soup’, ‘keep pressure time’ and then set to cook for 4min. Release pressure and drain water away.
- Set cooker to ‘warm’ mode. Stir in 2 tbsp butter.
- In a separate bowl, beat together egg and evaporated milk. Add this to the macaroni.
- Stir both cheeses into the macaroni.
- Top with bacon, breadcrumb bits and extra grated cheese to serve.
Disclaimers:
- This recipe was kindly adapted from Pressure Cook Recipes’ ‘Loaded Instant Pot Mac and Cheese‘. I love the bacon bits and breadcrumbs in this recipe. It makes the mac and cheese taste like heaven!
- I did not even have to add salt to the macaroni as the cheeses were salty enough to lift the taste of the macaroni.
Serving:
2 – 3 persons
