I finally decided that I wanted decent pizza crust enough to make it myself, but not enough to actually maintain a sourdough starter. Or knead it repeatedly. This recipe yields a great flavor and wonderful texture, and there’s no real kneading to speak of. It does however take about 24 hours, so you have to think ahead.

Chinese soft noodles with vegetables and sauce. Kind of like fried rice, only with noodles.

When I want to bring something sweet to a potluck lunch but I don’t want to put much effort into it, this is a great option. However, it really does need about 4 hours of chill time to work correctly.

This is another of my go-tos in the summer when it gets too hot to turn the oven on. It does take a while to chill, though.

I love french fries, but I hate the oil mess they make. And the fact that they’re always soggy because I can’t heat enough oil. This recipe solves those problems, though it does dirty 2 pans instead of 1.

I got this recipe from Adam Ragusea (my current favorite YouTube cooking channel), but I haven’t yet decided if they’re worth the effort. The taste and texture are absolutely fabulous, but working with the condensed milk is a complete nightmare. I guess as long as you don’t mind an upper-body workout and 20 minutes of cleanup, it’s not that bad…

This is my favorite potato salad recipe, and using the Instant Pot makes it a bit quicker. The addition of the vinegar makes it somewhat like a German potato salad.

Something like cheesecake, for when I won’t let anybody turn the oven on.

For the rare times I still make up a stir fry, this works as a base to start things.

I used to be able to easily find soda bread at the grocery store for our St. Patrick’s Day feast of corned beef and cabbage, but I’ve had trouble with that here in Idaho. So we make this homemade version instead.

My mother makes this cheese ball for family gatherings, so when I got the recipe from her, I wanted to make sure I could always find it. It works great with all kinds of crackers.

This is a copycat version of the Olive Garden restaurant soup. It’s another great recipe for cold weather, especially served with fresh, homemade rolls.

I wanted a low effort sweet and sour rice dish, and this was the best I could find. I do need to check into finding a different meat to use that doesn’t require any more effort, though.

This is truly comfort food on a cold winter evening. And with the Instant Pot, the whole thing can be done in an hour.

This Basmati Rice flavored with aromatic spices makes the perfect bed for any curry.

My wife and I love Indian food, but most of the recipes I’ve tried at home haven’t come out nearly as good as what we can get at the restaurant, so I usually don’t bother. She finally talked me into trying this one, and although butter chicken isn’t one of my favorites (it’s at the milder end of the spectrum), this turned out really well.

I always liked Cream of Wheat cereal growing up, but we didn’t have it very often. And while we’ve been raising our kids, we’ve usually opted for hot cereals that I could buy in bulk, since they end up much cheaper. But this week I found that our local WinCo sells Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Farina in bulk, so I bought some to see how it compares. Turns out it tastes just like I remember, for pennies per serving.

Yet another something I dug up for our Christmas in Bethlehem dinner. This was probably the most exotic thing I served, and I may have been the only one who enjoyed it. That being said, a little goes a long way.

When we did our Christmas in Bethlehem dinner, I needed some kind of bread to go with it. Barley is probably more traditional than wheat, so I went with this recipe.

I originally put this together for a Christmas in Bethlehem dinner, but it turned out well enough that I thought I’d better record the recipe, if only in case we make the Christmas Eve dinner thing a tradition.