The inspiration for this ice cream began when I had a similar flavor at a local artisan ice cream shop. The sweetness of fennel and the floral notes from the Ylang Ylang essential oil just sang to me. And because I can source grassfed cream from the same local farm, making our own version was a no brainer. It is good….no REALLY good. It is silky, sweet, and luxurious. The addition of the candied fennel seeds also gives it a delightful crunch…as well as that green color (as I explain below). We have made it with regular fennel seeds too and it is just as yummy, but I prefer the candies. It makes about 5-6 small servings and that is more than enough for this really rich and satisfying dessert.

Ylang Ylang and Fennel Ice Cream

1 pint heavy cream (grassfed)
1 can organic sweetened condensed milk
1/4 C candied fennel seeds
3 Drops fennel essential oil
3 Drops Ylang Ylang essentially oil

Whip the cream, condensed milk, and oils to soft peaks and transfer to the freezer or an ice cream maker. Sprinkle with more candied fennel seeds for a crunch. It is a deliciously decadent and silky smooth ice cream! Oh and the green color is due to the constant rotation of the ice cream in our ice maker and transference of the candy dye. Regular fennel can be used as well, just toast them first for the best flavor. Enjoy!

So I got a wonderfully large head of cabbage from my local CSA delivery service this week and I wanted to try my hand at making cabbage rolls. As often happens though, when the time comes to actually make the recipe, it seems like too much work. Blanch the rolls to soften them, fill them up, roll them, cooking time is too long, etc.

Instant Pot to the rescue. I took all the ingredients I wanted to use for my cabbage rolls and tossed it all in the Instant Pot. In six minutes we had a lovely deconstructed cabbage roll soup. It was a pretty big hit. Even my picky kids ate it. I love how much time and effort it did NOT take.

Instant Pot Deconstructed Cabbage Rolls

2 lbs ground beef or ground beef/ground turkey mix
1 Packet or equivalent homemade taco seasoning
1 Medium yellow onion
4 Cloves garlic
8 Ounce can tomato sauce
14 Ounce can diced tomatoes
1 Cup beef broth
1 Head of green cabbage (sliced in ribbons)
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the ground meat in the taco seasoning. When done, add the onions and garlic and stir around until they are tender and almost translucent. Transfer to the Instant Pot and add the tomato sauce, dice tomatoes, beef broth, salt and pepper, and the cabbage. Cook on manual for six minutes. Enjoy!

So you have an instant pot and you want to make yogurt. Everyone is making yummy yogurt in their Instant Pot’s right? Sadly, all the recipes you come across tell you to use the yogurt button and you don’t have that button because you have the Lux version. Well you too can make yogurt, no worries.

Here is is the basic process…

How to Make Yogurt in a Lux Instant Pot

Add a half gallon of milk (I prefer whole, organic) to the pot. Select the keep warm feature. In about 30-40 minutes it will be good and warm. I like to let it warm up more gradually and I like to make yogurt while I am doing other things…like house cleaning. Once warm, give it a good whisking and then press the saute button to heat it further until you get to 180-185 degrees. Use a thermometer to be sure.

Once it has reached full temperature remove the inner pot and allow it to cool to about 110 degrees. Once it has cooled sufficiently add two heaping tablespoons of plain yogurt and whisk. Put it back inside the instant pot, which is now turned off, seal the lid, and close the vent. Wrap the whole Instant Pot unit in a towel and allow it to sit for 8 hours or overnight. When done remove the pot, transfer to a glass storage bowl, and place in the refrigerator. Enjoy! You now have homemade yogurt!

This recipe makes super creamy yogurt. If you want thicker, greek style yogurt, simply let the yogurt strain through cheesecloth for a couple hours to remove the whey. This will leave you with a thicker yogurt.

So you are brand new to kombucha brewing. Or maybe you have tried your own brew and decided you are ready to branch out and be more adventurous with flavors. Either way, here are a few recipes that are good for beginners to try and easy to add to your routine.

Basic Kombucha Recipe

If you are just trying to make a basic kombucha you will need a few items. Keep in mind, most of these items are available in kombucha kits but you can also reuse items you already have. I use bulk pickle jars. You will need jars, cheesecloth or People Towels (my fave), rubber bands to secure the cloth to the top of the jar, and a wooden cooking spoon. For the kombucha itself, you will need black loose leaf tea or black tea bags, white sugar, filtered water, and Kombucha SCOBY. The SCOBY is the yeast activator for kombucha. You will combine the hot water and sugar in the jar. Add the tea bags or tea and allow it to steep, cool down the mix, add the SCOBY, and let it ferment for three to 30 days.

Ginger Kombucha

All you need for ginger kombucha is fresh ginger, the basic kombucha tea mix, and some turmeric powder. Make the basic kombucha as normal. When the kombucha has fermented, before you add it to the bottles that you want to use, drain off the kombucha into the bottles. Add ½ tablespoon of fresh ginger and ¼ tsp of turmeric powder. Mix well and place in the fridge to cool.

Chia Seed Kombucha

If you are working on a weight loss routine, then you may already know the benefits of adding the superfood chia seed to your diet. You can make a powerful kombucha that contains this superfood. When you have removed your kombucha tea from the fermentation process, drain the tea and begin pouring it into your bottles. Add ½ cup of rehydrated chia seeds to each bottle. You can now get the power of the superfood along with the power of the bacteria in the kombucha.

Keep in mind, each kombucha recipe starts with a base that is very similar. You can use that base of tea, water, and yeast and build on that with your own ideas and recipes. Don’t become discouraged if the new recipes you create don’t workout. You can keep trying and find your own special drinks that work for you.

I came across delicious taro for the first time in an Asian market where I ordered taro bubble tea. I ordered it because the of the lovely purple color but quickly fell in love with the flavor. Afterwards I would often buy taro buns or taro popsicles from this same market as occasional treats. Last week I noticed that the thai market had several boxes of taro root for sale and I bought some to make homemade ice cream. The recipe is super simple (only 3 ingredients!) and the finished product is quite yummy.

Ingredients:

1 large taro root (1 cup)
1 can coconut milk
3/4 sugar (thai coconut sugar works well)

Directions:

Skin the taro root and chop into one inch chunks. Steam or boil until soft. Add to one cup coconut milk in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring as needed. Allow to cool for 20 minutes and then add to a food processor or vita-mix to puree. Refrigerate until completely cool and then add to your ice cream maker. We used a Cuisinart ice cream maker and it was done in about 25 minutes.

The texture is slightly grainy due to the potato texture of the taro. If this bothers you then I suggest using grassfed cream instead of coconut milk. Coconut milk is the traditional Thai ingredient but cream gives it silkiness. Either way, this ice cream is not super sweet and it makes enough for five small servings. Enjoy!