Behind me, in the kitchen, the pressure cooker is blowing its steamy, rhythmic whistle. Inside is a stuffed artichoke that will be my dinner. Do you like artichokes? I love them. My favorite preparation is to do a little mix of bread crumbs, garlic powder and grated parmesan and then spoon a little into the base of each leaf. I think cook it in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes and take out a tender creation. Leaf by leaf, I pluck it and scrape the veggie to the bottom. Yum!
I’m a big fan of using the pressure cooker. It cuts off so much cooking time for a variety of things. Usually it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to steam or boil a whole artichoke. 15 minutes in the pressure cooker. I’ve done stuffed pork chops that come out moist and tender also in 15 minutes — a third of the time. Last week I cooked beets. I’ve done short ribs that fell off the bone. This method of cooking also packs in the moisture so foods don’t get dry and tough.
Anyway, if you’ve cooked in a pressure cooker and have a recipe to share, I’d love to read it!
On to the blog post topic. Tomorrow is a week since I had the acupuncture treatment. My next one is tomorrow. I’ve been out of the boot since Sunday and my followup appointment with the foot doc is also tomorrow. I can happily report that I have experienced tremendous reduction in pain in my left heel and tendon. So the combination of the plasma rich platelet therapy and the acupuncture is definitely working. I’m adding in the effects of acupuncture, even if I only had one treatment, because I also was treated for pain in my right knee and, wow, has there been a big, noticeable difference! So, I’m definitely a believer in the effectiveness of acupuncture!
You probably recall that I also spoke to the practitioner about my eating disorder. I cannot claim that the treatment has completely removed the compulsion this week, but there has definitely been improvement here, too. I am not obsessing so much about food. Food and eating are not constantly on my mind. I’m able to put some distance between a trigger and action which give me a chance to not act on the trigger and eat.
Perfect? No. Much better? Yes, for sure. Overall, these improvements lead to me being much calmer about myself and my disease which is also greatly beneficial. It makes me feel better and healthier overall when I don’t feel like the disease is controlling me or that I’m locked into a downward spiral of eating-eating-eating. It’s not a miracle and I don’t expect a total fix. However, if the acupuncture treatments continue to help, it gives me peace and the ability to follow the healthy food plan; the healthy course of action.
Weighty Matters 
Oh boy, I love my pressure cooker. But I tend to use it in the winter. Mostly I make chicken stock. 2 lbs. fresh or frozen chicken wings or thighs, one roughly chopped onion, several bay leaves, and that’s about it. Remember, it’s the base for your soup, so you don’t need more than the chicken flavour at this point. It’s a Test Kitchen recipe if you want the exacts.
Hmm. I never thought of using it for stock. I make mine stovetop with a picked over chicken carcass, onions, celery, carrots, fresh thyme and so on.