I go through phases with my Instant Pot. Sometimes I love it and use it all the time. Other times it will go back into my pantry and I’ll forget about it for months. When it’s hot, it’s hot and when it’s not, it’s not. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who has this kind of relationship with their pressure cooker. Any small appliance, really. Out of sight, out of mind!

Well, today I have a recipe for Instant Pot Risotto with Shrimp and Veggies that is well worth bringing your instant pot out of hiding for. I promise! If you love risotto, but don’t love having to babysit it on the stovetop for a long time, this recipe is for you!…

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I love this time of year…when the last of the summer heat starts to fade away and the cooler temps make an appearance every now and then, giving us a taste of what’s soon to come. You all know I adore summer, but as soon as school is back in session, I’m ready to move on to days of open windows, flannel shirts and light, cozy blankets. There’s just something about fall that makes me really happy….

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Sometimes there are recipes that I make for my family so often, I am shocked when I realize I’ve never shared them here on Dine & Dish. These Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches are one such recipe. You guys, we eat this open faced sandwiches all the time. Truly, we have them at least once a month, and in the 11 years I’ve been blogging I’ve never shared the recipe with you. I’m not sure why that is, but today is the day you’ll find out all about our favorite slow cooker roast beef sandwiches!…

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Oh, what a week. We had our heating and cooling company come on Monday to do our annual winter furnace tune up. That all went fine and well until Monday night, when we realized our furnace had stopped working. Assuming it was an easy fix, we called the heating and cooling company and they came back out on Tuesday. Still not working. They replaced our furnace on Wednesday because our furnace was 13 years old. So, $3300 later and a new furnace and guess what…still not working. It’s now Friday and they have been out every day this week for hours and hours trying to figure out what’s going on. Meanwhile, the temps have been in the 20’s, and you know how I feel about cold… I am NOT a fan. …

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I wonder if I searched Dine & Dish, how many times over the past 11 years I have mentioned joining weight watchers? I’m guessing at least 5. Here I am again, admitting that I’ve joined Weight Watchers. Over the past couple of years I’ve lost 35 pounds, then gained 45. Now I am desperate to stop this darn cycle of struggling with my weight.

I lost the 35 pounds by being on an incredibly restrictive, low calorie, low carb, high protein diet. After losing the weight (and my hair – wierd) and reaching my goal, I realized that although the weight loss wasn’t all that hard to do, sticking with that restrictive of a diet for the rest of my life was not feasible. I missed wine. And bread. So in typical Kristen all or nothing fashion (remember me talking about that before?), I went full on the opposite plan, and gained all the weight I lost and more. Ugh….

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I’m slowly giving into the fact that it’s no longer summer. The weather in Kansas has been so wishy washy…75 one day, 30 another. I’ve been holding onto those 75 degree days with all my might, but they have been slowly disappearing, giving way to gray skies and colder temperatures. I think we saw our last warm day for awhile at the beginning of this week.

With the cold weather comes the return to comfort food…those dishes that aren’t so popular in the hotter days of summer resurface for the season. My attempt to hold onto summer sometimes shows up in what I make for comfort food. For example, we have Ham and Swiss sandwiches all the time in the summer so to “winterize” that favorite, I like to make a Ham and Swiss soup. This is one of my absolute favorite “hearty” soups to make, for good reason. The flavors blend together so nicely and it really is one of those soups that warms you up from the inside out….

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Wow…what a week, huh? In fact, I bubbled myself up as much as possible, shut down Facebook, and reached out to friends in person to chat. I feel like Facebook and even Twitter to some extent tends to feed that inner anxious girl in me, and I just can’t handle it sometimes. Getting out into the real world and having real life, civil conversations with people who agree and even don’t agree with you can really do wonders. It’s amazing what can happen when we really listen to each other. Give it a try..it’ll make you feel better, I promise!

With that being said, if you, dear reader, need a safe place to turn, please reach out to me. I think the only thing worse than turning to social media during this time is letting your thoughts and feelings stew inside. I’m happy to lend an ear and hopefully give you solace. Consider this my safety pin. …

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I recently returned from a “Disney Vacation” of sorts. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to explore Walt Disney World with a group of talented bloggers, take advantage of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival and eat my way through all of the various Disney parks and several properties.

I first went to Walt Disney World when I was in 6th grade…our family camped and I remember going to Magic Kingdom and Epcot and loving it, but it was a very short vacation…not enough time to experience everything Disney has to offer. Since 6th grade, I’ve returned once for a 1 day Magic Kingdom visit with my family, but we’ve never done a full on Disney Vacation.

As you can imagine, things have changed drastically since I was first at Disney World 30 years ago. My recent blogging trip made me realize that there’s a lot I really don’t know about Disney Vacations – it was all so new to me. I thought I’d share some of the more obscure tips and tricks I gathered for those of you experiencing a Disney Vacation for the first time (or the first time in a long time!). (This is a long and picture heavy post, but hopefully you’ll gain some valuable insight for when you make your Disney Vacation dreams come true!)…

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