I tried the new Starbucks Pineapple Refresher

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  I had stars that were going to expire so I decided to try the new refresher. I have seen some reviews of people that love it and others of people that hate it. It’s often sold out but I was in a location where they had it.  I am not really a fan of pineapple flavours. I like other refreshers from Starbucks and I love passion fruit so thought it might be good. There are options to add coconut milk or lemonade. I always get coconut milk in my coffee but I don’t like it in refreshers and I always like lemonade. The drink at first seemed okay but it had a strange bitter aftertaste after each sip. I am not sure the addition of the lemonade made it like that but my mom and I both didn’t like it. It was drinkable but not something I would order again. I will stick to the the Mango Dragon Fruit refresher as my go to refresher from Starbucks.  Let me know if you have tried it in the comments or on Instagram @livingottawalocal.
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November 8, 2017 using an Instapot for the first time vegetarian pasta

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I used to have a multicooker which I loved the problem is once the pot scratched on the inside I couldn't find a replacement pot. I always knew the Instapot would be better because of the stainless steel pot and the slow cooker function but it was always something I didn't need. I had a pressure cooker and the soup maker.

When I saw the Instapot was going on sale at London drugs for $60 off I told my friend I would give her my electric pressure cooker. The pressure cooker was too big for the small meals I make and I wasn't using it. The instapot was sold out before I got it but my friend still got my pressure cooker and she is happily pressure cooking large batches of ginger tea. My microwave has also stopped working and I decided I don't need a new one.

The only problem I have been having with no microwave is warming food I have to do in a frying pan and cooking pasta.  This makes more dishes than I want to wash. I figured the instapot will help me as I can heat food and cook pasta with one pot to wash. I bought an older version at regular price of $109 and debated on if I should return it and wait for a sale or just keep it and save money on eating out.

After reading lots of reviews I decided to keep it and open the box. I intend to make pasta in it tonight. I have unboxed it and am reading the manual now. It says to do a test run with water so I am going to go do that now. Right now I love the look of the stainless steel pot and am happy that it came with a spoon and a ladle.


The water is successfully cooking in the pot for my test run. I can smell the water cooking, it smells like the new plastic I am assuming this is just the newness smell. I can't find a recipe on how to cook pasta for my version of the machine so hopefully my experiment works out.

The test run is done. I was wondering how I would know when it is done the pot beeps and switches to keep warm. The instructions say unplug the machine and wait for it to cool. I don't know how long I have to wait for it to cool. The pressure didn't come out of the seal like my other pots used so I am curious what will happen when I open the pot. I don't know how long I have to wait for it to cool. After I waited 5 minutes I turned the dial to vent and a lot of steam came out luckily I know from my past cookers that could happen so I used an oven mitt to open it could be dangerous.






My ingredients are in the pot now I started with sautéing onions, mushrooms, and zuccinni which worked great. Then I added a bag of pasta, the jar of sauce, seasoning, and 3 jars full of water. I am using cheaper ingredients because I am not sure if it is going to work out. There is no pasta setting so first I pressed the button for multigrain and it said 40 minutes then I set it to rice that was 10 minutes. I started it on rice and then decided 10 minutes will be too long my past cookers took 6 and google says 4 so I manually put it to 5 minutes. I have noticed this cooker takes a really long time to come up to pressure I am hoping my pasta will turn out though.


Now the pot has beeped that it is done. I have turned it off and waiting for it to cool so I can open it and add the cheese and basil. I like how every time I open or close the lid it beeps the same beep that happens when you win on a lottery ticket makes me think I am a winner when I get the lid on. The pasta is cooked but the sauce is really watery. I put the cheese and basil in and put the cooker on warm to melt the cheese hopefully that will thicken the sauce a little. Next time I won't add as much water.
Time to eat

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