Hola and Shalom Y’all! I’m Lana Horruitiner Perez and first I want to thank you for taking the time to check out my blog. I am a Jewish Cuban-American mom to 2 teenagers, a wife to my high school sweetheart, a former educator turned stay-at-home mom, and Instant Pot devotee! My husband and I are originally from Miami, FL but after college and kids, we have lived all over the United States. Arkansas, Michigan, Arizona, Virginia, Florida, and now New York City. Though it’s hard moving away from family, food has always kept us grounded in our culture and gave us a lifeline to our family and friends.

The tool that gets the most use in our kitchen is the Instant Pot Smart Bluetooth 6 QT pressure cooker. I am notorious for being forgetful, and I would never remember to defrost the meat beforehand which would lead to a lot of take out and fast food. So, the thought of being able to cook food quickly without having to defrost it was the main selling point. However, I couldn’t find many authentic Cuban and Jewish Instant Pot recipes online so I decided to convert my family recipes into Instant Pot recipes, myself. The more I shared them on social media, the more friends and family would ask for the recipe until one day my former fourth grade teacher (and favorite teacher of all time) commented that I should write my own blog and cookbook! And I always listen to my teachers….so I did.

I also love baking, though I am fairly new to it. Most of my recipes come from America’s Test Kitchen, which I am obsessed with. I never really liked baking before and it wasn’t until after I lost over 100 lbs that I started to really enjoy it. Go figure. Some of my other obsessions are horses, photography, Star Trek, Musicals, and Disney.