Slow cooker - favourite (easy) recipes

[bigboobsatlast]

Yes, I know it is summer (not that you would know if you looked out the window) and I should be doing all things salad-y, but I have newborn twins and a 2yo.... have lived off ready meals for the last few weeks and need to get cooking again. To help make things easier for us I thought I would get the old slow cooker on the go... that way we can just spoon ourselves out a portion when we are free to eat (rarely at the same time). However, my recipes are limited. Any one got any recommendations? easier the better - preferably very little or no 'pre-cooking' before piling it all in the slow cooker.

Not posted in here before so hope you don't mind me just picking your brains!

Thanks

My favourite veggie one

Gently fry a big chopped up onion with a big finely diced carrot in 2 tbsp olive oil. When softened add a couple of cloves of garlic and cook a couple of minutes longer. Pour into the slow cooker.

Then add:
3 tins of beans, drained and rinsed (I like cannellini, butter bean and kidney but any combo will do); a lemon, thinly sliced and each slice quartered; a tin of chopped tomatoes, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 3 tsp chilli sauce (e.g. Waitrose's ingredients), 1 tsp sugar, salt and pepper. Stir well. Cook on Low for 4-8 hours. Serve with plenty of grated cheese on top.

This sounds a bit weird but it is absolutely delicious, I think the lemon makes it. Also freezes like a dream.

Will be stalking the thread!

Hi boobs, not stalking you I promise!
There was a similar thread a while ago that I was watching too
m.mumsnet.com/Talk/food/1453155-Two-meals-slow-cooked-so-far-Two-piles-of-inedible-slop

500g stewing beef, 200g bean soup mix (presoaked if you can be bothered), seasoning to taste, pinch each 2-3 herbs/clove of garlic/whatever, 1pt stock, tin toms, tbsp tomato puree

Whack it on low for 4 hours or so. Add sweetcorn and spinach at the last minute.

1 medium chicken, 1 onion, pack of mushrooms

Tbsp oil in bottom of dish. Chop onions and mushies into big bits. Put chicken on top, spread with butter, season.

Whack it on low for 4 hours or so.

Remove legs and breasts and eat as roast dinner/sandwiches. Pick off leftover scraps of chicken and add to cooked veggies. Add a jar of curry sauce and more cooked veg (eg carrots, sweet potato, chick peas), stir through. Refrigerate or freeze then microwave as necessary.

look here

and here

Thank you!

Cureal - I will give that a go and trust you on the lemon!

Purple - love the idea of whacking a while chicken in, a sort of roast dinner. Yum.

ThanksHatti, will look through the links later and see what I can find.

And, Ceevee - we have got to stick together haven't we?!

Ready meal again last night but I did open a bag of lettuce do some salad with it :) MOnday is day one of 'return to cooking'!

Oh - and congratulations on the twins by the way! How wonderful! Aren't they the reason ready meals/takeaways/ bags of lettuce were invented :)

I've just been googling the recipe books for slow cookers on Amazon and ordered this
www.amazon.co.uk/Slow-Cook-Fast-Food-wholesome/dp/1905862415/ref=pd_sim_b_12
The 'look inside' section details the first few recipes which are exactly the sort of thing I like (red pepper and tomato soup, butternut squash soup etc) and the index of recipes looks fabulous.

Sorry, I'll get to mine eventiually...

some more

Congratulations on the twins :) how wonderful!

DD(2) likes this recipe which I got from on here ages ago, and which is referred to as "Mumsnet Chicken" in our house!

Mumsnet Chicken

Ingredients

a whole chicken
a lemon
500ml orange juice (sainsburys basics seems to work just fine!)
tablespoon of honey
salt and pepper

Method

Get a fork and stab the lemon a few times. Put the lemon in the chicken cavity.

Put the chicken in the slow cooker breast side down (so "upside down" to how you'd normally roast one - the idea is that the breast is then firmly in the liquid when it's added and therefore the meat will be nice and moist).

Pour in the juice and the honey, then season with salt and pepper.

Cook on high for 5-6 hours (check cooked through before serving).

In summer we have it with rice and courgettes and peas, in winter I do mashed potatoes and cauli cheese.

Leftover chicken is lovely with pasta and a bit of boursin stirred through, and some sundried tomatoes/roasted peppers if you have any hanging about!

there are more MN slow cooker recipes here :)

I have written down my slow cooker recipes here, but my favourite & easiest one is Ginger Soup.
Chop up 2 onions, 2 garlic cloves, a good thumb of ginger, 3 carrots, 2 parsnips & 1 sweet potato & bung in the slow cooker along with 175g red lentils & 1litre stock. I usually get DH to do this in the evening & set the timer plug to come on (on high) at around 5am. I blitz it after breakfast & turn it down to low, then eat at lunchtime.

The leftovers go into the freezer for an even quicker & easier lunch another day

Was going to post a similar question myself, thanks op!! Will be using some of these recipes - yum!