Slow cookers

[SilverSparkle]

Hi,

A friend of mine mentioned she had bought a slow cooker recently and how fantastic it is. She said that she puts her meal in it in the morning and by the time she gets in from a full days work, dinner is ready!!

Is it really this simple? So i could do this and have dinner ready by the time i get in at the end of the day with the kids?

Any recommendations of a good slow cooker please?

Thanks

yes it's really that simple.

we have a bog standard morphy richards one that i use at least 3x/week.

have a search on slow cookers in the food and recipes section and it's a wealth of info.

SS - my slow cooker was turned on, on Sunday. I made a large beef casserole and popped in swede, carrots, half pound of beef, tin tomatos and some pearl barley.

We had it for dinner Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, might not be that exciting, but it is warm hot comfort food and it is good for you.

Monday we had with mash, Tuesday I added dumplings and wednesday we had it with more dumplings.

Just turned the slow cooker of on at night and turned back on in the morning.

Just had the last smallish protion for lunch.

Wow, how come i have never heard of these! I am so behind the times from the sounds of it!

Ok, so their afe to leave on all day? do they have timers?

Can anything be cooked in them ie roast dinners? Pasta?

some have timers, yes!

they're safe to leave on all day and use far less energy than your oven.

They almost sound too good to be true....i'm going to buy one this weekend cos i've only read positive things about them.

Thanks!!!

I have had one for 18 years, not the same one, but where have you been??

Exactly, thats what i'm wondering, where have i been!!

Sainsbos have 20% off a Morphy Richards one. I think it was £19....something like that. Stainless/black.

I sometimes just pop everything in the slow cooker (always raw, I never brown anything of first) on a Friday night, then will eat Saturday lunch time (when I get in from work) then leave on until Saturday eve and eat another meal, leave on until Sunday lunch and have the same thing again.

Then take out the remains of the casserole and freeze (there will probably be three portions left.

Then two weeks later get the casserole out on Friday morning and let it defrost and do the same thing.

Casseroles/stews are to my mind always better the second and thrid time. Casseroles can be added to as you go along, so you can put another tin of tomatos in or some more stock - a few mushrooms or a few whole shallots.

My slow cooker is so old, that the crock is fixed to the outer element and is difficult to wash It is around 35 years old though and was my mothers

My friend has cooked a whole chicken in her slow cooker, I have another friend who will cook a large pasta meal for her family and then put it in the slow cooker to keep warm as they all eat at different times - so can just come in and help themselves.

Plenty of slow cooker books on amazon, if you do need a recipe.

I am going to use mine over Christmas when I have people in for dinner, I shall make stroganof and then the oven is free for a hot pudding (I only have one oven)

I have just done morrocan lamb in mine which we will be having tomorrow afternoon (have guests coming).

Tis perfect for stews of any type and joints of meat. I did a piece of beef in it on Monday.

please, please, please can I have your morracan lamb recipe?

I've got this Tesco's one which does the job nicely.

I did like the look of this one as it would take up less space on the work top.

(you can't order it online though)

Furball - tis really easy to do

1 can chickpeas
2 large aubergines, diced
2 tins chopped toms
piece of rolled shoulder of lamb - chopped up or neck fillets or bought diced lamb (I have probably used around 2 1bs)
2tbs ground corriander
2tbs ground cumin
a good grating of nutmeg
2 chillis (deseeded and finely chopped)
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
4 gloves garlic
1 tsp vinegar
salt and pepper for seasoning
a big handful chopped fresh parsley
a big handful chopped fresh corriander
oil to fry off meat etc

I cube my lamb and mix all the dry spices together and make sure the lamb is well covered with them.

Heat the oil in a big pan and fry off the lamb (might need two batches so it does not steam), add your chilli, ginger and garlic and the diced aubergine - keep everything on the move.

Add your chickpeas and tomatoes and either do on top of the gas until the meat is tender or bung into the slow cooker like I did.

Just before serving, stir in the parsley and corriander.

You can adjust the spices to your liking.

I have got guests tomorrow and my Mum (who is one of them) does not like lamb so I have done this recipe which is so easy to do and a slight take on the lamb one lemon spiced chicken.

sounds scrummy bella - thank you!