Never cooked before. Going to buy a slow cooker. How do I use herbs and spices? Any recipes?

[TotallyAndUtterlyPaninied]

I literally have no idea. I'm not cook-minded.

Was super excited tonight because I made cheese and beans on toast for DP, DS and me.

So I am ready to be a project for all those who can cook... but I only do quick and easy.

Thank you so much to anyone who answers!

I'm not sure on the slow cooker, but a really good place to start with the basics is Delia. She did a range of books called how to cook and they are very detailed. You could probably get them at the library and she does have a website with lots of stuff.

Good luck!

slow cooker,
buy cheepo chicken thighs or drummers. Sling in slow cooker with some water and a crumbled stock cube.
Leave all day on low by tea time done, gorgeous!

if you are feeling adventurous cut up an onion and some carrots and some new potatoes and sling in a pack of chicken cassarole with soem chicken.
made this last week for tea and it was delish and all done by tea time.

This section of MN is your best friend! No need to buy a book at all.

Do a search on 'slow cooker' in this section for, say, the past year and you will come up trumps majorly.

I use mine about 3x/week.

Going to put some chicken drumsticks and thighs in tonight before bed as am leaving DH on his own with our 3 tomorrow and that way, he'll have a no-hassle lunch ready (made a carrot/lentil soup earlier).

Have a look at this blog.

ohhh slow cookers are lovely, and v easy to use.
BBC food website is pretty good and you can type three ingredients into their search and you get a list of various recipes to try out...
So slow cookers...

switch it on.
Get some stewing beef/lamb (a butcher will always give you some fantastic cuts)
chop up some onion, carrot, celery, whatever you fancy.
toss the meat in some seasoned plain flour (touch of salt/pepper/mixed herbs if you like).
Heat some oil in a frying pan. fry off the meat so it's brown - but it doesn't need very long and it doesn't need to be cooked through at all, just sealed. Throw the veg in as well.
Boil the kettle.
Make up some stock (i'd say beef stock but whatever you have).
Chuck the contents of the frying pan in the slow cooker. Add the stock, perhaps not quite covering the meat. Throw in anything else you fancy - bay leaves are nice, couple of whole peppercorns...whatever you fancy. Potatoes are nice too - peeled and chopped. They can be raw.

Cover and leave for a few hours. If I'm organised that means the whole day.
When you get home it's been cooking nice and slowly and the meat will be so tender and lovely.
Dumplings go really nicely with this - REALLY easy to make (follow the instructions on the side of the suet packet) you can drop them in about an hour before you eat it, or chuck em in the oven.

Sorry it's not very precise but that's the joy of slow cookers - it's a sort of suck it and see.
Good luck!! Let us know how it goes!

chicken curry,
chunks chicken,
jar curry sauce (89p Asda) a chopped onion, chopped red pepper
on low, ready by tea time.

boil up some rice, 20 mins, done and delish.

Fab loving this thread already. Expat- definately going to try that baked potato soup. Never would have thought of it.

Does anyone know what herbs to put with what? And what spices go together?

Just stock up on some basics (all very inexpensive) in your local supermarket (own brand herbs are fine):

salt
pepper
cumin
paprika
mixed herbs
oregano
basil
thyme
dill
mint
parsley
onion granules
garlic granules
mild chilli powder
lemon pepper
mixed spice

I'm going to make the curry tomorrow. DP is nervous lol. Do I cook the chicken before I put it in slow cooker?

cumin, chilli powder and paprika are all good with beef dishes (not all at once, of course).

lemon pepper, sage, tarragon, thyme and rosemary are good with chicken (not all at once, of course).

salt and pepper good with anything.

if you have a Lakeland in your town try their 'Good with Everything' flavouring mix.

apparently, you don't have to cook the chicken before you add all the other stuff, but i usually put it in a baking dish, drizzle with a little oil, cover with foil and bake at 180 for about 20-30 minutes and then put it in the slow cooker.

i dont, i jsut sling it in raw. been fine so far, no poorly tummies in this house.

You can do the same with mince and spag bol jar/packet mix. just sling in some mushrooms, (dotn even need to chop um) and a chopped onion.
put some pasta on with water and a bit of salt till its soft them dish up.

chilli, same thing mince, (i use quorn mince)tin of them red beans, chopped onion, red pepper& jar chilli sauce. make a bit of rice, by tea time its all done. easy.

put it all on in the morning (OR night before then into the fridge overnight)By the time its 5ish, its cooked with no interference at all.

Sausages and sausage casarolsame thing again. easy