I like to plan my weekly meals as it saves me time, money and stress.
It’s a rather ‘normal’ week around here and the majority of meals will be slow cooked. I have to do an airport run tonight but forgot hubby is in London so I have to bundle the little one up and take her with me. Hopefully, our Thai Curry isn’t overcooked and turned to mush when we get home.
I’m out Tuesday night in London for an SEO event, however, I’m not feeling that enamoured as I overdid it a bit last night and I will need to sort out some childcare so we will see.
We’re trying to eat a bit more fish so you will see that we are having it on Wednesday and on Friday. Fingers crossed Madame likes the Risotto, but I do know she loves prawns.
Who said it was spring! Our poor daffodils that came up on the weekend have gone into shock. I just went to Morrison’s for my weekly shop and was hit by a freak blizzard!
Anyhow, other than the weather it’s a pretty normal week around here. Now that hubby is working from home I’m putting him to work in the kitchen and he is cooking on Tuesday. His signature dish is Gordon Ramsay style Steak and Chips.
Other than that the rest of the week will be slow cooked as always. On Wednesday, we’re having an Irish Stew and Soda Bread in anticipation of St Patrick’s day on the weekend.
I finally decided to take the plunge and start a new blog just for my slow cooker recipes. I was very conscious that I may be confusing my readers.
Those who subscribed just for recipes may not be interested in my parenting antics and those who were coming to laugh at my parenting ability (or lack of) and didn’t have a slow cooker, may not be interested in all the recipes.
Don’t worry if you have any of my old recipes bookmarked as they will stay put, but any new recipes will be posted on Slow Cooker Queen. So, feel free to pop over and subscribe to the new blog. I’d love to hear any of you feedback both positive and negative.
As for the name, Slow Cooker Queen, I genuinely don’t believe I’m royalty but on a few occasions I’ve been called this on Twitter so it seemed fitting and I’m always tickled when people do say it.
Thanks again for all your support and I do hope to see a few of you over there.
Since we’ve started using our Slow Cooker regularly we find that we are having way less Take Aways than we used to. Back in the day, by the time I got home from work, collected my daughter from childcare, bathed her and got her into bed. It was getting late and I couldn’t be bothered starting to cook, so we’d find ourselves whipping around the corner to McDonald’s or ordering in.
Last week I was inspired by Cabinet Stew to have a go at making Chinese Food in the Slow Cooker. It was a lovely change to the MSG filled ones that we were getting delivered and no more waking up in the middle of the night dying of thirst.
Slow Cooker Sunday – Chinese Food (Beef and Greens)
1 TBSP of Corn Flour dissolved into 2 TBSP of water
one small head of broccoli cut into bite sized pieces
1 tin (225g) of Bamboo Shoots and Water Chestnuts, drained.
Instructions
Place the beef and the onions in the bottom of the slower cooker season with pepper. In a mixing jug, combine the garlic, vinegar, sugar, ginger, soy sauce, orange zest, orange juice, spice and beef stock. Mix well and pour over the meat. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
An hour before serving stir in the cornflour, this should help it thicken and place the water chestnuts/shoots and broccoli on top. Replace the lid and cook for another hour. Gently mix before serving and serve on a bed of rice or noodles.
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Don’t forget Slow Cooker Sunday is all about sharing recipes and being inspired. Please add your favourite recipes by using the Linky below. They can be old or new and don’t have to be your own. As long as you have a web address they can be added. Alternatively, you can always add them in the comments section.
And if you subscribe to my blog, using the form in the sidebar you can get a free copy of my first ever eBook ‘There’s More to Slow Cooking than Stews – 10 Recipes to get you going’.
Disclosure: The meat was Courtesy of www.farmison.com; a one stop gourmet shop selling food and produce sourced from over 75 of the UK’s leading farms and producers. All the best quality, most popular and rarest cuts of award-winning meats, cheeses and greengrocer goods are all selected for their superior taste can all be delivered directly to the door of the home cook.
I was originally inspired by the Hairy Dieters (Bikers) Chicken Paprika Recipe. I didn’t buy the book because I’m on a diet, even though I should be, but because I was at a friend’s recently and she made the Lamb Tagine and it was amazing. I had a quick look through the book and saw quite a few recipes that I could adapt and that I wanted to cook.
It was a really nice midweek meal. However, next time I may consider adding more Paprika to give it more of a kick.
Slow Cooker Paprika Chicken
Recipe Type: Slow Cooker
Cuisine: Main
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
1 TBSP sunflower oil
2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
500 g chicken thighs, halved
2 cloves of garlic
1 TBSP paprika
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
300 ml of
chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
3 large peppers (red, green yellow) chopped into chunks
1 TBSP cornflour
1 TBSP water
Crème Fraiche
Instructions
Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Fry the chicken for approx 5 minutes until it is sealed. Add the onions and sauté for 2-3 minutes until they soften. Stir in the garlic and paprika and cook for another minute.
Transfer to the slow cooker. Pour in the tomatoes and stock, add the bay leaves, herbs and peppers. Mix well and cook and cover on low for at least 6 hours.
One hour before serving, mix the corn flour with the water in a separate bowl. Then mix into the slow cooker, replace the lid and cook for another hour. This should help thicken it.
Serve on a bed or rice with a dollop of Crème Freche. Don’t forget to ferret out the Bay Leaves.
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If you decide to try the recipe, please do pop back and let me know how you got on.
And if you subscribe to my blog, using the form in the sidebar you can get a free copy of my first ever eBook ‘There’s More to Slow Cooking than Stews – 10 Recipes to get you going’.
