clumsily raising my boys and baking cakes
With the weather being a little more autumnal recently, I have started using my slow cooker again. I love my slow cooker – such an easy way to make a great tasting meal for my family, which makes the meat so tender and full of flavour.
I love my slow cooker. I have owned one for several years now (not the same one of course, as a couple have had to be replaced as time has gone on), and I love the fact that you can literally ‘bung’ a load of ingredients in, set the heat setting and leave it to do all the hard work for you while you go about your day to day routine. When I used to work, it was so nice to come home to a meal that was already cooked and the house would would be filled with the aroma of my dinner making me even more hungry! Each time after I gave birth to both boys, the slow cooker was a real help in making sure I could have a meal ready for my OH and I.
I have owned a slow cooker for several years now – probably at least 15 years and in all that time I have never cooked a dessert in one! Considering how much I love puddings, this is a surprise even to me! On Friday while it was still October, or for users of the crockpot #Crocktober , I decided to break my slow cooker pudding ‘cherry’ and I decided to make a rice pudding, a real comfort food for this time of year.
This Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon is a perfect winter warmer and can be cooked until the meat is tender and falling apart. delicious!
With the weather feeling much cooler now, it is definately time to cook some winter warmers. Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon is a great example of this. It also means that it is time to get the slow cooker out. Knowing that I can place all of my ingredients in my slow cooker/crock pot first thing, and leave it all day to cook slowly is perfect when you have a busy day to get through.
With pumpkins and squash in abundance in the supermarkets at the moment , I thought I would have a go at making something other than a cake or some soup with it. Having been sent a jar of ready made chilli sauce with cacao , I thought I would attempt my very first vegetarian chilli con carne.