Beef And Vegetable Stew- in the Slow Cooker

Normally on Sunday, I do a Sunday Roast with either a pudding or an apple crumble, however with no oven, I have resorted to using my slow cooker... and it has not disappointed.

After 8 hours of waiting, and at least 3 hours of the delicious scents, we finally got to enjoy our dinner. Just about everything was eaten, well everything apart from the potatoes. Even Mr 1, who does not generally eat meat, ate the meat. Seriously it melted in my mouth, it was delicious.

Then as a bit of incentive for the boys, they had ice cream with sprinkles. So they got their hearty meaty and vegie meal as well as something to hit their sweet tooth.

BEEF AND VEGETABLE STEW

 Ingredients

1 Onion

1 Carrot

1 Parsnip

1 Swede or Turnip

2 Potatoes

1 Celery Stalk

100g Button Mushrooms

1kg Chuck Steak, fat removed and cut into 4cm chunks

2 Garlic Cloves, chopped

1 tsp Dried Oregano

400ml Beef Stock

2 tbsp Tomato Paste

60ml Red Wine

Method

1. Peel onion, carrot, parsnip, swede and potatoes and cut into 4cm chunks. Wipe mushrooms clean and slice in half.

2. Put Vegetables into slow cooker with beef. Scatter the garlic and oregano over.

3. In a bowl, mix together the stock, tomato paste, tomatoes and wine, then pour over the beef mixture.

4. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours, or until the meat and vegetables are tender.

5. Serve and enjoy :)

With our dinner, I served ours with some toasted Garlic Bread.

The Waiting Game and a Banana Thickshake

As my place is full of scents from tonight dinner slowely cooking in the slow cooker, I am sitting here with nothing else to do. I have listed close to 50 things on ebay, as I'm trying to save money to get my sons and I out of this yardless shoe box of a place. I have also made banana thick shakes and a couple of delicious coffees. 

So as I sit here, waiting for the next hour to pass for dinner to be ready, I thought I would pop on and  ramble, as that is what I am really good at... rambling about nothing in particular. Well I am going to add a recipe... my recipe for a delicious Banana Smoothy.

But first I must share this pic..:

A delicious skinny latte, with a very stinky lavender candle burning in my Cherry Blosson partylite candle holder things... seriously can life be anymore bliss... well apart from the stinky candle. My boys bought it for me for mothers day and wanted me to light it up today... what we do for our kids. lol

 Ok now that is done... here is my recipe for the perfect Banana Smoothy and one kids love... even those that claim they dont like bananas, or ones that claim they dont like honey. I have gone through both of these stages with my two older sons and guess what, they both love these Smoothies.

BANANA SMOOTHY

Ingredents

INGREDIENTS

Banana's

Yoghurt

Milk

A pinch of Nutmeg

Ingredients you can use

Frozen or Fresh berries

Honey

Method

 Place all ingredients into blender and Blend. I have not mentioned how much of everything to use, it really depends on taste and what you want. With this Smoothy I used two banana's, 150ml of Milk and roughly a 2/3 cup yoghurt and a pinch of nutmeg.

Now as I mentioned there are a few things you can also add in, Like honey and berries. My advice is only use Honey when using plaing or Greek Yoghurt, it helps make it a tad sweeter. But what ever you do, do not use sugar or artificial sweetener.

I like to use Yoghurts with Berries through it, like the one I used today, the boys love it and it disguises most of the banana taste.

During summer I instead of Yoghurt, I love to use either frozen Yoghurt or Ice cream.

I have also at times mixed in Milo when I am using ice cream, a Choc Banana Smoothie...always goes down a treat with my boys.

I used to make this using my handblender, however all the bits broke and I am currently trying to find a decent and cheap one... impossible. So I am currently using this blender I picked up from Kmart from $25 and trust me, its made its money back and has lasted close to a year.

And this is the finished product... two Banana & Berry Smoothies, even with a Lava Lamp in the background.

So for me now, I am off to get that last bit of dinner ready... Garlic bread, and then I will be back on later to let everyone know how dinner went. Hopefully it will taste as great as it smells.

Creamy Tuscan Chicken... thanks Dolmio

This week has been very boring on the cooking front. The real estate still has not had my oven fixed so no baking. Which means I have been trying to use up all the mince and vegie's I bought for a meatloaf. So that means a lot of spaghetti bolognese. I have also had two nights of no cooking, so for blogging, it would have been far too boring. 

Bolognese is a very easy meals to make and maybe one day I will make note of the basic recipe. It is also a favourite of all three sons and one meal I know they will eat and will not notice all the vegies I have grated up very finely.

So now onto tonight dinner... a cheat meal that is easy to make, even with screaming kids in the background and a gorgeous pirate on TV... yep that's right, Captain Jack Sparrow... I was able to watch the movie, while cook and not burn anything.

I also want to make this clear, As a mum I am always trying new products, products to help make my life easier and that are great for my kids. I am not being paid by any company, I am not given anything by any company and as far as I know, they dont know I exist. Anytime I write about a product, it is because I choose to and because I either think its a fantastic product, or a 'stay away' product. Now on saying that... here we go for tonights meal... yiiipppppeeeeee :)

CREAMY TUSCAN CHICKEN

Out of all of their range, I would have to say, this is by far the best, yummiest and one I could eat all the time. Tonight I used San Remo Fresh Pasta Fettuccine, which is also GM Free.

As one of my sons has a dairy allergy I used passata instead of cream and he enjoys that, however he does look at our meal and notices that he has something different, so then wants ours. Trying to explain to a 1 year old that if he has our food with dairy in it, will lead to a sore tummy and very very yucky poos, is a hard thing as he does not understand..

So lets get down to the meal.

Ingredients:
500g Chicken Breast
1 Red Capsicum (cubed)
1 Zucchini (Sliced)
2/3 cup Cream
200g pasta (I normally use alot more pasta as we are pasta lovers)

1. Cook pasta according to packet instructions

2. Heat oil in pan and cook diced chicken until brown

3. Add sliced capsicum, sliced zucchini, Italian Meal Base and thickened Cream, stir and cook for 3 minutes

4. Add Cooked pasta to pan and stir through

ENJOY :)

As mentioned, this is such an easy meal, costs less than $15, and its delicious.

This is all that is left from my eldest sons dinner. He does not like Zucchini. This is why, when I make Bolognese, or anything else with mince, I grate up Zucchini as finely as possible and he will eat it.

MOROCCAN BEEF SCROLL- changed to exclude the oven.

Tonights challenge...The meal I had organised for tonight's dinner was supposed to be wrapped in Puff Pastry and then baked.... however my oven is not working, so I have changed it around a bit.

One thing I love about this recipe is that it has alot of vegies and my boys, who are fussy eaters, don't know the difference... well apart from the silverbeet and what kid does eat that.. lol

Now for me, couscous is a newish thing I started using in the past few months. I use to hear the name and cringe, thinking it was one of those really fiddly things to cook. But no... easy way is if you use 1/2 couscous, put 1/2 cup boiling water and a dot of oil with it in a heat proof bowl and cover with foil/ glad wrap, and leave for about 5 minutes. The all you have to do is get a fork and 'fluff' it up, in other words breaking the clumps up.

MOROCCAN BEEF 

Ingredients

1/4 cup couscous
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed (I don't have a garlic crusher, so I use a very fine grater)
1 carrot, finely grated
1/4 cup tomato paste
350g beef mince
1 1/2 tablespoons Moroccan seasoning
1/3 cup finely chopped mint leaves
8 silverbeet leaves, stalks trimmed
1/2 cup Greek-style natural yoghurt

1. Place couscous in a heatproof bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup boiling water. Cover with plastic wrap and put aside till liquid is absorbed. Use a fork, fluff and separate grains.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan over moderate heat. Add onion and garlic, cook and stir until soft                                                
3. Add carrot, cook and stir for 3 minutes or until soft and then stir in paste. Cook and stir for 1 minutes until combined
4. Add mince and seasoning, break up the lumps. Cook for 5 minutes or till meat is brown.
5. Remove from heat, mix in 1/4 cup mint and couscous.
6. Whisk Greek Yoghurt and remaining mint together in a bowl.
7. Meanwhile, cook silverbeet in a saucepan of boiling water until wilted. Remove and place silverbeet in colender and drain. Transfer to a place lined in paper towels and pat dry.

Now this is where I had to divert from the 'proper' recipe and serve it up as is. 

I had boiled some potatoes, so I could do a bed of mash potato.

I did a ring of silverbeet, with a bed of mash potato in the middle, topped with mince and then for the final touch.......

Put a dollop of the yogurt mixture. and enjoy.

My boys ate it all, well apart from the silverbeet. However, If I had of done it in the Roll, they would have eaten all of it. So hopefully when my oven is fixed, this is a recipe I will revisit and show you all what it looks like.

JELLY SLICE

So here it goes... my first recipe of many. As mentioned in my previous post, my inspiration is my broken oven and Sunday being my big bake day. The day I bake my cakes, cookies and even cupcakes for my sons school lunches, as well as our Sunday roast. So without my oven and slow cooker that is too small to fit my cake tins in, I felt a tad lost. Till I had a friend that suggested No Bake Slices. It was just out of luck that I had all the ingredients to make a Jelly Slice recipe that I found on www.kidspot.com.a

JELLY SLICE

Ingredients:

• 1 packet sweet plain biscuits (the only biscuits I had are butternut snap cookies)
• 175g unsalted butter
• 400g sweet condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon gelatine
• 1 packet of jelly

  

  A 5 ingredient recipe, and these are the main things I always keep in my cupboard, however generally I use the Jelly when I make Custard, and the biscuits and condensed milk are perfect in chocolate balls. Then there is butter, which is used in most recipes. I will say this..... this is the first time i have used gelatine.

  
  
  
  

Method:

Butter a slice tray (16cm x 26cm x 3cm). 

Dissolve jelly in 1 and 1/2 cups boiling water, place in fridge for about 45 minutes until cool.

Crush biscuits in a food processor (or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin). transfer to a bowl and mix in melted butter.

Place mixture in prepared tray and press down firmly. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Dissolve gelatine in 1/2 cup hot water. Combine gelatine mixture with condensed milk in a bowl, pour over biscuit base and place back in fridge for 30 minutes until cool and nearly set.

Pour cold jelly on top of slice and return to fridge to set.

Slice into squares using a butter knife. I wiped the knife occasionally so that the white filling didn't ruin the look of the jelly.

The final result... YUMMMMMY... my older two were hanging around me while I was attempting to cut the slice, which was not the easiest of things to do. I used a butter knife to cut and a spoon to remove off the tray.

First post of many

Well here I am.... in front of my laptop with the timer of my oven going in the back ground. As well as the noise of my two older sons hitting each other with pool noodles, while somehow managing to not hurt each other or break anything and most of all...... not waking their 1 year old brother up.

A little bit about me... I am a stay at home mum of three sons, and before my youngest was born I was a swimming teacher of 3-5 year old. I grew up in foster care, which I believe, is the reason I am so family orientated. I do spoil my sons, but not with possessions, with love, hugs, and memories. I sacrifice alot for my sons and their happiness, but what I refuse to sacrifice is my cooking, or my coffee and tea :)

My gorgeous cup with a hot cup of tea. The cup is from a Maxwell & Williams 2012 collection to raise money for the Breast Cancer foundation. I had bought this cup at the beginning of last year for a dear friend who had cancer, unfortunately before I could give her the cup she passed away. So I cherish every hot cup of tea or coffee. Now I try and buy each collection and end up giving them to friends, as too many of us know others that have been affected by Breast Cancer, as well as other cancers. 

I cook most meals for my sons, apart from the once a week dinner at their Grandparents. I prefer to bake than buy cakes and biscuits, and I love that my sons want to help. I also have the challenge that my little one has a dairy allergy, which means, that even when I bake cakes, I cant use butter or milk. So I replace each with Rice Milk and Nutleg Marg.

I try make things from scratch, but sometime its far too chaotic, or I am far too tired and cheat. Yes that is right I cheat, but by cheating I mean, I buy a recipe base sauce, that all I have to do is add meat and vegies and its a meal.... quick, easy and I can get distracted and not have to worry about measurements.... easy.

These are three of the recipe bases, and I normally but them when they are on special.... $5 for 3. The Creamy Tuscan Chicken is my favourite, however with a child with a dairy allergy I dont cook it too often and when I do, I replace the chream with passata for my little on. Also the Beef Stroganoff and the Honey mustard ones are delicious, however they also involve cream. They have also just release Oven Easy Bake ones as well.

My cupboards are chaotic, my pantry of unorganised and the cupboard where my pots, pans, and machines are is over flowing with chaos... dont believe me.... have a look:

Yep, my Pantry, no order and when I try and look for something, I can never find it, or everything falls out.. I think my aim for this coming week will be to tidy up this mess...aaahhhhh

And my unorganised cupboard.... and yes everything fall out. I have too many machines, and my dream machine would get rid of all of them... a Thermomix....aaaahhhhhh. However it is far too expensive for me, so I must make do with what I have.

So by now, you maybe asking... why has she started this blog? Well the truth is, my oven died last night, and it most likely wont get fixed for about a week. It is Sunday, I have $5 to last till Thursday, and everything I was supposed to cook/bake today, involved the use of the oven.

So I have gone on the hunt for recipes where I can use my slow cooker or bread maker, and for sweat things, such as cakes, I did not come up with hardly anything and all the ones I have found required a cake tin. Which would be fantastic, however my slow cooker is too small to fit any of my tins. And as I have recipes scattered everywhere, with this, if I blog everyday about what I have been cooking, Its a great way for me to store these recipes, as well as share with others.

So enjoy... my first recipe will be a no bake Jelly Slice... hence the 'oven timer' comment earlier.

If anyone has any recipes they would love to share with me, let me know. I love trying new recipes, especially those for my slow cooker.