[~Perplexity~]

I just bought my first slow cooker and i need to go shopping tonight to buy things to cook in it tomorrow but i have looked at finding some recipes and have no idea what to start off with.

So please tell me your yummiest and favourite thing to cook.

Also for those of you that cut up vegies etc and get all the preparation done the night before how do you store the food until chucking it all in the slow cooker in the morning.

Is it safe to leave the slow cooker on when at work and noone is home? Do people do this?

[vegiepatch]

Ahem... not vegiepatch here but her DP.

One thing I make that is easy is porridge, nothing better than waking up to the delicious smell coming from the slow cooker.

2 cups rolled oats
5 (or maybe 5¼ cups) water - the amount will need tweaking for your cooker
pinch of salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 small can diced pears (you know the little gouburn valley ones) -juice and all
handful of sultanas or mixed dried fruit

Chuck it all in, set to low and cook for about 6 hours. We make ours about 10pm, and use a plug in timer to turn the slow cooker on around midnight.

With a bit of milk mixed in and brown sugar on top...

EDIT: We have a book called "Fresh from the vegetarian slow cooker" by Robin Robertson. Some great dishes in it, if you feel like a non meat slow cook...

This post has been edited by vegiepatch: 20/08/2009, 06:07 PM

[Guest_myfamily4_*]

A really easy recipe is layer chicken tenderloins or breasts with bacon. Mix up a tin of cream and chicken soup with a few tablespoons of sour cream and one tablespoon of flour. Pour some of this mix in base of cooker and the rest over the top of chicken/bacon.

Depending on thickness of chicken cook on low for 3-4 hrs (depending on slow cooker).

I never leave mine on while I am out for the day.

[Freckles]

Hi there,

I luuuurve my slow cooker in winter. I bought it when I was pg with DD and have used it heaps.

ATM my fave dish is the McCormicks Farmhouse Chicken and Barley soup. I make it using carrot (sliced up), baby chat potatos, sliced cabbage and chicken pieces. Brown the chicken piece in the fry pan, then throw all the vegies in, chicken on top, mix up the packet and away you go. Yum! BTW, you find the packets in the soup section of the supermarket, near all the tinned and packet soups (not in the section with all the other casserole packets). This also works really well with turkey 9which is cheaper than chicken).

I do put mine on and go out - what's the point of it otherwise? Love coming home to the smell of dinner cooking.

I read recently that you shouldn't put everything in the slow cooker pot and then put the pot in the fridge. Apparently is doesn't heat up effectively if you do that. So if you want to do it the night before you should chop it all up and pop it in a different pot, then into the s/c pot in the morning.

HTH.

BTW, vegiepatch's DP, that porridge sounds yum! How many does it serve?

[mumto3princesses]

That porridge sounds yummy. I don't have a timer on mine though. Might show my DH, he might decide we need a new one.

My favourite is curry chicken. I usually do it the lazy way and use the chicken tonight curry chicken and vegetables jar. (or 2 if doing a big batch) It's so easy. Just chicken, the jar of sauce plus a jar or so of water. (don't waste any sauce that way) Then whatever veggies I feel like adding.

[peking homunculu...]

Corned Lamb

You can buy this from Woolies in the same place you buy corned beef.

Put the piece of meat in the cooker, cover with water. Add few Tbs of brown sugar, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, some cloves, peppercorns, stick of cinnamon, couple of star anise and couple of bay leaves. Cook on low for about 6 hours.

Serve with roast potatoes or mash, cauliflower cheese, steamed greens and mashed sweet potato with ginger.

YUM

[gipsy]

Some yummy recipes here that I will definitely try.

I am making curried chicken in mine now. I am doing the cheats way though and using a McCormicks pkt.

[crissty_au]

Im a huge slow cooker fan, we use ours at least 3 times a week here!

Som faves are Apricot chicken
Cubed chicken about 500gms
sml tin apricot nectar
sml tin apricot halves drained
tsp curry powder
1/2-1 packet french onion soup.

Wack it all in, stir and let it cook. Its absolutely delish!!!

We also cook roasts in ours, I just put some foil balls in the bottom of the cooker so that its not sitting on the bottom, wrap the marinated roast in foil and let her cook, soo nice and tender and juicy!

Soups are easy in a slow cooker, I just pop some stock, seasoning, soup bones if you wanted and once a week all the vegies that are going to go ick in the next few days, let it cook all day and then blitz it until its the consistancy you want at the end, great on a cold day!

Spag we cook in ours too, cook the mince up, stick it in the slow cooker with the pasta sauce, or a tin of tomatoes and some paste. I grate vegies into mine too to try and hide them from the kids lol!!

There are some fantastic slow cooker cookbooks out there, or threads in forums that have endless ideas.

I was really scared to use mine to start, was worried that I would be ruining meals left right and centre, but honestly its pretty hard to have a disaster in a slow cooker.

Anyway good luck, let us know how you go!
Cheers
Crissty

[princess222003]

I cook everything I can in my slow cooker... mine

I dont have a favourite meal..I guess if any its a corn beef.

I do
casseroles,
roasts,
soups,
chicken curry,
corn beef,
spagettii bog,
pasta bakes,
lasanas,
beef stroganof(?),
Apricot Chicken

I also find that McCormicks recipes for slow cookers are good and my fav atm would be the chicken curry one.

oh my list goes on but I hate stove top or oven taste foods now all done in the slow cooker!