Showing posts with label lazy girl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lazy girl. Show all posts
Like i mentioned in my previous post Lazy girl guide to cooking, I have learned to cook an array of different meals since moving out and over the last year I have learned some tips and tricks to make my food cook quicker and taste better. The best thing I have done is invested in kitchen appliances! Making a great home cooked meal everyday can be very time consuming and take a lot of energy so at the minute I have two appliances which help me out a lot.
T H E S L O W C O O K E R
Best invention ever made, there I said it.
For someone who gets anxious about cooking various meats, my slow cooker has become my life safer. I always worry that I haven't cooked meat enough or that I'll cook it too much and ruin the taste but with this, I can leave the meat in the cooker all day and know neither will be a problem. I'm still trying different things out in it all the time but my favourite meal to make is a roast with shredded chicken, it is the easiest thing to do and saves you fathing while watching everything else and entertaining the family on a sunday. I mention how to make shredded chicken in my previous post so pop over if you want to try it.
I found out how to make shredded chicken on Pinterest of all places, it seems there is a H U G E cooking community on it! I always thought it was more for clothing and interiors but I was just looking in the wrong place. I look on Pinterest for most of my meal ideas now because there is something for everyone and with slow cookers, you can cook basically anything in them! Chicken, Pork, Lamb, Mince, Lasagna, Pasta, Potatoes, even a deep dish pizza. If you want to see what I have been pinning on Pinterest click on my Slow Cooker Recipes board.
Lastly, the best thing about a slow cooker is you can place all your ingredients in there in the morning, go out all day and when you get home in the evening the food is cooked and ready for you. I know i am going to be using my slow cooker even more in winter because it means I can spend more time during the evening in the bath rather than cooking. goals
T H E S T E A M E R
This is a recent addition to my kitchen collection bur I have fallen in love with it already and use it most days. I bought a 3 tier Russel Hobbs steamer from Argos which aren't too expensive and stack away really easily.
I bought one of these because I was tired of spending all night in the kitchen standing over my hob boiling my veg. I love veg and i like to have it with every meal but boiling it can be a nuisance especially while your in the middle of cooking a roast. My mum suggested I get a steamer and I haven't looked back since.
Like the slow cooker, you can cook most things in the steamer from veg and potatoes to fish and chicken. On a daily basis I throw baby potatoes and veg in with some breaded chicken in the oven and we have a easy, quite healthy meal. One of the reasons I bought the steamer was so I could cook different vegetables more regularly. Callum doesn't like broccoli whereas I love it but i never saw the point in boiling some just for me . With the steamer I can throw some in with some peas and carrots and it is no extra work for me.
Having both of these appliances make cooking a roast dinner for my family a breeze! I have my meat in the slow cooker, my vegetables in the steamer and my roast potatoes in the oven and I still have room on the side (and time to dance around the kitchen to Mamma Mia)
I am planning to write another post about some recipes I have been making lately and both of these tools will feature heavily in it! Hope I haven't made you too hungry reading this!
When I lived at home the most technical meal I could make was dinosaurs and potato waffles which is still a favourite of mine for lunch or when I am ill but I did need to expand my skills. I looked online, bought a few cook books and searched from some recipes on Pinterest and now I have a list of meals which I like to rotate as well as a few more time consuming meals which Cal and I love and which don't take my whole night to make. I am currently traveling an hour back and forth to get to work so quick and easy meals where I don't have to do a lot are my favourite at the minute.
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| The ingredients in the dish ready to go in the oven |
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| The finished product with peas and gravy |
Roasted Sausages and Potatoes
This is a really simple process meal which tastes so good and you can basically put anything in it. What I do is get chopped up carrots, onions and peppers, cut some baby potatoes in half and some sausages all in a bowl together, pour two table spoons of oil over the mixture and season with salt, pepper and thyme leaves and mix it all up so that everything in coated. You then pour this into a oven proof glass dish with your sausages on the top so that they cook thoroughly and put in the oven for 30 minutes (gas mark 6). You then take it out of the oven, mix all the ingredients around pouring in a pork stock cube and then returning to the oven 20. Add the gravy onto your plate and you are done.
Apart from the prep which you can do in the morning before you leave this is suck a easy meal to make and you can spend time with your family or have a bath while it cooks. If I have the time I do like to make peas and broccoli separately so that there is even more veg in the dish.
Toad in the Hole
Contrary to popular belief toad in the hole is one of the easiest meals to make and it is the side dishes that make it more complete. To make the toad batter all you need is 2 eggs, 1 cup of plain flower and 1 cup of milk. Mix the ingredients in a blender and heat a deep tray in the oven with a bit of oil (gas mark 6). Once the tray is hot put the sausages on to cook until they start to go brown and then take the tray out to add your mixture to the sausages making sure your sausages are evenly spread out before putting the tray back in the oven. You then leave the tray in the oven for 30 minutes making sure not to open the oven door otherwise the toad wont rise. Once the toad and sausages are brown your work is done, I normally boil some potatoes and carrots while the toad is cooking and just before the toad is ready to come out I drain the potatoes and mash them with some milk and butter.
I find with this the more options you make the more work you have to do but if you keep it simple it isn't much work.
Herby Baby Potatoes
I love making these to add to a meal which is a bit boring or if we have had a lot of chips the previous week, they are also really easy to make with minimal effort. All you need to do is boil a bunch of baby potatoes on the hob until they are soft, while they are boiling you can make your herb sauce. I start with a couple of table spoons of butter which I put in the microwave for less than a minute, then once it is in liquid form I add mixed herb, thyme and basil leaves. Once that is all mixed together I cover a glass dish with the sauce and then drain the baby potatoes, cutting them in half and then placing them in the glass dish. I then cover all the potatoes in the sauce and then put the dish in the oven (gas mark 6) and keep them in there until you are ready.
TIP the longer you keep them in the oven the crispier the skins will be which makes them more tasty.
Chicken in a Bag
This is one of my favourite meals because it is so easy to make and tastes so good! All you need is some Maggi So Juicey Mixed Herb seasoning and some fresh chicken. You need to pre heat the oven (gas mark 6) while you cut the chicken into small cubes and then place them into the bag. Once all your chicken is in the bag you pour the seasoning into the bag and shake it all about until all the chicken is covered. Then all you need to do is tie up the bag with the tie you get in the pack and then stick the bag on a tray in the oven for 30 minutes and you have tastey chicken for dinner.
TIP use the extra juice from the bag to use on any chips or potatoes you are having with the chicken to give them flavor.
Slow Cooker Curry
Another chicken recipe which is so easy to make and takes minimal effort. All you need to do is cut up chicken into smaller pieces, place them in the slow cooker with a curry sauce (I do use store bought to make it super easy for me) and set the slow cooker to low. I normally check on the curry every hour or so to stir the sauce and cook it for 6+ hours or until you get hungry. Stick some nan in the oven for 5 minutes and some rice and you have a tastey meal.
TIP don't waste your money buying expensive side dishes for your curry, aldi do an amazing range of sides for curry and all for such a good price. You can biy everything you need for 4 people for under £10.
Shredded Chicken
This is a new recipe that I have recently started making and it has become a favourite of everyone of my family and it is soooo easy. All you need to do is place your defrosted chicken in a slow cooker with enough chicken stock cube to cover the chicken with some salt and pepper to season. You need to cook the chicken on high for 3 and a half hours and that is it. You don't need to stir it or check on it and at the end the chicken is so soft and tender it fulls apart. To shred the chicken i tend to use two folks and basically use them to pull apart the pieces of chicken and it takes a few minutes depending on how many pieces of chicken you have cooked. I normally cook this for a roast so I do some roasties in the oven and some veg and it tastes so good. I've never thought I'd be able to cook a good roast before but this makes it so easy.
TIP cook a big portion of chicken and then use the remaining chicken for salads or wraps for the next few days. You can't beat fresh chicken.
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| Chicken in the slow cooker cooking in chicken stock cube |
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| The finish product with roast potatoes and carrots |
I am planning on trying a load more recipes this year and really expanding my cooking skills so watch this place for more recipes in the future.
PS Yes I know I do large portions, I am a growing girl who loves her food enough said.
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