Slow Cooker Favourites - Lasagne

 

Lasagne is one of my favourite dishes but it always feels a bit faffy to be making around tea-time. Making lasagne from scratch involves 2-3 pans and enough effort to put me off making it. A good compromise is this slow cooker recipe which makes things much easier with ready made sauces and just one pan.

Ingredients:

500g mince (any but I'm using turkey this time)

1 onion

1 box of passata

1 jar of white lasagne sauce

1 packet fresh lasagne sheets

250g grated cheddar

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Sauté the chopped onion in a frying pan, adding the mince after a few minutes. Continue to cook both until the mince is cooked and the onion is soft. Drain the mince and stir in the passata.

 Spray some oil on the bottom of your slow cooker bowl. Start layering up the lasagne with mince/tomato on the bottom followed by a lasagne sheet then white sauce and cheese.

Keep going, I usually get 3 layers of everything finishing with a bit extra cheese on top and a sprinkling of oregano.

Put the slow cooker lid on and leave to cook on HIGH for 3 hours. Then switch it to LOW for the last hour.

We had ours with some garlic bread and very nice it was too!

I don't know what it is about lockdown but I often feel more tired at teatime now than when I used to be working all day. I much prefer to get the cooking out of the way in the morning (or early afternoon with this recipe) and then come back at teatime to a meal ready to go. Then it's just a case of doing the dishes and it's time to relax on the sofa. I'm always on the look out for a good slow cooker recipe so you have any favourites, let me know!

A to Z Blogging Challenge: L is for Laughter

 

Let's be honest, we could all use a good laugh right now. It's never been more important to try see the lighter side of life when you can. It might feel like there's not much to laugh about right now but laughter has lots of benefits and you could consider it as self-care when you're feeling stressed.

"Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh."

These are a few ways I try to get a few laughs when I'm feeling stressed:

Podcasts

My favourite one at the moment is Off menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster. They mostly have other comedians as guests so it's invariably funny enough to make me laugh out loud. Plus the topic is food which we all know is my thing. My favourite episode was the one with Richard Herring, who is hilarious!

There are so many podcasts now that you're sure to find something you like.

https://mashable.com/article/best-comedy-podcasts

The above list has Erin's favourite podcast My Brother, My Brother and Me which she says is brilliant.

TV Shows

JD and I have been watching a few shows lately that have brought the laughs. 

Rick & Morty, a fantastic show where you can tell the writers really enjoy themselves with the ridiculous situations and characters. We love it!

Man Down, a comedy sitcom with the wonderful Greg Davies. The first season even has legendary Rik Mayall as his Dad. Silly but very funny sitcom antics.

Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun, we gave this sketch show a try when we saw it trending on Netflix and we weren't disappointed. Lots of weird but funny songs and situations from these three guys sharing a house. Worth a watch to see if it's your kind of funny.

Stand-Up Comedy

We'll often search Netflix for some stand-up comedy if we feel in need of a laugh and these three have made us laugh out loud. 

Kevin Hart Irresponsible had me crying laughing, it's so funny. I'd never seen any of his comedy before this but it got me good.

Bo Burnham Make Happy is funny but also gets you feeling things too. Anything by Bo Burnham is great but this is my favourite of his, especially the Kanye style light show rant at the end.

Greg Davies, a man of many talents, not only a sitcom genius but a stand-up marvel too. You Magnificent Beast is hilarious, loved it.

Films

This is a difficult one as there are so many styles of comedy film. I'm quite picky about my comedy films but here are some I've enjoyed laughing out loud at.

So, whatever you find funny, try and find time to seek out some laughs. You'll feel better for it :)

Subscription Box Review - Freddie's Flowers

 

To perk myself up in the New Year I've decided to try a flower subscription. I enjoy having flowers in the house and usually buy them from our local florist. This subscription had a half price offer for new customers so I signed up to give it a go.

The thing that appealed to me about this subscription is that it includes instructions on how to arrange the flowers too. There's even a video on the website if you prefer a more visual tutorial. This makes for a nice extra and means you'll get the most out of your flowers at home.

I received a text the morning of my delivery with a one-hour slot and my flowers arrived promptly within that slot. Also, you don't have to be in for the delivery as they'll leave it in a safe place for you. But of course I was in, it's a national lockdown!

The flowers were packed well within the box with lots of information about the flowers. General instructions, the arranging instructions and coupons to give friends for free flowers. 

I got a vase ready and had a look through the instructions. 

They were simple to follow and it was nice to read a bit about each flower as I went along. It was my first time attempting to arrange flowers and I was pleased with the outcome. They'll look even nicer as they bloom.

It was nice to receive a box of flowers in the post since I can't go out to buy them due to lockdown. I enjoyed arranging them myself since when I buy a bunch of flowers normally I just plonk them in a vase as they are!

On the down side, I feel that weekly deliveries are a bit much, especially when the leaflet says that the flowers last for ages. I set my subscription at fortnightly deliveries which seems more manageable for me. So at least the deliveries are flexible.

Overall I'm pleased with the subscription. I look forward to receiving more flowers over the coming weeks and having them brighten up my mood and our house!

Slow Cooker Favourites - Pork & Cider Stew

 

I'm always saying it, but we use our slow cooker lots. I've decided to share our favourite recipes. The ones we've made over and over and still love having. The first is this pork and cider stew I found online and adapted to our tastes. The addition of cider makes a really delicious gravy and your house smells great all day as it cooks.

It's a simple recipe which can be adapted to whatever vegetables you have to use. In addition to the ones I've used you could add butternut squash, swede, mushrooms, turnip, celeriac etc

Ingredients:

500g pork shoulder

1-2 cups cider

1 onion

2-3 parsnips

2-3 carrots

1-2 sweet potatoes

250g potatoes

2 tablespoons mustard

1 chicken stock cube

salt, peeper and some mixed herbs

Put the pork in first then chop the vegetables up. I like to use new potatoes and leave the skins on but any potato peeled and chopped is fine. 

When all the vegetables are in the slow cooker I usually mix the other ingredients in a jug. The cider, chicken stock, mustard and about 200ml of boiling water mixed together is then poured over the vegetables. Put the lid on and cook on HIGH for 6-8 hours.

When there's an hour to go I stir in a tablespoon of gravy granules and add some dumplings to the slow cooker.

The dumplings will puff up and cook from the steam inside.

Such a simple food but it tastes great. Perfect for these cold wintery nights. The cheapest pork shoulder means that's it's quite a frugal dish too and the slow cooking leaves the pork tender enough to fall apart on your fork. We always enjoy it and if you give it a try, hopefully you will too!

Happy New Year and a Learning Recap

 

It's the end of 2020 at last and I've come to the end of my Year of Learning. In January 2020 I started learning something different every month and it turned out I picked a good year to start because with the lockdowns and being made redundant, I had plenty of time for each activity. 

I've really enjoyed trying some new things and making time for learning skills I've always wanted to. Out of 12 activities there were only 2 I didn't really enjoy. The crochet and the dressmaking, I found it hard to bring myself to spend time doing both activities and came to the conclusion that they just weren't for me. But now I know that and I can stop thinking I want to try them out...I don't!

My favourite thing I learned about was my Family Tree, it was interesting to learn more about my Dad's ancestors and travel to Hull to find some gravestones of Beadles.

One of the best things about learning all these things has been that now they don't clutter up my mind (or cupboard), there's been things I've been mentally holding on to for years thinking I'd one day do them. Now I have, or at least tried them, so I can let go of them all. 

Problem with that is that new things take their place, there's always something to try or do! I want to try learning the ukulele and making chocolates and several other things. 

The thing I'm most proud of was writing a book during November. I've been meaning to write a book for years but always felt I didn't have enough time to commit to it. Now I've written a book and it only took 30 days! It may never see the light of day though as I now have the tedious task of editing it, haha!

If there's something you've always wanted to have a go at I thoroughly recommend going for it. You might love it or hate it but trying something something new (in my opinion) is what life is all about.

Happy New Year, I hope it's healthy, happy and full of new experiences. :)

A Year of Learning:

Smartphone Photography

Breadmaking

Arduino Programming

Harmonica

Creative Writing

Meditation

Crochet

Graphic Design

Family Tree

British Sign Language

Writing a Novel