quick meal ideas?

[smelly07]

From next week i am going to be working until 6pm monday-friday which means that i really need some ideas for meals i can either pre-prepare and just warm up or make relatively quickly when i get home............i'm thinking of buying a slow cooker..............????????

any meal ideas..........? any recomendations on slow cookers or are they all more or less the same?

thanks guys. x

 

[tallybee]

Slow cooker is a great idea, for soup/stew/curry etc etc etc! Entire joints of meat can be done in there too.

Or, make a big batch of bolognese or whatever, then portion it up - some in the freezer and enough for one meal in the fridge, then all that needs to be done is cook some spaghetti and heat up the sauce.

I usually make 'too much' of meals and freeze some - it can be taken out in the morning then it's defrosted ready for heating up in the evening.

Pasta with pesto always goes down well in my house.

Jacket potatoes can be baked in advance and then reheated in the microwave. Good with any toppings and a side salad.

I'll try and think of more!

 

[tallybee]

Our slow cooker was just the cheapest one in the argos book

 

[smelly07]

great thanks!! those ideas are now added to my list!!! and i shall def buy a slow cooker!! x

 

[lhancock90]

Slow cookers are amazing!
I find pasta bake quick and easy and usually refrigerate what's left for lunch the next day!

 

[Redfraggle]

Really recommend a slow cooker! Great for curry, stews, casseroles.

Lasagne reheats in the microwave well. So does pasta bake and cottage pie.

 

[chuck]

You can do jacket taters in the slow cooker so they'll be ready when you get in and just have to pop in your filling

X

 

[mum22ttc#3]

I really love our slow cooker, it was a cheapish one from Morrisons.

Usually when I want either slow cooker dinners or dinners that are easily re-heated we will have things like, spaghetti bolognese, lasagne, mince stew/dumplings, jacket potatoes, pie and mash, sausage/chicken casserole etc.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

Oh we also do curries in our slow cooker and either cottage or shepards pie and just add the mash afterwards. we also do the pie filling in the same way.

 

[Pink Flowers]

If we are both working we tend to bung the stuff in the slow cooker so it is easier when we have like an hour at home together.

I also freeze portions of spag bol, curry, stews etc to have for days where we are busy.

 

[chuck]

a good one is to prep a lasagne in a foil takeaway type tray exactly the way you would normally but instead of popping in in the oven let it cool down and pop in the freezer.

When you need it either take it out in the morning or you can cook it from frozen...fewer dishes too as the foil tray you can chuck out.

Not the kind of thing to do every week but good to have a few back ups like that

Enchiladas in another one that good to do like that.

 

[smelly07]

I have looked at slow cookers and the cheapest one is £10 ish !!! wow..........i'm not sure whether to spend a little more on one or not....?

have you all got slow cooker recipe books too? any you would reccomend?

 

[Tasha]

What size is the £10 one? I would go for a slightly bigger one than you woul need for the four of you, then you can make extra and freeze x

 

[tallybee]

What size is the £10 one? I would go for a slightly bigger one than you woul need for the four of you, then you can make extra and freeze x

This is good advice xx

 

[smelly07]

what size do you recommend?

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

my slow cooker was 15 from asda. Its fine.

Pesto and pasta is quick x

 

[smelly07]

the argos £9.99 is only 1.5 litres there is also a cookworks in a sale at £11.99 which is 3.5 litres or a morphy richards in a sale £26.99 and is a 6.5 litre..... there are also come crock-pot ones on offer. decisions decisions! lol

 

[tallybee]

Ours is about 3 litres I think and that's ample.

ETA: we are a family of 4 (Me, DH, 8 yr old and 6 yr old) and a full capacity slow cooker meal does a couple of meals (sometimes more, depends what it is)

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

mines 3ltrs too xx

 

[Doodlebug.]

You can do jacket taters in the slow cooker so they'll be ready when you get in and just have to pop in your filling

X

silly question maybe but how long do you cook jacket potatoes for in the slow cooker? I didnt know u cud do them in it