My Mission

Let me start this blog with a confession. I LOVE FOOD! Cooking, baking, eating, sharing with friends trying new things. I can't get enough. I find myself constantly searching through food blogs and recipe books in search of new tasty things to try out, and this blog will feature the success stories of that quest.

I'm quite certain my daily (sometimes twice/thrice daily!) food posts were becoming annoying to my non-foodie friends so decided a blog was the way to go so I can still share my passion with other foodie fans.

As a Mum, I was determined to find a way to get delicious, tasty, nutritious food onto my children's plate and into their tummies. Thankfully, my 4 year old and 2 year old are usually very willing to try new things and have enjoyed taking this little food adventure with me.

Over the last couple of years, I have learnt that the one thing I can't do without in the kitchen is my slow cooker. Seriously, if you haven't got one, go and get one. When I first bought one, I intended to use it for stews, casseroles and chillis. Then one day I discovered a slow cooker recipe group and my slow cooker addiction was born. I had no idea just how much can be cooked in one - everything from whole joints of meat, to chocolate cake, to homemade fudge! A lot of the recipes on this blog are for the slow cooker but I've converted them to oven/hob recipes where I can.

So, thank you for joining me on my little cooking quest. Please comment and share your favourite recipes with me too.

Enjoy :-)

The 30 Day Slow Cooker Challenge

As a lover of the slow cooker, I have set myself a challenge to use it every day in November. I've made a meal plan to fit in with what we have planned for the month. Can't wait to get started!

1. Chocolate fudge
2. Self saucing chocolate pudding
3. Whole chicken, roasting bags of potatoes for roasting and mashing - roast chicken dinner
4. Peppermint fudge (while we use the leftover chicken in BBQ chicken wraps)
5. Chicken soup made from leftover chicken
6. Meatballs in homemade tomato sauce. Serve with spaghetti.
7. Thai chicken, coconut and pineapple curry
8. Carrot cake
9. Pork Stacks
10. Lemon and thyme chicken thighs with red onion and potatoes
11. Beef stew and dumplings
12. Spaghetti bolognese
13. BBQ ribs
14. Chicken korma in big slow cooker. Boozy fudge in the baby slow cooker.
15. Sausage casserole
16. Chicken chasseur and roasting bag of potatoes for mashing
17. BBQ pulled pork. Serve with hot baguettes and coleslaw
18. Chocolate fudge cake (while we use the leftover pork for a sticky honey and soy stirfry)
19, Chicken thighs, potatoes and veg for SC traybake
20, Meatballs .... again. (my daughters favourite meal)
21. Chinese chicken curry
22. Cowboy pie
23. Beef joint with veg, roasting bags of potatoes for roasting and mashing. - roast beef dinner
24. Beef and ale pie filling with leftover beef. Add pastry top and finish in the oven
25. Shepherds pie with potatoes in roasting bag
26. Chicken stacks
27. Steamed syrup pudding
28. Chicken korma
29. Sausage stew and dumplings
30. Whole chicken dinner

Slow Cooker Chocolate Fudge - A Successful Attempt

Today was my second attempt at slow cooker fudge. Although my first batch was nice, the texture just wasn't right. It didn't feel like proper fudge and the texture was quite sticky. I love a nice crumbly fudge so made myself a mission to get it to the right texture.

This time I used the same recipe but just took the SC pot out of the base at the end and beat the fudge for 10 minutes. I'm not going to lie, it did feel like my arm was going to fall off. But the difference it made to the texture was unbelievable! The fudge had almost set after 10 minutes of beating but wasn't sticky at all. Once it was set, it had that perfect crumbly fudge texture.

This recipe for a thumbs up from everyone who tried it. I'll definitely be making it again and experimenting with some new flavours.

Ingredients:

1 tin condensed milk
200g milk chocolate
200g white chocolate
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Break up the chocolate and put all of the ingredients in to slow cooker.
2. Heat on high for 1hr 30 mins with the lid off. The fudge needs stirring every 10-15 minutes.
3. After 1hr30, take the SC pot out of the base and beat the fudge with a spoon or electric whisk for 10 minutes
4. Pour into a lined tray and leave to cool completely before putting into the fridge.
5. The fudge will keep in an airtight container for 3 weeks in the fridge or 2 weeks at room temperature.

Recipe - Thai Chicken Coconut and Pineapple Curry with Coconut Basmati Rice

Recipe:

Curry:

2 diced chicken breasts

1 jar of Uncle Ben's thai coconut curry (+ water to rinse out the jar)

1 120g pack of baby corn

1 tin pineapple chunks (drained)

50g sachet coconut cream

Rice:

1 cup basmati rice (well rinsed and drained)

1 cup coconut milk

3/4 cup water

1 tsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Serves 2

Method:

1. Add diced chicken and sauce to the slow cooker pot. Fill the sauce jar with water to the bottom of the label, put the lid on and shake, then add to the slow cooker. Add baby corn. Mix well.

2. Cook on low for 7 hours

3. After 7 hours, remove the lid and add the pineapple chunks, and coconut cream and mix well. Leave the lid off to allow the sauce to thicken for 30 mins.

4. While the sauce is thickening, make the rice. Add the coconut milk, water, brown sugar and salt to a large saucepan and bring to a simmer.

5. Stir in the rice, reduce heat to medium-low, cover with a lid but leave small gap so the steam can escape, and simmer for 12 minutes.

6. Remove the pan from the heat, close the lid tight and leave for 10 mins.

7. Serve.

8. Engage yummy food coma mode :-)

Recipe - Pork Stacks

Ingredients:

Pork loin steaks (I use 2 per person)

Apples (1/2 an apple per person)

Stuffing (I use a Paxo dried stuffing mix)

Dried safe

Seasoning

Tin foil

Method:

1. Chop each apple into 8 slices. Mix the stuffing with boiling water as per packet instructions

2. On a large square of foil, layer 2 piece of apple, pork loin steak, sprinkle on sage and S&P, stuffing, and then repeat.

3. Fold the foil up to make a sealed parcel so there is room inside for the steam to circulate.

4. Repeat the process and make as many stacks as required. If you have a small slow cooker, you could make stacks with 3 layers rather than 2.

5. Place the foil parcels into the slow cooker and add water into the slow cooker pot so it comes 2 inches up the sides. This will prevent the pot from cracking.

6. Cook on low for 8 hours.

7. Enjoy! I serve ours with mashed potato and seasonal veg.

My Biggest Time Saver .... The Slow Cooker

Of all the tips I've picked up for making life as a Mum a little bit easier, the biggest one has been this. Buy a slow cooker. I literally couldn't live without mine now, it has revolutionised meal times.

Before buying our slow cooker, I absolutely dreaded the inevitable grumpy tired slump that the kids always seem to hit at 4pm, right when I'm in the kitchen trying to sort dinner. The amount of times we ended up resorting to beans on toast because I simply couldn't spend time in the kitchen is endless. But then, the slow cooker came into our lives and WOW it was like someone had waved a magic wand!

Being able to prep dinner at 9 or 10am when the kids are full of energy and happy playing with their toys (or at preschool) means that by the time it reaches Grumpy O'clock in our house, dinner is already done and ready to put out on plates. And it also means the house smells amazing where the food has been cooking away (although it can feel a little like torture if you are hungry!)

Not only does it make dinner time easier, it makes them cheaper too. Slow cooking means I could pick up cheaper cuts of meat that came out beautifully tender after bubbling away all day. And running a slow cooker is much more economical than using the oven as it uses a lot less electricity.

Simply put, it has been a life saver. The run up to dinner time is no longer a stressful blur, its a pleasure.

I've been asked by lots of other mums to share some of my slow cooker recipes so I will add them to this blog. Enjoy :-)

Mummy In A Hurry -- The Blog

My name is Steph. I'm a 29 year old mum to two beautiful kids, aged 3.5yrs and 16 months. Becoming a mummy has shown me that there are never enough hours in the day and I've created this blog to share tips, tricks and hints that I've picked up over the last four years that make every day life just a little bit quicker and easier, freeing up time to do what is really important to me, and that is spending time with my little munchkins.

Enjoy the blog. Even if it helps one person squeeze an extra 5 minutes of cuddle time into their day, then I'll be a very happy mummy.

Steph xx