Winter warmer - Slow cooker hot pot

I know it's meant to be spring but if you were to look out of my window right now and at the rain, you could be forgiven for thinking it was mid winter! I am forever hopeful that warmer weather will be with us soon and that the slow cooker can be stuck in the back of the cupboard to gather dust until next winter. But until that happens ours will still be getting some use.
The beauty of using this kitchen gadget is that the combination of ingredients are endless. I rarely work to a set recipe, although I know there are some very good cookbooks available. I just generally use what needs using up.
Today I used some gravy beef, which I think is stewing steak, a couple onions some carrots and potatoes. Oh yes and some onions.
I fry off the onions, browning them a little and chuck 'em in the pot.
Then season the beef with flour, salt and pepper and brown in a frying pan
I then add some glugs of worchetershire sauce and balsamic vinegar, this gives a lovely flavour to the gravy. Then I crumble a couple of beef OXO cubes (cheats stock cubes) add some hot water, stir and then tip the lot into the pot.
Mix with the chunky cut veg, add some more hot water, I don't like to add too much.
Pop the lid on and go and spend the next few hours with the neighbours crocheting hexagons , well you don't have to do that, but that's what I did today.
Then when you come back, flick the switch to low or warm and eat when ready.
Delish! And it smells divine.

Winter warmer - Bangers & Mash

The last of our homekill pork sausages, mashed potato, kumara, swede with butter, salt & pepper and a little milk and cauliflower, broccolli and leeks in a cheese sauce, ooh and onion gravy..............
It was so warming I'm sweating! Phew!

Winter warmer - Lamb hotpot/shepherds pie thingie

We had roast lamb and all the trimmings on Sunday. It was a big leg of lamb and we had plenty leftover. I diced the lamb and with some sliced onions, fryed them in a large saucepan. I then diced up the leftover veggies and chucked them in the pan too. Added a beef stock cube, a few glugs of Worchester sauce and balsamic vinegar and the leftover gravy and some hot water. Once heated through I put it all in a large oven dish and placed it in the oven at about 180C. I boiled some peeled Agria potatoes whole and when almost cooked I drained and sliced them placing over the top of the meat. Sprinkled with salt and pepper and dotted some butter and replaced in the oven until the potatoes were starting to brown. Served with cabbage and sprouts! (No-one will want to be downwind of us tonight!)

The good thing about winter is.................

.............Beef Stew and Dumplings...........

A winter warmer

Dinner tonight was home made vegetable soup using up a lot of the veggies from the week. with home made foccacia bread, finished off with cheese and home made spicy tomato chutney.
In the soup - potatoes, onions, leek, carrots, cabbage, broad beans from the freezer, tinned kidney beans and baked beans. I added a packet of Maggi onion and bacon soup for extra flavour and salt and pepper and a couple of kettles of hot water. Simmered in a large saucepan until all veggies were soft. Easy peasy and scrummy.
And the best bit, plenty left for tomorrow...and the next day.....and the next.....