give your slow-cooker some lovin

We're in the middle of a deep-freeze here, and the frigid temperatures are leaving me craving hot, hearty meals. I tried out a new soup in my slow-cooker yesterday, and was quite satisfied with the results. My son and partner loved it, too, and we've got enough left over (after several helpings each) to feed us two more dinners, or several lunches.

Slow-Cooker Tomato & Barley Soup

5 diced tomatoes
30 oz vegetable broth
1 cup barley
Tofurkey "sausages", diced
3 cups chopped spinach

Throw the first four ingredients in the pot. Cook on medium for six hours. Add the chopped spinach one hour before serving.


* I diverged from the recipe slightly and added garlic, onion, cumin, corriander, sea salt and pepper, all to taste.

slow-cooker chana masala (chick pea curry)

Last week I made all of our dinners in the slow-cooker. It worked out so well, I think I may make a habit of doing it. My particular favourite of the recipes I tried was the slow-cooker chana masala, or chick pea curry.

Slow-cooker Chana Masala

You will need:

1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 inch ginger, peeled and grated OR 1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
1 cup dried chick peas (or 1 15 oz can)*
12 oz diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp garam masala

* I recommend using dried chick peas whenever possible. They are much healthier than canned chick peas, which lose a lot of their nutritional value during processing and have an incredible amount of salt added to them.

Directions:

Soak dried chick peas overnight. Drain the soaking water and boil the chick peas in fresh water on the stove until they are soft. (I like to do a large amount at once, so that I have plenty of chick peas available throughout the week for other recipes, snacks, etc. You can put your extra chick peas in a container in the fridge.)

Sautee the onion, garlic, and ginger in the olive oil.

Add all ingredients to the slow-cooker. Cook for 6-9 hours on low.

time for a grocery trip

With this mama working evenings and Daddy working days, I've been trying to do most dinners in the slow-cooker so we can just sit down and eat when I get home without the hassle of meal prep. So far, so good! I'm in love with my slow-cooker - it only take me 15 mins or so to get all the ingredients ready and thrown in the pot, and voila! I come home to a hot meal.

This week's slow-cooker recipes are:
- Chickpea Curry
- Lemon Chickpea Bulgar Pilaf
- Eclectic Pasta Stew
- Quinoa Vegetable Pilaf

Recipes to come throughout the week!

My last grocery trip was not as well-thought as usual, and we ended up with quite a bit left at the end of the week. That's ok - it just means less to buy this week, and less time in the grocery store with two impatient little ones.

Now that winter is here and it's such as hassle getting the kids out the door with hats and mitts and thick coats, I'm considering renewing my service from the local organic delivery. They carry a lot more than you'd expect a delivery service to offer. http://naturalearthorganics.ca