I would say I have a pretty fast paced life. Actually I think anyone with a young family does. Although some moments of 'The Toddler - Hood' can feel like it is dragging - namely; spontaneous tantrums in public; sick days; back to back episodes of Peppa Pig; potty training - overall time flies.
Particularly, I feel, when nursery / school get brought into the mix. Time is broken down into terms; half terms; school week; school day; drop off and pick up times. Then there are the after school activities to fit into the schedule. Everything else in life gets chucked into a big pot of 'needs to be done' and in between the fixed schedule times (usually 09:00-15:00) they get randomly plucked from never decreasing mountainous pile of things to do.
I think it is safe to say that the things to be done never really get completed either. They get worked on for the week and then sent to the bottom of the pile - I mean do you ever see the bottom of your laundry basket or ironing pile?
Then there is dinner. I heard recently a survey had been carried out whereby parents sited between 17:00-18:00 (noted as 'Dinner Time') as the most stressful time of day. I would have to agree. I used to enjoy cooking 'proper' dinner and experimenting with new recipe ideas. Now it is generally carried out amongst tired and hungry whining of two children, which does not a relaxing ambiance make. Usually by the time I sit down to eat my own food I am stressed out, hot, flustered and thus not particularly hungry. All I can say is thank God for a dishwasher.
So, in a world of fast chaos I have heard of a thing called a 'Slow Cooker'. How have I missed the notion of one of these beauties in the past? Friends tell me they chuck all the ingredients in at the beginning of the day and by 'Dinner Time' that evening it smells delicious and has cooked itself. They also tell me that it is virtually impossible to mess up a 'Slow Cooker' recipe.
So my current mission in life. Purchase a Slow Cooker. I do not want an expensive one to start with, in case I do not love it as much I think I am going to Also, given we have almost every other conceivable gadget in our kitchen I do not really have the space to purchase something I won't use. If I do take to it however, I will look at the potential 'Bad Boys' out there.
Does anyone else use a Slow Cooker? Would you recommend one? What are your favourite recipes?
Okay, so I have the Tefal electic rice cooker which is also a slow cooker, and like my dish washer, it rocks my world. Chuck everything in, in the morning, and all sorted by tea time. Works a treat. You can make vats of stuff with it and then freeze it. My to do list never gets done either! X.
ReplyDeleteI do love slow cooked food, especially meat as it is generally nice and tender. I did find a positive to The Hubby reading my blog this week however. After I published that post I got an email from him entitled 'When the Duck quacks, The Hubby delivers' with details of a slow cooker (to match my kettle) and a slow cooker recipe book - arriving today apparently! I will let you know how I get on :-) xxx
DeleteI'm with you! I'm in the market for a slow cooker too. Anya at Older Single Mum recommended it as a great help when trying to deal with cooking/ new baby. I haven't got one yet but it's definitely on my list.
ReplyDeleteI bet it is a marvel when dealing with a newborn actually. I found I only ever had time to chuck some noodles in a pan - slow cooker seems like much healthier option! I will let you know what I think of the one that I have got coming.x
DeleteI love my slow cooker. I make all sorts of things in it, but my favourite is chick peas in passata with a veggie oxo cube. It thickens and becomes richer and sweeter over the cooking period and I just love the end result. Simple, but tasty and filling. Duck goes well with this, strips cooked in the cooker with the chick peas, or potatoes, either in the cooker or separately.
ReplyDelete