Spanish Beef Recipe - Family Food

With calorie counting well underway and being a few pounds lighter already, I've been trying to think of some meals that are both filling and healthier for us to enjoy. After all, there is no use eating a salad if you will be hungry and reaching for the biscuits five minutes later is there!

This meal can be slow cooked so it's ready for when you return home from work/college/the gym etc. With couscous and vegetables taking just a few minutes to heat through, I've found these make a great accompaniment. This should prevent you from wanting to raid the fridge like Pac-Man afterwards!
It's quite similar to my sausage casserole recipe which is a family favourite.

Ingredients 

(Serves 2 generously (we often share this between the four of us) Approx 500 calories per portion)

Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole

I've had the slow cooker out a lot more recently as it's just so easy to use and convenient around work and school. I like to look for alternative ways of using certain ingredients too so we don't get stuck with the same meals every week - this sausage casserole has a bit of a kick and goes lovely with mash or jacket potatoes in particular.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 tbsp garlic puree/2 cloves

8 thick sausages (we used Lincolnshire)

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp dried thyme

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 x 400g tin baked beans

1 chicken stock cube diluted in 80ml hot water
A few slices of chorizo

• Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions, cooking for a few minutes until browned.
• Add the sausages and brown for around 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic, pepper, paprika, cumin and thyme and cook for 1 minute. 
• Empty the pan into the slow cooker.
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the slow cooker and stir well.
• Cook on low for 5 hours or high for 2 hours.
• Scoff!

Meal Planning Monday

December has arrived and the countdown to Christmas has officially begun! As the weather gets even colder there will be a lot more slow cooked meals in this household and I'm really looking forward to more roast dinners and warm desserts too.

This weeks menu...

Slow cooked lamb and stew and dumplings
Jacket potatoes and slow cooked chilli
Slow cooked meatball bolognese
Roast chicken
Mexican night (Fajitas, Enchiladas, nachos etc)

We are away in Blackpool at the weekend reviewing some of the attractions there so we will be eating out Saturday and will pick up something on the way home Sunday.

What's on your menu?

I'm linking this over with At Home With Mrs M.

Slow cooker - Lamb stew and dumplings

I only cooked this for the first time last weekend and it was amazing! Empty plates all round. It was inspired by a recipe from a recent Masterchef Australia episode as it looked so delicious and it's a great dish for this time of year.

Ingredients

Serves 5

For the stew

400g diced lamb

2 onions

2 carrots

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp thyme

1 tbsp parsley

2 bay leaves

400g cherry tomatoes

300ml of chicken stock

For the dumplings

150g suet

150g self raising flour

1 tsp parsley

150ml water

• Chop the onions and fry them in a pan for a few minutes with the lamb until browned. Add them to the slow cooker.
• Peel and chop the carrots and add them to the slow cooker. Then add the tomato puree, cherry tomatoes, herbs and stock. Give it a stir and cook on auto for 3 hours. Add a little more stock if necessary.
• Make the dumplings by combining the suet with the flour, parsley and water in a bowl to form a soft dough. Roll the dough out into a sausage approx 8 inches long and cut into pieces around 2cm. Roll each piece into a ball and place them into the slow cooker after the 3 hours. 
• Cook for around 15 minutes with the stew, until the dumplings are hot all the way through, remove the bay leaves and serve.
• Scoff!

We enjoyed this with green veg and mash potato.

I'm linking this with...