MmmMmm nothing beats a coffee served with a cookie and a piece of flapjack!! 🙂 These sweet treats won’t see the weekend if my children have any say in it. I don’t really mind though as I prefer them eating what I have baked than shop bought products. They do get to eat some shop bought biscuits but not very often. In my head it saves me money but that is not really the case as once you add up what you have used in ingredients it is probably cheaper to by from a shop but nothing can beat that feeling of knowing you have made something that the family enjoy. Maybe I should start adding costings for making a treat as part of my blog as I used to do it all the time when I worked out what I would sell my baked products for when I had my market stall.
I am sitting thinking about how much time I have before I have to start with my other jobs and then have to dash to school to pick up my two daughters who finish school today. My two youngest children had their last day yesterday so they are sat here watching the television as a reward for helping me tidy up this morning.
Yesterday flew by and was a blur of activity. I did quite a lot of baking too which means I can take it a bit easier today. Haha, if only that was true. Quite a bit of boring household jobs need doing today but I really need to work as last night I ended up watching a film instead catching up on my blog.
The Sloppy Joes was a hit last night but I made enough for two meals so tonight we are having the rest with buns and wedges. Last night we had new potatoes with it but because it was a vegetarian meal I offered my husband corned beef to go with his meal. He added [amazon_textlink asin=’B007XR0JK4′ text=’corned beef’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’d6631e8d-6df3-11e7-a982-bba9069fd181′] to his plate and he really enjoyed it. He even paid me a compliment about the dinner. For my version of Sloppy Joes, I used a tin of tomato soup which I found in the cupboard as I didn’t have any tinned tomatoes (something to add to the shopping list). I loved how the vegetables had turned really sloppy and sort of merged into one. They definitely lived up to their name. It took no eating at all – my sort of meal when you are really tired and can’t be bothered. This meal is great for using up the left over vegetables which are looking a bit sorry for themselves. Also, making it in the slow cooker saves on the washing up but a slow cooked meal ensures the meal is cooked to perfection which is great if you use a cheaper cut of meat as the long cooking time tenderises the meat. There are many positives for using a slow cooker and it is one piece of equipment every household should have in their kitchen cupboard.
I love using my slow cooker even though I am in the house most days. It is still nice to just dish the meal up straight from the [amazon_textlink asin=’B007XEJ4G2′ text=’crockpot’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’c551c406-6df3-11e7-b57d-7174e1a71aa7′]. I love it. I have used my slow cooker to cook a whole chicken in before and it turned out really well. The meat just fell off the bone. I can see why they are used a lot by working mothers because to come home to the job of cooking a meal sometimes feels me with dread and these slow cookers make your life easier. I have made curries with the rice in the cooker at the same time, Â broth, chilli con carne, sausage casserole and many other meals in the slow cooker. However, I have never made a sweet dish in the slow cooker but I know that other people have made a pudding quite successfully. Something I may have to try in the near future.