I don't use my slow cooker as much as I should. This morning I picked up some aberdeen angus beef cubes for a good price and solved my dinner problem (I was meant to think what we were having when I did the list / shopping last Thursday and failed miserably).
I browned the meat, put it in the pot (already on and heating up), sliced two carrots and fried / steamed them to soften. Added them then cooked off some onion and garlic. They went into the pot along with stock and herbs - including two bay leaves as we always play a game of who gets the lucky leaf in their dinner. I grated a spud into there too as I hate chunks of spud in stews (a reason why I hate pasties too) but I love the way grated spud dissolves and makes the gravy thick and almost sticky. When it gets nearer to dinnertime I'll make dumplings - I have to double the recipe and make lots of small ones as they are so popular in my household.
I should be pulling plaster off the bathroom wall. I've stripped the wallpaper and found a section where the topcoat has blown off so it will have to come off and be redone. I'm a bit scaredy cat about it to be truthful, but I suppose I will have to pull up my big girl pants and get on with it.
