Cheap Slow Cooker/One Pan Meals

Smiley87

Hi,

I'm looking at meal prepping to try and save money and time. Does any one know of any low prep and low cost meals for two busy adults?

I've got a few ideas from the forums and Pinterest, but would like a few more before I make the mother of all meal plans :rotfl:

jackyann

I am a huge fan of the combination of pulses and cured meats.
Pulses do really well in the slow cooker. In case you're a pulse novice:

1. soak, usually overnight (you don't need to soak split peas or lentils)
there is a "quick soak" alternative: bring to the boil and leave sitting in the hot water whilst you prepare everything else..
2. boil - this is essential for beans (look this up - it's about haemaglutins that can cause problems). Red kidney beans need boiling for 20 mins, white for 10, fava (broad) for 5. Other pulses need to be brought to boiling.
3. cook in slow cooker - for the long cook I usually add some onion, carrot, celery (tough outer stalk, for flavour). This is the point where I will often add a ham hock (see below)
4. finish off with other flavourings and ingredients.
I usually do a batch of pulses, then keep for quick heating up in fridge or freezer.
One of my favourites is pease pudding (yellow split peas) which can be curried up (dhal) and also boiled down to a fairly solid state, topped with fried onions and heated in the oven - serve sliced with jacket spuds and a green veg for a winter treat.

Ham hock: soak and then bring to the boil - then put in slow cooker with veg and pulses. It falls apart - not elegant but very tasty. Depending on numbers you can make one or two meals, then chop the remaining pieces and use with pulses, soups, omelettes etc.

Addition:
Once you have some cooked pulses, I find that I can combine them with chopped up bits of bacon, sausage etc. So I can buy a handful of "bacon bits" or fish an odd sausage from the freezer, and it all becomes very tasty and satisfying.

Another favourite of mine is to slow cook any of the cheaper joints of meat. First meal, eaten as a roast, then the lovely tender meat can be used in sandwiches, stir-fries, risottos etc.
Last we/e I slow roasted a shoulder of lamb rubbed over with ras-al-hanout, and roasted veg to go with it (tomatoes, peppers, onions, aubergine). Ate with potatoes & greens.
Monday: made up some cous-cous and mixed in the left-over roast veg and some diced lamb - heated it all together.
Tomorrow: last of the lamb with lots of veg in stir-fry with chilli sauce.

FairyPrincessk

We regularly make this with normal aubergines chopped up--we use two in place of the small ones. I haven't tried it in the SC, but I image you could do it on low. Although it needs to cook for awhile, it is very low maintenance once you put the lid on so you can get on with other stuff while you wait.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1263669/spicy-baby-aubergine-stew-with-coriander-and-mint

I'd love to see what you've found if you have any links you can post.

Smiley87

jackyann - you sound like what I aspire to be in the kitchen! The ham hock sounds fab!

Here's a few of the links that I've found FairyPrincessUK:
http://www.cleanandscentsible.com/2014/05/one-pot-meals.html
http://www.ayearofslowcooking.com/2008/06/crockpot-salsa-chicken-recipe.html
https://jamkatspaleo.wordpress.com/2014/01/12/paleo-slow-cooker-freezer-meals/

I need a good arsenal of recipes because my other half is a picky eater and I like to eat healthy food.

FairyPrincessk

Those are great links. My OH does about half of the cooking and he prefers to cook one pot meals, so I try to keep him supplied with new recipes.

MallyGirl

pulled pork is very popular here - and pork joints are pretty cheap at the moment

PasturesNew

You asked for "low cost, low prep", I'd say:
500 grams of mince, chuck it in
tin of kidney beans or baked beans, chuck them in
1-2 onions, chopped, chuck them in

Then one of the following:
2-3 teaspoons of chilli powder + tin of tomatoes
cheap jar of chilli sauce

You can bulk it out with anything else you've got/fancy ... but there's really no prep in the above.

Total cost would be sub £2.50.

Turn it on high for 1 hour, then down low, eat 6 hours after the lid went on.

kathrynha

Sausage and lentil risotto is a favourite in our house. Depending on how cheap you are willing to go on the sausages and beans it can be extremely cheap. Quantities are approximate
One pack of sausages cut in to 1-2cm chunks
One tin of baked beans
One tin of tomatoes
Two cups of lentils
Two cups of rice
Two lamb oxo (I think it adds to the flavour)
A large sprinkle of dried mint
Water
All cooked together till the rice and lentils are cooked. You need to keep adding more water.

Also pulled ham/bacon is more popular in my house than pulled pork. Bacon joints can often be picked up cheap.
Put it in the slow cooker with a few cloves and boiling water and leave it. If you are around you can change the water half way through to reduce the salt.
When it's cooked pull it apart. I serve it with beans on jacket potatoes or mash.
It is also lovely cold in sandwiches with a bit of mustard.

Smiley87

Sausage and lentil risotto sounds good - not come across that one on my epic hunt before.

Here are a few more links that I've managed to find this morning:
http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/homemade-doner-kebab-slow-cooker-slimming-world-fakeaway/
http://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/2016/02/13/25-dump-and-go-slow-cooker-recipes/

kathrynha

Smiley87 wrote: »

Sausage and lentil risotto sounds good - not come across that one on my epic hunt before.

Thanks. It's a dish of my own creation. It was originally based on a sausage casserole that I needed to make cheaper when my hubby was out of work.

If I remember rightly I calculated it at about 8p a serving when made with cheap sausages and all value ingredients, although that was 7 years ago.

Even now money isn't tight it is still a family favourite although amount and quality of sausages has improved dramatically.

Dustyblinds

My family are big fans of 'poor mans stew'
500g minced beef, 2 X carrots, 1 large onion, half a turnip/swede, 1 tin chopped tomatos, beef stock 2/3 medium potatoes
Fry onion in mince until browned, add diced carrot and turnip, fry for a few mins then add potato, after a few more mins add tomatos and beef stock. Simmer until cooked. In the winter we have this in giant Yorkshire puddings, otherwise it's nice on its own or with a bit of crusty bread.