I'm still cracking on with my thrifty, money-saving meals and when I did my weekly shop last week, I bought a pack of meatballs for the princely sum of £2.49 for 12. A great price and the only problem I have with them is that they're too big. I like to be able to eat them in one mouthful and these are just way too big so I chopped them in half and re-rolled them into little dinky bite-sized ones so instead of 12 I ended up with 24 of them. I then browned the little meatballs in a pan with little rice bran oil and some garlic, I added a tin of tomatoes, a dollop of pesto, either red or green, whichever you have in the fridge, a splash of red wine a beef stock cube, I like the Aldi ones I think they have a lovely taste but whichever you prefer is just fine, and a sprinkling of Mediterranean herbs. I then added a splash of hot water and tipped the whole lot into the crock pot.
Dinky little bite-sized meatballs
Now just tip the whole lot into the crock pot.
I turned the crock pot onto high and left it to get on with cooking my supper while I got on with some much needed sitting!!! I'm feeling decidedly under the weather at the moment, I have an ear infection and I'm very, very deaf in that ear, I ache all over and I have a headache. I just hope I'm not coming down with the flu. I really don't have time to be ill so, today was definitely a day to be sitting on the sofa drinking tea, watching TV snuggled under a blanket and doing my best to think healthy, healing thoughts. Sadly, it doesn't seem to be working because despite the pain killers, I'm still feeling rotten.
Anyway, at least my supper was good, in fact it was quite delicious. I finished it off in the oven for 20 minutes to reduce the amount of liquid that was in it and I might have overdone it a bit and reduced a little too much but it was delicious nevertheless. I'm kinda making this whole crock pot thing up as I go along. Getting the amount of liquid right seems to be the biggest challenge because I don't have recipes to follow but I seem to be doing ok and the whole meal only cost about £3.30. I even have a couple of portions left over to put in my new freezer, which is being delivered on Wednesday, I can't wait. At the moment, my little freezer is stuffed to the brim and I only just managed to squeeze in the two portions of meatballs I made today. Is it weird to be so excited about a freezer?
It sounds very yummy, you will have your new freezer filled in no time x
ReplyDeleteYour meatball dinner sounds really good. Hope you will feel better soon. Resting and generally just taking it easy is a good thing to do when you are feeling poorly.
ReplyDeleteNot weird at all to be excited about a freezer. I keep hinting to my husband that we need another cos the 1 we have is full of batch cooked meals lol
ReplyDeleteKeep those ideas coming, please ... they look brilliant and really good value. I've just got another little freezer and need to get cooking to fill it up but also have the dreaded lurgy. Spent the whole of Sunday on the sofa and only today the cough has developed. Actually feel much better though!! Hope you're better soon.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, it sounds as though you have fallen victim to the horrible lurgy that is rampaging across the whole country. I was ill all over Christmas - sneezing, coughing, feeling exhausted, etc. It was far worse than a cold, more like flu and the cough went on and on, being especially bad at night. It took 3 weeks of taking Lemsip Extra, Covonia Cough medicine and hot lemon and honey drinks before I felt well enough to face the world. (I've saved so much on diesel for my car!) So I wish you well and hope you feel better very soon.
ReplyDeleteI've had my Slow Cooker for many years, the sort with a heavy ceramic pot inside a metal outer. But after hearing about the new lighter models that have a lightweight inner 'pot' that can be used on the hob for searing meat and browning onions, etc. I have treated myself this week - and bought one! Oh MY Word! It's brilliant to be able to cook all in one pot. I suspect I shall be using this one more than the heavy one.