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For anyone that doesn’t have a slow cooker and wants one, Tesco are doing them for under a tenner at the moment. That’s where I got mine…

Good to see you back Becki............
and a lover of slow cookers. Hooray!
Any particular recipe searches?

Anybody got any good vegetarian or vegan slow cooker recipes?

Does anyone have any general hints on how to convert a standard recipe to one using the slow cooker? Alan is doing WeightWatchers so I want to use his recipes, but I suspect the casseroles in his books may have too much liquid in the recipe. Is there a rule for, say, how much to reduce the liquid by, or anything else I should do when converting a recipe?

I’d be really grateful for any tips! 

He’s set his heart on a sausage casserole tomorrow. There is a recipe in one of his WW books but I’m not sure how to convert it....

I promised Natalie a Harira recipe - Moroccan chick pea and lentil soup.
So here it is. I modify this for laziness by using tinned chick peas and putting everything straight into the slo cooker from the start!

6oz chick peas
1 onion chopped
1 stick celery
2 and half pints vegetable stock
1 level tsp turmeric
1 level tsp paprika
1 level tsp ground cinnamon
1 pound tomatoes, skinned and chopped (or a tin of same)
4oz dry red lentils
4oz cooked vermicelli
salt and fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbps chopped coriander leaves
lemon wedges to garnish
Harissa, to serve (optional and very hot!)

1. Put chick peas in a bowl overnight covered with cold water. Drain, rinse and set aside.

2. Put the onion, celery and chick peas in a large suacepan with 1 pint of the vegetable stock. Cover the pan and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 - 10 minutes, then reduce the heat, uncover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender, golden and syrupy.

3. Transfer to the slo cooker and stir in the spices, tomatoes and lentils.

4. Add the remaining vegetable stock and slo cook for 6 hours or until the chick peas are tender.

5. Add the cooked vermicelli and leave to cook for a further 30 minutes. Just before serving, adjust the seasoning with salt an pepper to taste, then stir in the chopped parsley and coriander.

6. Serve soup with lemon wedges and a little bowl of harissa paste for guests to help themselves.

This recipe is eaten at sunset during the festival of Ramadan, when the daily fast comes to an end. Brilliant recipe for busy families as it is ready when you want it to be, if it has already been prepared and kept in the fridge!

Thanx Kate, sounds good. Think DH would LOVE with the Harissa but, I could do without it as not good with hot food !

Natalie x

Hi Natalie - we are the same - OH piles on the harissa and I have the cooler version!
You and I don’t need extra spice - hee hee!

I have just bought a 4 in one rice cooker which has slow cooker functionality, this was to replace the 3 in one when the bowl went out of shape.

I have only ever used the rice cooker function, or once the steamer but I would like to try slow cooking, the chicken with 40 garlic cloves sounds possible on my restricted diet but I don’t know that a chicken would fit in mine!

I have a few recipes that came with it.  I usually have to adapt recipes to only include what I can eat, sometimes I just can’t.

Good luck with your 4 in 1 rice cooker Cazzy. Sounds really useful.
Hope you get some slow cooker recipes you can use off this thread.
What are your diet restrictions like anyway?
I have loads of slow cooker recipes, if you are looking for anything in particular!

Hi Kate,

I am intolerant to so much, suffered IBS for years.  I also have had allergic reactions to preservatives and additives.

I can’t tolerate wheat or any grain except rice, not even corn/maize.  I haven’t been able to eat fruit for years, but I am over the holidays as I really think I need it, so suffering a bit but not as bad as it could be.  Tomatoes have been out, have brought me out in rashes before now, also peppers and aubergines.  I love all the stuff I can’t eat.

Nuts and seeds have caused problems in the past, but I am trying to eat nuts, boy I am a glutton for punishment, or maybe just a glutton.  Pulses also cause me problems.

I have a severe problem with yeast which is in so many things.  I don’t drink tea, coffee or alcohol, only herbal pure herb tea as the fruit ones have flavourings usually and I have reacted to them, I also drink still water.

So when I eat out I have to ask for plain food, no sauces of any kind but butter and herbs are fine. 

I don’t drink milk, but I do eat yogurt and cheese.  I eat as much organic food as I can find, rice milk, rice cakes, puffed rice (only contains rice), rice pasta...... I eat lots of fish but try and stick to non farmed fish, organic chicken and no other meat.

A lot of this is tied to my thyroid probs which I am sorting, so things may get better.

Apart from that food is great!

Gosh Cazzy,
Such a long list of foods that give you problems, and all the yummy ones too.
Eating out must be really difficult for you.
At least home cooking is the best for you and you can make healthy choices there too.
I would find it very difficult to go without fruit and veg. And nuts and seeds!
Good luck in your quest for OK foods!
Any good with couscous and buckwheat? - I think they are supposed to be gluten free!

I can eat veg but not the ones mentioned.  I can’t eat cous cous, it is made from wheat and I tried buckwheat but it was no good sadly.

I am happy enough, but have to cook all my meals, I do a big rice cooker full and it lasts me for a couple of days or three eating it twice a day.

Going out poses a problem, we are going out to Chinese tonight, but they do steamed seabass so as long as they don’t add soy sauce or anything else I should be fine with that and boiled rice.

Enjoy your Chinese meal tonight Cazzy.
So glad you manage to find things you can eat.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm that Moroccan chick pea and lentil soup sounds yummy Kate and healthy. Going to have to try that. One question though. I am a little mardy and don’t like spicy food I can just about tolerate a Korma and at a push a Tikka, how does your soup compare in spicyness/hotness?