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Eating Organically With Waitrose

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Over the last week we have made some small changes to our shopping and our diet by using organic ingredients in at least one meal a day as part of Organic September. We did a big organic shop at Waitrose and I planned out some meals. Of course things rarely go to plan and I was feeling rather unwell for a few days of the week and so I changed things up a little with our meals taking full advantage of my slow cooker, sous vide machine and my Tefal cook4me because did I mention my oven broke? Nightmare.

We made incredible garlic mushrooms – luckily my hob still works:

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A super tasty sweet potato and sausage casserole:

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And the most tender gammon cooked sous vide style in organic Wyldwood cider:

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We also made several dishes out of a slow cooker whole organic chicken, which was plump and provided lots of meat for roast chicken sandwiches, a curry and a mini roast.

I have to say we have really enjoyed going organic, maybe we won’t be making a full change of everything BUT I am going to go organic where I can and where my budget allows.

And ahem did you know that all Green & Blacks chocolate is organic? Definitely worth making that change don’t you think?

Take a look at the Waitrose Organic Shop and have a look at the massive selection of organic products they have to offer.

Spicy Sausage Slow Cooker Stew

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I must be the only person I know who has really been looking forward to the autumnal weather. Normally I am such a sunshine girl but pregnancy and the heat we have had this summer don’t really mix very well so now that the temperature is dropping I couldn’t be more thrilled!

Warm socks, candles, crumbles and stews feature on my to do/wear list this week and I’m pretty excited about it.

I use my slow cooker LOADS more when its cold. I love casseroles, stews, soups and slow cooked joints of meat served with hunks of homemade bread or creamy mash. My meals are cheaper as I throw all my last bits of vegetable into everything, I use cheaper cuts of meat and it saves me a lot of time too. Lately I haven’t had the same energy and enthusiasm for cooking as I’ve been so worn out and slow cooking is ideal for when I feel this way.

You really can throw meat, veg and some stock into the pot..leave it untouched for 5 hours and somehow arrive home to a tasty meal. It’s magic I tell you.

Sometimes a (very) little bit more of an effort is required and can make a really special meal.

Today I decided to fiddle about with some spicy sausages, leftover veg and some tinned bits n bobs and woweee it worked well.

Spicy Sausage and Lentil Stew

You will need:

6 spicy sausages ( min 70% meat) I used Asda chorizo style sausages
1/2 red onion (diced)
1/2 red pepper (diced)
1/2 green pepper (diced)
3 inch chunk of courgette (diced)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of new potatoes ( drained and chopped)
3 tbsp red lentils
1 tsp of sweet smoked paprika
1tsp of season all (Schwartz) seasoning or salt/pepper/herbs
1 pint of stock

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Brown your sausages and onions over a moderate heat in a dry frying pan before placing in slow cooker with the rest of your ingredients and stir well. Place lid on top and turn on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-8.

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I served mine with herby parmentier potatoes.. You can find the method to make these here simply replace the fajita seasoning with garlic and dried or fresh herbs as well as olive oil. I also served homemade flatbreads which were perfect for mopping up the sauce.

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You could easily just serve this with crusty bread and it would still be a substantial meal.

The simplest slow cooked supper

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Sometimes food needs to be simple and cheap.. And well easy! However you still want it to taste good, there’s no point in ever cooking something from scratch if its not going to be tasty.

This is a very brief post just to share with you a delicious recipe for a slow cooked sausage, sweet potato and bean stew.

The prep will take you 5-10 mins then its throw it all in, leave for 8-10 hours et voila.


Sausage, sweet potato and bean stew

You will need:

6-8 sausages ( I only use sausages from my butcher or Debbie&Andrews in the supermarket as they are 99% meat which is after all what should be in our sausages)
1 red onion diced
1/2 large sweet potato cut into smallish chunks
1 large carrot diced
2 tins of baked beans
1 it of chopped tomatoes
About 100ml passata
Some fresh or dried herbs ( I used oregano on this occasion)
Seasalt and freshly ground pepper

First lightly brown your sausages all over in a frying pan with a tiny bit of olive oil and your onions then scoop it all into our slow cooker with the remaining ingredients and give it a good stir. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours and then serve.

Crusty bread to mop up the incredible sauce is optional but delicious.

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