A Little Lot of Everything...in one pot!

I mentioned the wonderful slow cooker Fb group I'd joined last week recently and when Mum told me about her mince special that Dad loves I thought we were ready to try this all-in-one dinner prep.

My nickname should be "Thrift and Vegetables" but that's nearly as big a mouthful as this dish...it takes around 8 hours on slow so start early.

I browned 500gms of minced beef(if you don't brown it it 'melts' into the sauce and I like to know I'm eating a little meat)

While it was browning I chopped 4 carrots, 4 celery stalks, 3 potatoes, 2 sad tomatoes and a cup full of eggplant and turned on the kettle.
Put everything into the slow cooker along with

a tin of chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons of beef stock powder
1 t of dried herbs
big pinch of chili flakes
lots of pepper (the stock powder and tinned tomatoes add enough salt for me)
a dollop of Heinz tomato ketchup to finish the bottle.
enough hot water to cover everything, don't over do it though

Turn onto low and leave for 3-4 hours.

Then I added a tin of baked beans and stirred well and left it another 2 hours.
Now the piece de resistance!
2/3 of a cup of broken up spaghetti mixed in and cooked for another hour or so, this is the genius(lol) part as it thickens the stew beautifully.

steamy dinner ready to serve...the gravy has come to the top, it was a lovely thick stew...

We had this with the little bit of left-over Potato Bake I made yesterday...

fill the cooker to 2/3 capacity, trust me, it shrinks and is soooo delicious you'll kick yourself for not making more!
thinly sliced potatoes(washed but unpeeled)
thinly sliced onion(one is enough)
crushed garlic, salt and pepper
Pour over a cup or so of cream, I added a little grated cheese too

Have you got the Crockpot bug yet? What are your favourite dishes to make in a slow cooker?

Love from Sue
xxx