What BeeBee Cooked: Slow Cooker Chicken Chow Mein

I have been relying quite heavily on ready meals and sandwiches since going back into the office. 

Instead of financing the local Tescos, I have taken to making my own meals on a weekend. Portioning them up and then storing them in the freezer. 

This is my Slow Cooker Chow Mein. I love it mainly as it is really simple to make. Also because it only really gives me one pot to wash up! God love the slow cooker. This makes 4 portions for me.

Ingredients: 

Skinned chicken portions
500ml Chicken stock
One bag of stir-fried vegetables (if you're being lazy like me) or a mixture of finely chopped veggies. 
Packet of dried egg noodles.
Garlic, grated - to taste I often use a tsp of garlic paste
Fresh ginger, grated - to taste or a sprinkling of ginger powder
1/3 cup Soy sauce (ish)

Method:













In your slow cooker (set to high) poach the chicken portions in the chicken stock, soy sauce, garlic and ginger for roughly 3 hours. 

When cooked through remove the chicken and set aside to cool slightly. Shred the meat and return to the pot. 













In the meantime, add the veggies to the stock for about 30 mins.












Add the dried noodles. 












Make sure the noodles are covered by the liquor. Leave until the noodles are cooked through, this should take between 15-30 minutes. All the stock should have be absorbed into the noodles. 












Return the chicken to the pot. 

Mix through. 













Serve and eat. 

Or cool and freeze.

Asda Stuffed Crust Spicy Meatball Pizza with Garlic & Herb Dip

I rarely buy supermarket pizzas, this one I first tried after finding it in the Whoops.... section. I love a good Whoopsie bargain. 

On the box it looks appealing, I don't think that they'd let it look like a dog's dinner on the box. 

So how does it stand-up to the box? I have found on the times I have bought it that the toppings have slid off the base. I have transported it straight, on a side and generally thrown it around. Not once has it arrived without needing a makeover before going in the oven. 

Taste-wise it's got a kick. Not a huge one, but enough to know that the mini meatballs are there. The garlic & herb dip is a great complimentary side for this. Even my non-spicy child demolishes this when I serve it up for tea. There is a mildly spiced tomato base with a smattering of cheese on top on which the mini meatballs sit. 

It is probably just as well that there isn't too much cheese as the crust hides a tube of gooey molten goodness - I personally would have liked there to be a touch of chilli in here too. I am a bit of a chilli fiend though, just ask @thechillijamman 

Overall totally worth the £3.50 it costs. 

What I Ate Wednesday

Breakfast: Poached egg & tomato sauce sandwich and a pineapple, banana and coconut smoothie at my desk. 

Carrot and coriander soup with a sunflower and pumpkin seed roll.

Honey and lime glazed baked chicken with wholegrain rice and steamed veggies.

Family Friday: Cooking Kid

Last week I set my Cubs a task, to help their parents at home in a range of chores/activities.

My eldest son JJ was no different.

For a week, he cleaned his room, made his bed, he sorted out the shoe cupboard and laid the dinner to list a few of the tasks.

He also cooked. His favourite food is lasagne, but I wasn't feeling the stress of teaching him how to make a bechemel sauce. Instead I headed to the cupboard and pulled out this beauty.

I've never really been a packet user. My mum used to way back when, for things like savoury mince, but as I was a diet club member for most of my adult life (somewhat unsuccessfully may I add) I have avoided them. However, I thought this looked interesting and a good cupboard standby. 

All JJ needed to add was some meatballs, which he made from lean mince formed into balls with some salt and pepper, onion and red pepper. 

Those knife skills just scared me!

He fried off the meatballs, onion & peppers. Added the sauce mix to the pan and left it to cook out and thicken, 

At this point he also boiled up some pasta (that's the shiny pan). 

After mixing it all together and topping with cheese we baked it for roughly 20 mins. 

The finished dish looked like this:

I think it's fair to say he did a really good job. I enjoyed my tea that night anyway!

If I see this packet mix again I will definitely be buying it. Quick and simple to make and it was quite simply child's play. 

What I Ate Wednesday

bowl of Oats So Simple with maple syrup

Ham Salad sandwich in a Warburton's Thin

Meatball Pasta Bake - made by my 8-year-old son JJ

What I Ate Wednesday

This is my current favourite breakfast, yogurt and fruit. In this instance I have added pineapple to some coconut yogurt. 

Lunch was a houmous and carrot sandwich made with green olive bread from ASDA and a side of cheese snack mix from Aldi.

Tea tonight was chinese-style lettuce wraps. So simple even my 6-year-old son can make them. Gone as soon as they are served up! Click here for the recipe.

Family Friday: Pot Luck Dinner

Once a month my friends and I gather for a meal.

We all take a dish from a particular cuisine.

This time we chose Greek. I took pitta breads, taramasalata, houmous and tzatziki and a greek salad.

There was also a beef stifado, mousakka, stuffed peppers and tomatoes, lemon pilaf, prawn toast (we always have prawn toast mmm), oreo truffles, cheesecake.

We laughed the night away with ouzo and a few games of this...

The table looked full with all these goodies

please don't judge, it is really funny. You just can't be easily offended!

What I Ate Wednesday

It's time for another What I Ate Wednesday... 

I waited to eat breakfast at tea & toast. I had a white coffee and white bread crusts with strawberry jam and lemon curd. Yummy homemade jam. 

We also had a bit of a cakey morning. This is a chocolate and caramel cupcake. 

For lunch I had spaghetti bolognaise. I originally made this for the boys' tea whilst I'm in the office, so had a little bit now. 

I took a packed lunch to work, cheese and cucumber sandwiches, a tangerine, some cheese & bacon crisps and a Banana Soreen Bar. I love these Soreen bars, fantastic for packed lunches. The banana ones taste like banoffee.

As I was in the office I also took some items from my Graze.com box to snack on. 

I love dark chocolate so the Jaffa Cake punnet is a proper treat.