I've joined a few groups recently and both are giving me some renewed enthusiasm in life. I have an interest in designing and building environmentally friendly homes, so have joined a group demonstrating and promoting building with straw bales. I haven't built one yet, but would love to give it a go one day. Another group I joined is called Aussies Living Simply, and some of the ideas on there match perfectly with what I am trying to achieve with this blog. If you're a follower of this blog, check out their Facebook page.
However one group that I've joined that I have been able to put into practice and amazed by the results is Slow Cooker Recipes 4 Families AUSTRALIA ONLY. I've learnt many more recipes and have been astounded by what can actually be done in a slow cooker! On the weekend I made pavlova in the slow cooker and would certainly do it again. Today I made cheese and vegemite scrolls and they were so simple and worked out well. Check out the recipe under the photos section of the groups Facebook page, however if you're not on Facebook and have a slow cooker, here's the recipe.
2 cups self raising flour
1 cup yoghurt.
Line slow cooker with baking paper. Knead ingredients together to form a dough. Roll out and spread with vegemite (or in my case, Dick Smith's Ozemite which tastes better - much like Vegemite was when I was a kid) and grated cheese. Roll up and slice. Lay slices on paper in slow cooker. Place a tea towel under the lid of the slow cooker to absorb the moisture (otherwise you might end up with soggy dough). Cook on High for 1.5 hours. Turn scrolls over for the last 15 mins to brown on top.
The advantages of using the slow cooker for me are: I have solar panels, so this uses the energy I produce rather than the gas oven. The slow cooker is up on the bench out of the reach of little hands that might get burnt, where my oven is down low. I could've put this recipe in the slow cooker, then go out and do something, like pick up kids from school or run an errand, where I wouldn't do that with the oven on. Admittedly, the instruction manual probably says not to leave it unattended, but many slow cooker owners do.
I'm planning to make a pie in the slow cooker tomorrow night after seeing it in a recipe book. Thanks to the group I joined, I'm trying new things with the kitchen equipment I've already got. Maybe I'll take a photo of it and upload it to their page with the recipe!
Oh, Pauline's Tips has a page on Facebook as well. Check it out and feel free to join and invite your friends to as well!
