simply-crafting: January 2019

Slow Cooker Chicken and Chorizo Paella Recipe

Tender chunks of chicken with spicy chorizo and rice in a one pot dish that's super simple to dish up. My whole family wolfed it down and asked for seconds including the veg hating toddler who had hers sprinkled with cheese.

Ingredients:

1kg Chicken £5.50

Chorizo 2 packs £2.98

Garlic 1 bulb 19p

Paprika 25p

Veg Oil

Paella Rice 500g

Chicken Stock 12p

Sweetcorn 1kg 79p

Onions 1kg 60p

Peppers 700g £1.26

Total Cost = £13.09 / 18 portions = 73p per serving

397 Kcal per portion

Tools:

Dice the onions.

Mince the garlic.

Dice the peppers and add them to the slow cooker.

Dice the chorizo and add it to the slow cooker.

Add four chicken stock cubes.

And 500g of paella rice.

Half a pot of paprika.

And 1 litre of water.

Dice the chicken.

Fry the onions and garlic until soft. Add them to the slow cooker.

Fry the chicken until browned. Add it to the slow cooker.

Finally add the sweetcorn.

Cook on low for about 7 hours.

Max and Meena Mega Max Raglan Top Sewing Project

I've sewn the MegaMax a few times now. It's a pretty easy sew with a few options for a bit of variety. I mostly like the colour blocking which makes an interesting garment. It's also a fab stash buster.

Tools and Materials:

Pattern: Megamax Raglan from Max & Meena

Red jersey from stash

Old Black TShirt

I have learnt form experience that it is crucial that the fabric on the neck band has enough stretch. So I've used the stretchiest of my two fabrics for the neckband.

I also tend to size up, this is the 4-5 size which fits my petite 3 year old with a good amount of growing room.

I think the neckband on the MegaMax is just a tad too small so I tend to add an extra inch.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry Recipe

I wanted a super easy recipe to ease myself back into batch cooking after the Christmas break. This certainly didn't disappoint, it was super quick to prepare and tasted scrumptious. I can definitely see this becoming a favourite for those hectic weeks.

Ingredients:

Chicken 2kg

Sweet Potato 1kg

Peas 1kg

Curry Powder

Coconut Milk 2 tins

Chicken Stock

Tools:

Makes 21 servings.

46p per portion.

297 Kcal per serving.

Dice the chicken and throw it in the slow cooker - no need to brown.

Peel the sweet potatoes. Dice them in a food processor or with a knife if you don't have one. Add them to the slow cooker.

Throw in a bag of frozen peas.

Four stock cubes.

Half a pack of curry powder - add less or more according to your tastes, our's are on the spicy side.

Last but not least, 2 tins of coconut milk. Don't make the mistake I did and pick up the low fat stuff, it's too watery as you can see.

Cook with the slow cooker on low for about 6 hours.

Served with Healthy Air Fried Chips.

Simplicity 1332 Skirt Sewing Project

Surprisingly this is the very first skirt I've made my now 3 year old daughter. Simplicity 1332 is a super easy really simple skirt pattern and it sewed up lovely and quickly. It would be super fast to do a batch of these as presents. I have some lovely dress fabric that's currently unloved . . . For my first sew with Simplicity 1332 I've gone for a plain black woven cotton.