Perfect Potato Curry - Slow-cooked and Kid-friendly

INGREDIENTS:
3 tsps cumin seeds
3 tsps coriander seeds
0.5 tsp brown mustard seeds
5 curry leaves
1 tsp turmeric
0.5 tsp chilli
1 Tbsp ground ginger
2 cloves garlic crushed
1kgs spuds
2 tsp sea salt
2 cups hot water
1 cup peas/spinach
1 tin of crushed tomatoes

METHOD:
Grind up seeds (mustard, coriander and cummin) in your mortar and pestle.
Throw everything in slow cooker, except peas/spinach.
Stir so spices evenly coat everything.
Turn slow cooker on and walk away!
One hour before serving, add peas/spinach.
Stir again to mix vegetables through.
Have a cup of tea.
Serve.

If gluten and dairy are ok - I'd suggest naan on the side and natural yogurt on top.
If gluten and dairy free - pappadums (made from lentil flour) and coconut milk to taste.

My kids even eat this. It's a very mild flavour, absolutely delicious.

Broccoli Soup in the Slow Cooker

I really worry about us all missing out on calcium being dairy-free. You might have noticed I sneak sesame seeds into a lot of stuff. I went to the dentist on Monday and he said my teeth were certainly very healthy but my gums are receding and I may have bone loss. Yet another side effect of coeliacs disease. So I'm off to get x-rays to check on my poor old bones, and in the meantime am on antibiotics to clear up any infections in my gums.

Back to calcium! For anyone on a dairy free diet, there ARE ways to still get enough calcium.
Leafy greens are good (bok choy is best!), blackstrap molasses and sesame seeds are high in calcium. And soy beans and soy milk contain lots too! I found a very helpful list, which shows you how much calcium you're getting from alternative sources here.
Broccoli Soup.
4 "trees" of broccoli
2 large potatoes
2 litres vegetable stock
2 teaspoons of cumin
2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Cook in slow cooker for 6 hours (low) or 3 hours (high).
Puree in blender. Then serve or freeze.

Dahl - Bowls of lentil-y goodness. Slow Cooker style.

I always find weekdays hectic. Being a single parent often means juggling a crying baby (or worse - breastfeeding while cooking!), listening to the schoolboy read and watching the toddler being a princess/dancer. On a good day, I get dinner made while the two little ones are sleeping. If I sense a bad day, I pull the slow-cooker out of the cupboard and work with what I have.

Today my head was possibly going to explode. The school boy had an upset tummy so he was home all day. Which meant the three kids were all out of routine. Recipe for disaster in this house.

So to balance our universe I went for my recipe for nirvana - slow cooker dahl.

I actually use a recipe a friend of mine told me about with a few adjustments. But her method needs more TLC than I have to spare. So after throwing it in the slow-cooker a few times with success, that's just how I do it now.

Ingredients:
500g red lentils, washed and picked over
10 curry leaves
2 teaspoons ground sea salt
1 tsp turmeric
6 cups hot water
1 large onion, diced
1 large (810 gram) tin crushed tomatoes
2 carrots, diced
2 tsp garam masala
2 tbs lime juice

Method:
Whack everything except garam masala and lime juice in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. When ready to serve, stir in lime juice and garam masala.

Tonight we just had this with crusty slabs of toasted GF bread. We usually have this with rice and pappadams. Enjoy :)