I also love that slow cooker meals can be made with pretty much anything I have left over in the fridge. Provided I have some meaty bones, a variety of vegetables and some salt and bay leaves, I'm good to go.

Add to the awesomeness of slow cooked meals the fact that they are chock full of nutrients, with nothing being lost in the cooking process. All the goodness from the meat and vegetables remain in the broth, so it is a sensational way to cook during winter when our bodies crave added nourishment to keep us well, and flu free.

So let's have a look at how easy a delicious slow cooked meal is to make.

This recipe makes enough for a family of 4 with leftovers for the next day's lunch.

Ingredients:

4 lamb shanks (or any other meaty bone - ox tail, osso bucco, lamb shoulder etc)

1-2 beef bones (with loads of cartilage)

1 onion, diced roughly

3 cloves garlic, chopped roughly

3 carrots, chopped roughly

1 tbsp himalayan salt

2 bay leaves

3 cups of diced vegetables (pumpkin, cauliflower, potato, spinach, broccoli  etc)

Method:

Place onion, garlic and carrot in the bottom of the slow cooker, add meat and bones.

Cover with salt and bay leaves and then fill up the slow cooker dish with filtered water, to cover about 1 cm above the top of the bones.

Put on high until boiling (if you have time to wait), and then cook on low for another 4-5 hours. Or, put on low from the start and leave it up to 8 hours.

About an hour prior to serving, add the remaining vegetables and increase temperature back to high to ensure vegetables are soft and cooked through when ready to serve.

To serve you can either strip the meat from the bones and add to each bowl and then top with vegetables and stock, or simply serve a whole lamb shank in each bowl covered in soup.

Delish.

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