In today’s world of financial trouble, anything that can help save some cash is a welcome addition to anyone’s life.

Now that winter is well and truly upon us, I find myself wanting substantial, warming meals like casseroles, chilli con carne or a thick chunky curry!

As you probably know, this type of food really benefits from longer cooking times. Try some chilli that has been cooked for 10 hours compared to one that’s only had 1 and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

Unfortunately, its not very safe or economical to have an oven going for this amount of time, especially if you are not at home (or you’re in bed) during the cooking time.

The answer? A slow cooker of course!

These little beauties use only as much power as a light bulb and are safe to leave when you go out.

Since I bought mine, I’ve used it many times and for all sorts or meals (even lasagne). A bit of prep work the night before – chopping, peeling, etc – and then the next morning, chuck it in the cooker and turn it on. When you get home from work, hey presto, dinner is ready and will taste fantastic.

Not only do you save cash, but you also save a lot of time, as can eat as soon as you get home.

I bought my slow cooker from Amazon, as usual, great service from them and it arrived quickly. This is the model I went for:

There is a bigger one available too if you have a big family or wish to cook whole joints of meat or chickens.

After a bit of research, I decided to buy two thermometers, a meat thermometer and an oven thermometer.

Why the two you ask? Well, the meat one is obvious, if you want a perfect turkey or duck, a meat thermometer will tell you when that meat has reached your perfect temperature and you will consistently serve meat the way you want it.

The oven thermometer is different as it sits inside your oven and tells you the “real” temperature the oven is running at. This may sound pointless when you have just set the oven to the temperature you wanted with the thermostat dial but trust me, it will surprise you how different the two are.

My oven was running cooler that the thermostat told me. At 180 degrees C (according to the oven setting) the thermometer told me the oven was 165…

So now I know what temp my oven runs at and have a tool that can give me perfect meat every time! Result!

The best part is, they both cost next to nothing!

Personally, I prefer to mix it up a bit. In the past I’ve had duck, chicken, goose, beef and, of course (in my mind anyway!) no Christmas day is complete without a massive lump of roast ham with crackling!

Ordering your meat can prove to be a bit of a pain around Christmas, I’ve had times where i’ve ordered in advance and then been given a story about final stock levels blah blah blah and ended up with something I didn’t order.

Last year, I decided to order meat online.

What a difference! I received a better product at a better price and, best of all, I received it on time. Last year I had a Goose and also a ham.

Donald Russell was recommended to me by some forum or another and they didn’t disappoint. Their website is top notch and just looking at their photos makes my mouth water… They even offer a money-back guarantee – “Your Money Back If You’ve Ever Tasted Better”. Now that’s a big claim!

This year I’m going back to good old Donald but I’m not sure what I’m going to order yet. It’s definitely between the options below though.

Check out my next article which talks about some invaluable kitchen gadgets to make preparing that Christmas feast all the easier.