Ham and Lentil Slow Cooker Soup

All right, we are doubling DOWN on Christmas cooking now. We're knee deep in the season, people.

For me, Christmas is about eating with family and friends. I have a really awesome family. We meet up all the time when I’m home and have a great time together. They’re also full of good ideas that I can pass off as my own.

This soup is a prime example. My aunt makes the best soup. She is the queen of soup. One day she came to my nanny’s house with her massive 15L soup pot full of lentil soup and put it on the stove. When it was ready to be served, she went into it with a massive fork and pulled out a large joint of ham.

That’s right, she cooked the ham right there in the soup.

Absolute genius.

And I’ve shamelessly stolen the idea and made it into a slow cooker meal, something I can put on in the morning and then all of a sudden at dinner time a wonderful meal appears. I don't add any salt because the stock and gammon are salty enough, but a little bit of pepper works wonders.

Perfect dinner. My boyfriend doesn't think soup is enough of a meal for dinner, so he gets a grilled cheese with his.

CHRISTMAS DINNER!

My favourites.

OH MY GOD. It’s finally Christmas again! And I have a mammoth post in celebration.

Tis the season to eat your weight in delightful foods and collapse in front of a Harry Potter movie. And Christmas dinner plays no small role in the development of your festive food coma. This year I couldn’t get home to the family shindig, so I set about making dinner for my boyfriend and I. And ended up making enough to feed my entire family, had they been here.

And if you want to eat far too much at Christmas, this is how you do it. Start with a plan of what you’re cooking and when you want to eat. If you’re as anal as me, make a damn schedule.

My festive menu:

• Ham cooked in coke
• Chicken
• Pigs in blankets
• Stuffing 
• Roast spuds
• Buttered leeks 
• (and shhhh.. Shop-bought greens and mash.)