Review: 365 Slow Cooker Suppers

When it comes to cooking, I'm generally fairly adventurous--except when it comes to using the slow cooker. For as much countertop real estate that my slow cooker takes up, it's definitely underutilized. Mainly, I use it for pot roasts, pulled-meat sandwich fillings, and chili.

Stephanie O'Dea is a lot less cautious than I am when it comes to slow cooking. Besides her website, where I learned to make a mean pork carnitas, she's published several cookbooks that help hesitant cooks like myself get over the idea that there are only a few types of foods that can be prepared in a slow cooker.

Her new cookbook, 365 Slow Cooker Suppers, shows that the possibilities for slow-cooker use are much less limited than most of us think. I marked many recipes I'd like to try, and even made one of them immediately: corn chowder. That's something I really enjoy and something I'd never considered cooking in a slow cooker.

If you read through many of the recipes, you'll discover that there are several variations on a base recipe--just with a different set of seasonings or group of vegetables. Once I noticed that, I felt more confident about fiddling with a recipe on my own to adjust it to my family's tastes--again, something I'll do with a stove-top recipe without thinking twice about it.

One thing I like about O'Dea's cookbooks is the "Verdict" at the bottom of each recipe. In that short paragraph, she explains how the recipe can be varied to suit picky discriminating taste buds as well as what her family liked about each dish.

I felt that there was a lot of emphasis on gluten-free this or that. While I don't mean to slight anyone who must follow a gluten-free diet due to medical necessity, I think there are less-intrusive ways to indicate this in a cookbook. There were recipes that contained the parenthetical "(I use gluten-free insert name of ingredient)" several times. After a while, I started to feel that because I don't have gluten intolerance, I'm not the target market for this cookbook. I doubt that this is what the author intended. I'd suggest, instead, listing gluten-free substitutions at the bottom of a recipe or denoting gluten-free ingredients with a GF icon next to the name of the ingredient. Because most of these recipes don't include a long list of steps to be followed in preparation, there's plenty of room on the page to find another way to indicate when gluten-free ingredients can be used.

The fine print:  I was provided with an electronic copy of this cookbook for the purposes of this review. All opinions are mine alone, and I was given no other compensation for my review.

Posted with Blogsy

Book Review and Giveaway: Sweet Eats

Not every family has to worry about a loved one who has food allergies or sensitivities.  For those who do, cooking, dining and shopping can be a huge challenge.

Marcia Slawson has experienced firsthand what it's like to try to tempt a young child on a wheat-free diet.  Her extensive trial and error with recipes and ingredients led her to write two versions of her dessert cookbook, Sweet Eats.

Sweet Eats is full of recipes with familiar names--but with a "healthy twist."   If you, a family member, or friend must eat gluten-free or if you wish to incorporate more whole grains into your diet without sacrificing delicious and familiar desserts, Slawson's cookbooks will show you how.  Each and every recipe has been modified to include gluten-free flours or whole grains (depending on the edition), natural low-glycemic-index sweeteners and healthy fats.

Whole-grain and gluten-free ingredients can be pricey and sometimes hard to find.  The last thing you want to do is experiment on your own with expensive ingredients--or waste your time and gas running to several stores in search of a single item.  Slawson has done the legwork here as well.  Sweet Eats lists brand names and sources for many of these ingredients, even recommending certain brands that work best in particular recipes.  You'll also find cooking, preparation and storage tips for these foods and ingredients.

For more information on this book or to order your own copy of either the Spelt & Whole Grain or Gluten-Free edition of Sweet Eats, visit Mom's Healthy Eats.  These cookbooks are available as e-books only.  You can even preview 3 free recipes from the book!  And don't miss the blog, where you can learn about healthy habits and ingredients.

I've been offered a copy of Sweet Eats to give away to a lucky reader!  To enter the contest, simply leave a comment on this post answering the question:

What do you think is the biggest challenge in dealing with a food allergy or sensitivity?

You can get a second entry by tweeting about this contest!  Make sure to leave a link to your tweet and your Twitter username in the comments.

One entry set per person, please.

This contest will run through midnight EDT on Tuesday, May 15.  A winner will be chosen and announced by Friday, May 18 and will have 72 hours to respond to an email announcement.  The winner will get to choose either the Spelt & Whole Grain OR Gluten-Free edition of this handy cookbook!

I was provided with an e-book copy of Sweet Eats for the purposes of this review. I received no other compensation. All opinions are mine. UPDATE: This contest is now closed and we have our winner! It is commenter #1, Mary Ellen! She has been contacted via email and has chosen the Gluten Free edition of Sweet Eats.

Home Cookin'

...like MY mom and grandmoms never used to make. You see, we're Yankees.

If you're a Yankee like me who is smitten with the Mitford series by Jan Karon, you might enjoy the Mitford Cookbook, which my mom found today at Borders bookstore, marked down to $3.99! This is a $30 cookbook, folks!

The actual title is Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader. It's got recipes (4 for cornbread alone!) and little excerpts from books. The recipes are organized by which Mitford novel mentions them, and there's a handy index in the back if you want to find your recipes some other way.

This is a reader's cookbook, not just a book of formulas. There are tips, stories of Karon's own family traditions, and more.

I'll be savoring this one.

My Newest Addition to the Cookbook Collection

I just got my copy of How to Cook Like Your Grandmother by Drew Kime. I'm a big fan of Drew's blog because it has clear, no-nonsense instructions, a little humor, a little nostalgia, and great step-by-step photos for each recipe! And the book is just the same, minus the photos. If you're looking for a good cookbook for yourself or to give as a gift, and you don't want the celebrity glitz but instead good home cooking made with real ingredients, this book is an excellent choice. It's even got space for notes after each recipe, so you can jot down your review or any modifications you make. Highly recommended!

Cookbook Review: Quick Fix Meals by Robin Miller

I've spent a good chunk of the afternoon browsing through Robin Miller's Quick Fix Meals, published in 2006 by the Food Network and Taunton Press.

I enjoy Robin Miller's show on the Food Network. While I have never wound up making one of her recipes, I've gained a lot of tips and strategies from watching the show.

This cookbook contains 200 recipes, advertised on the cover as "simple, delicious recipes to make mealtime easy." That's very true!

Here's what I liked about this book:
These are convenient meals without the use of convenience foods! Once in a while she calls for a canned ingredient, but I didn't see any recipes asking for boxed mixes (full of salt and sugar), jarred spaghetti sauce (again, the salt and sugar), or goopy condensed cream soup. This, by far, is the best part about the book.

Robin Miller's recipes depend on a planned menu. I'm all for that!

This book is LOADED with tips! There are storage tips, planning tips, prep tips, health tips, information about ingredients, easy variations, and more. Even if you don't make the recipes, read this book for the tips! And pages 2 through 11 are fully-packed with information that anyone can use with any recipe. It's totally worth reading.

The directions are clear and easy to follow. Cook times are broken down into prep time, active cooking time, and walk-away time.

Directions also come with suggestions for where you can "stop" in a recipe and store the food in the fridge or freezer for finishing and eating later.

The recipes are often healthy-but-flavorful twists on old favorites (such as cacciatore, fra diavolo, lo mein).


Here's what I didn't like:
I think I'd go broke buying all the ziplock bags she uses....how about using some reusable containers instead? Is Ziplock her sponsor?

The recipes were heavy on Thai, curry, and cilantro--3 flavors that are not popular with anyone in my family. We're not picky; in fact, I'd say my kids are fairly adventurous eaters, but we don't care for that kind of food.

All the text in the book is green and brown. It's kind of pretty, but I find it hard on the eyes. She tells stories about the recipe in green, and gives the information in brown. I'd prefer just using italics to set apart the story and keep all the text black.

Most of the pictures in the book were Robin Miller. Sometimes we see her with a pot, pan or knife in her hand. Sometimes we just see Robin Miller. I want to see the FOOD! Make me drool! Make me want to cook this recipe tonight so we can eat it! There's a color-photo section in the middle of the book, but I like to see a photo next to the recipe, not go hunting for it.

Love the stories, hate the bad jokes. And it gets a little old, hearing about how "crazy" her life is every day. Yes, that's the premise of the technique, but enough already.

I think it's safe to say that the things I didn't like were generally minor things, and not something that would put me off from the book.

All told, I'd give this book a B+.

**This is an unsolicited review. As a matter of fact, the book is a library book; I was not given a free copy and I have not yet purchased a copy. So there's nothing in it for me for sharing my opinion here.