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Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day of the Year
A Slow Cooker Vegetarian Cookbook
By JoAnn Rachor.
Slow cookers are becoming more and more popular as cooks discover how easy it is to prepare a meal with minimal amount of effort and expense. Think your meal choices are limited with a slow cooker? Think again. In JoAnn Rachor's Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day of the Year, you'll find recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner along with desserts, side dishes and even breads.
Not only is this cookbook full of delicious and healthy recipes but you'll learn more about "crockpot" cooking than you ever dreamed. For example, you can use an inexpensive lamp/appliance timer attached to your slow cooker so that you can prepare a recipe ahead of time. The timer is set to start cooking at a later time so that your recipe is finished when you need it. This is perfect for those yummy breakfasts. It's a delicious treat to wake up and smell your breakfast already waiting! You'll also learn about the various sizes of slow cookers and how to determine what size you need. Another wonderful tip is the use of liquid lecithin, spread on the sides of the slow cooker, for easy cleanups. I won't be scrubbing my crockpot ever again!
I mentioned bread earlier; did you shake your head in surprise? Yes, you can bake delicious and healthy bread in a slow cooker. I didn't believe it until I tried it. You don't have to spend hours waiting for the bread to rise, punch it down, and wait again. The bread will rise in the crockpot as it slowly bakes. Just a word of advice - don't peek at it! Keep that lid on it or the bread will fall. It's still tasty that way but looks a bit weird.
I've made 6 different recipes so far and plan to keep working through the cookbook; there are 300 recipes! My favorite recipe so far is the Date Filled Dream Bars. Everything else was delicious as well including Baked Apples & Oats for breakfast (using my trusty appliance timer), Harvest Vegetable Soup (which my "I hate vegetables" son ate with gusto) along with Crusty Whole Wheat Bread for dinner, Lentil Vegetable Soup for lunch and Rustic Potatoes as a side dish with another meal. The recipes are vegetarian but it would be quite easy to add meat to many of these recipes if you prefer.
As the author says, "Slow cookers are a helpful time management tool. You can be away from the kitchen for several hours, come home, and have a delicious meal on the table in minutes . . . You would be absolutely amazed at some of the things you can do with a slow cooker." I couldn't agree more! This isn't a flashy cookbook to admire on a shelf; it's spiral bound and ready for use. Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker is definitely worth the $14.95, you'll love how easy these recipes are, and your family will LOVE the food.
Review by Maribeth Doerr
To Purchase:
• Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day of the Year at Amazon.com
• Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day of the Year at Amazon Canada
• Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day of the Year at Amazon UK
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