Aimeekay review: The Hungry Family Slow Cooker Cookbook by Christina Dymock

Cookbook
159p.
Available Now
Publisher: Cedar Fort
Source: From publisher for review

It's every busy mother's dream-come-true: dinner that makes itself! With the help of your trusty slow cooker and these healthy, easy recipes, like Peppery Cilantro Salmon, Sausage Stew, and Dark Chocolate Mini Cakes, you can put dinner on the table even on the craziest of days. Don't let the whirlwind of life stop you from feeding your family the food they deserve -- delicious, home-cooked meals straight from your slow cooker.

AimeeKay's thoughts:

I really enjoyed reading and using The Hungry Family Slow Cooker. I loved the size and the pictures. I tried quite a few of the recipes in the book, and while I'm not sure if they look quite as good photographed as the food in the book they did come out quite tasty. I also liked the fact that the author took time in the beginning of the book to really explain the uses and types of slow cookers; from the reasons for using

Steak and Potatoes

one, the different types that are available, to how to care for them. She really took the time to walk a newbie through it. I have been using slow cookers for years, but I have to say that I really would have appreciated instructions like this in the beginning. lol.

I only had two problems with the book. One is the chapter on Seafood, Pork and Other good stuff. I really didn't like how the recipes were organized. Personal preference, but I would have preferred if it had been first one, then the next, then the next. Maybe all seafood, then the pork, then the other? But instead they were intermingled. Again, personal preference, nothing to lose a star over or anything.

The second problem I had was with some of the recipes. I tried to vary which ones I tried. I definitely plan on trying more. For the most part the recipes are very easy. They all took me less than 30 mins to prep. For someone capable of moving a bit faster that prep time would probably be even shorter. Anyway back to what bothered me. After all the effort the author went into to explain slow cookers in

Pork Tenderloin

the beginning of the book she kind of let the reader drift in the recipes. For some of them it would have been nice to know that different cuts of meat would have been ok to substitute for the ones stated in the recipe. For others, items are mentioned, that if it wasn't for Google, I wouldn't have known what they were. A great example of this is the roasted chicken recipe. The author says to place 3 ramekins in the cooker to help prevent the chicken from soaking in its own juices. In this day and age it took me less than a minute to pick up my phone and google ramekins and see what they were. Since I have cooking experience it took me about two minutes more to pull similar items out of my cupboard and use them instead. But I tell you if it had been ten years ago? Um yeah, I wouldn't have had a clue. Of course when I mentioned ramekins to my mother she knew exactly what they were without Google..... I'm just saying that without Google I would have had to wait to complete the recipe, something that isn't always possible when it comes to certain ingredients. I think that with all the effort that was put in at the beginning the author would have thought to go into more detail on the items used in the recipes.

Overall I think the book is awesome. I tried quite a few of the recipes and plan to try more. The recipes are generally easy to prep and get started and all of them that I tried turned out wonderfully.