"Complete Slow Cooker Cookbook" by Carol Heding Munson Sterling: 2003
There are lots of recipes on the Internet, but I shop at the Redding Canned Foods Outlet which has many things there including fresh meat and produce. One never knows what will be there, but if it is there the price will be nice. The store backs the quality and I have taken back some things and got my money back or replacements.
During the winter, I use my crock pot quite often. I had a very nice one that I bought there a while back which went into my son's kitchen. So, I went there and bought another one for about half the price which made me very glad. I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up a cook book since my son permitted my ex-husband to get rid of my books here at my house while I was in Korea and without my permission. They included many crock pot cook books. The books were donated to the public library and went into their permanent collection. ( I was very angry and the ex-husband is not allowed in this house again. I had given permission for my clothes to be donated as they did not fit me anymore but nothing else.)
Barnes and Noble had some books on crock pots recipes on sale and one of each to a table and went through them. They were all about the same price but not the same. The following was what I wanted in a cook book:
1. I wanted a cook book that would lie flat and would not need something that would hold the book open while I read it and prepared the recipe.
2. I also wanted recipes that did not use prepared ingredients such as Campbell soups for many of them have gluten and other unwanted things in them.
3.I wanted recipes that used simple things and had alternatives such as canned beans or dried beans soaked over night. I don't like labels as I will choose whatever is on sale.
4. I also wanted a book that had an index that was accurate. I found one book with an index that was not accurate. I threw that to the side immediately.
5. I like pictures but not too many. If you have full page pictures, you don't have as many recipes.
6. I wanted a size that would make it small enough to slip in my big purse so that when I was going to the store and I did not know what I was going to make until I saw what was there I could just choose from the book what I was going to make. I could print a recipe from the Internet if I knew what I was going to make. I often don't when shopping at the Outlet.
7. I wanted a book that would use recipes for crock pot of the size I bought which is medium although I bought a large one at a second hand store which was supposedly tested and on sale. I haven't tried it yet but there must be a few recipes I could use if I want to use it later.
8. It would be nice if the recipes were gluten-free but not expected; however the recipes must be able to be converted by me to be gluten free. That is another reason that I don't want recipes to be over-loaded with certain products. For example, I can't use soy sauce. I want alternatives. I am pretty knowledgeable so can switch things but can't do all kinds of switching such as dumplings and the sort.
The above cook book met all of these expectations nicely. There were many recipes that I could use and convert. I could even make some of the meat recipes into meatless ones. It called for substituting dry ingredients with canned. There are pictures but not an abundance. Some of the recipes are main dishes and some are not. What is really important is that many of the recipes call for ingredients that are not too costly. What else would someone make things in a crock pot other than convenience. It means the cook needs to work and keep an eye on the pocketbook.
Ironically, it was also the cheapest priced at $7.98 and 224 pages.
I will report on a black bean and corn chili that I will be going to the store to shop for and cook later today.
January 21, 2011
P.S. The black bean and corn chili turned out excellent. I had to substitute a few things but it did not hurt the main recipe at all.
