The Healthy Slow Cooker Recipe Review and A GIVEAWAY!

By Kristin

Editor's note: Kristin received a complimentary review copy of The Healthy Slow Cooker direct from the publisher. Food Lush received no compensation for this post.

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Most Sundays in the fall I spend in a bar watching football. My friends and I have been doing it for years and it’s so much fun! I mean, it’s not fun come Monday morning when I am so hungover I can’t see straight, but other than that, FUN! 

The problem with this is that Sunday is the day I usually do everything. I do the grocery shopping and the meal planning and the cooking. So if I come home at 5 PM drunk as a skunk, this stuff doesn’t happen until Monday. And grocery shopping after work blows. 

So, for the 2011 football season, I needed a change. And that change was to be Crock Pot Sundays! It is the perfect solution to my problem. I don’t have to cook anything on Sundays before I leave, and when I come home, drunk and ravenous, I have food! And dinner for the rest of the week! It’s GENIUS! 

This all means I’m on the hunt for new crock pot recipes so I don’t get bored. So when Jennie asked if I wanted to review a slow cooker cookbook, I jumped at the chance! The book is The Healthy Slow Cooker by Judith Finlayson. 

Overall, the cookbook is OK. I’m a huge fan of the crock pot when it means no additional cooking. I don’t like prep work. I like to throw it all in the slow cooker, turn it on, and have food ready in 6-8 hours. This book doesn’t have a lot of recipes like that. I looked through to find something to review and it was hard because a lot of things had ingredients I didn’t have or had a lot or prep work. 

I ended up making an altered version of the Pepper Turkey Casserole. I used frozen chicken instead, because that is less work. 

My verdict on the recipe on the day it was made was that it was OK. It was quite bland, which was odd for the amount of peppers in it. But it was filling and it was healthy. It was so much better on day 2 when the flavors had time to blend. And it wasn’t too hard, but there was too much prep and end work for my liking. I think next time I would add some beans, some more salt, and omit the quinoa to just make it a soup/stew. 

Pepper Turkey/Chicken Casserole 

• 1 TBSP Olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes including juice
• 2 cups chicken or turkey stock
• Salt
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken/turkey
• 2 tsp paprika, dissolved in 2 TBSP water
• 1 jalapeno
• 2 green peppers, diced
• 1 roasted red pepper, diced
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa

Directions 

1. In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, oregano and peppercorns and cook, stirring, for one minute. Add white wine and tomatoes with juice and bring to boil. Transfer to slow cooker. Add chicken stock and stir well. Season to taste with salt, if needed.
2. Add chicken and stir well. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours, until meat is tender.
3. Add paprika solution, jalapeño, green peppers and roasted red pepper to slow cooker and stir well. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes, until peppers are tender.
4. Meanwhile, in a pot, cook quinoa according to package directions.
5. When peppers are tender, add cooked quinoa to slow cooker and stir. Serve immediately.

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When I received this cookbook, I also received another one from the publisher – Everyday to Entertaining by Carla Snyder and Marla Deeds. This one looks really good and you’re all lucky my cat puked on the slow cooker one, making my decision as to which one to review an easy choice. 

I have this copy of Everyday to Entertaining to give out to one lucky reader. All you have to do is answer one question – What is your favorite dish to make when you entertain? 

The giveaway will stay live for one week, through Tuesday, October 25 at 11:59 p.m., and the winner will be announced on Wednesday. Only Canadian and U.S. readers, please, and one comment per reader. 

Good luck!

Comments

[Kelly]

I have found a couple of recipes on SkinnyCrockpot.com. I found them on facebook, and they have some good simple recipes. My favorite crockpot recipe is the ever-so-simple, Roast. The only prep is mixing a can of cream of mushroom soup, with a packet of Lipton's onion soup mix and a packet of brown gravy mix. Then slather that on the roast, dump the excess in on top of the roast in the crockpot, and cook for 8 hours or so. I usually cook it on high, and it falls apart. I always get compliments on this recipe. The flavor is fabulous. It is even better as leftovers as a open faced roast beef sandwich. The gravy this makes is divine.

[Robin]

My favorite dish to make is finger foods and dips, so pigs in a blanket and spinach artichoke dip!

[Sharon]

My favourite meal to make when entertaining is lobster bisque. It sounds super complicated, but it's actually VERY easy to make. A friend of mine gave me the recipe a few years ago, and I've modified it to make it my own. It's a HUGE crowd pleaser, and everyone always asks for the recipe.

[Lauren]

I have the same complaint about slow cooker recipes. I bought the "Slow Cooker Revolution" book from America's Test Kitchen a while back, and their recipes all seem to have TONS of prep and finishing work. They point out that good slow cooker recipes don't actually SAVE you work, but instead TIME SHIFT the work. Frankly, though, if my work is just shifted, I'd just as soon cook something in the oven or on the stovetop.

(I'm not entering the giveaway, since I'm a Style Lush writer! But I just wanted to comment about the slow cooker recipes.)

[natalie (the sweets life)]

I love to make a show-stopping dessert--that way if the meal is a flop, you end on a good note ;)

[jessica k]

Pasta! Stuffed shells or lasagna roll ups

[K]

I like to make my guacamole.

[H]

I make a layered dip we call "Julio's Dip" with refried beans, meat, cheese, onions, jalapeno peppers, hot sauce and some seasoning. Heat it up and serve with tortilla chips.

[Cass]

I go the super easy route and make bbq meatballs :)

[Christy]

It depends if I'm trying to impress anyone. If so, I like to make roasted green beans or something that's delicious but easy. I can't believe how many people don't know about roasting veggies like green beans or asparagus!

If it's old friends, I like to make something low-maintenance like chili, that we just serve whenever while we talk our heads off.

[dragonfly]

I like to make scones when we have people over for brunch. That, and eggs benedict.

[Jessica]

When people arrive at our annual New Year Eve's party, they immediately ask for my Sausage Cheese Mini-biscuits. They're so good!

[rebecca]

for an actual dinner party, we go all out: prime rib roast, roasted root veggies, yorkshire puddings, and a cheesecake for dessert.

for game night, i like to make a roast or ham and set it out with rolls and pita chips and veggies and about 5 kinds of dip.

But my FAVORITE is movie night...when we try to tie the food in with the movie (chili and children of the corn-bread, breakfast at tiffany's with bacon and egg casserole, etc, etc)

[Katherine]

I usually make the overnight vegetable lasagna recipe from a Cooking Light cookbook I've had for years. We love it and our guests usually do too!

[Morgan]

We love a BBQ at my house, so we often make cheeseburgers and sweet potato fries, with ice cream for dessert. My husband's friends love the burgers so much they now ask for "Morgan Burgers" when they are over.

If we're cooking to impress, then its often an amazing spicy sausage lasagna!

[KJ]

My favorite thing to serve (at least in the warm months) is Beer Can Chicken - easy, delicious!

In the colder months, probably chili and homemade cinnamon rolls. :)

[jennielynn]

It's not necessarily my favorite thing to make, but it is always requested, usually in the RSVP. "You're making your meatballs, right?" I also get asked to bring them to functions. It's an oldie but a goodie, one my mom handed down to me.

Cocktail Meatballs
2 small bags of frozen meatballs
12 oz of chili sauce
12 oz grape jelly
3 tbs lemon juice

Throw it in a crockpot and cook on high for 5 hours, then reduce to low. Sounds gross, tastes amazing.

[Jessesco]

I love making Mexican food since most friends don't cook it themselves.

[berry]

I like to make salsa dancing chicken. It's quick and easy.

[Christian Louboutin Pumps]

This Carson trade is great news for the team going forward (though it does seal the fate of the Carson Era as grossly mismanaged in the past) but it doesn't change how infuriating this franchise can be with its volatile decision making.

[Pharmacy Wholesaler]

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[On line pharmacy]

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