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Tarfumes.com - Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two: For the Small Slow Cooker
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List Price: $12.95
Our Price: $10.36
Your Save: $ 2.59 ( 20% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Harvard Common Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5612
EAN: 9781558323414
ISBN: 1558323414
Label: Harvard Common Press
Manufacturer: Harvard Common Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2006-12-15
Publisher: Harvard Common Press
Studio: Harvard Common Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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Today, 58 percent of American households consist of only one or two people, yet most cookbooks still contain recipes designed to serve 6-8. In this follow-up to the bestselling Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook, Beth Hensperger offers 125 new recipes specifically designed for the increasingly popular 1 1/2 to 3 1/2-quart slow cooker. This is the perfect book for busy singles and small families who want the convenience of a small slow-cooker-made meal without sacrificing wholesomeness and flavor.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Comment: I was enthusiastic about trying some of the recipes in this book as I was single at the time I purchased it to complement my 3 and 1/2 quart slow cooker and was looking for a convenient way to cook for one or two people that would not compromise the quality of home cooked meals. My enthusiasm quickly turned to dismay. First, most of these recipes are A LOT of work. And I am a self-confessed foodie who has spent many happy hours in the kitchen, so I can only imagine how annoying and overwhelming these recipes would be for a novice. Most of these recipes require meat to be browned and vegetables sauted in advance. In other words, you have to cook it before you cook it. C'mon if you wanted to do all that, you wouldn't be using a slow cooker! The worst thing about these recipes is that after all that work, most of the recipes I tried were just average and one or two of them downright sucked. The extra work would be worth it if the recipes turned out great, but, I'm sorry to say, most of these recipes are a lot more trouble than they are worth.
I used the brand of slow cooker the author recommended and followed the recipe and it still didn't turn out right. There is a recipe for macaroni and cheese which recommends adding evaporated milk at the start, and the milk curdled during cooking. So I ended up with macaroni and cheese scrambled eggs. Yuck! The recommendations for cooking oatmeal overnight in your slow cooker were totally off. I mean, there is a guide in there for converting stove top recipes to slow cooker recipes and according to that the oatmeal should have been done after three hours, which it was. So the idea that you can turn it on at night and have it ready for breakfast in the morning is nice, but not quite accurate, unless you go to bed at midnight and get up at three. If you have a programmable cooker, it will automatically switch to the warm setting after cooking time, but then you'll end up with pasty, burned-tasting oatmeal.
Another thing I found counterproductive is that most of these recipes are designed to make enough for left-overs. If you like eating left-overs, I guess it could be a good thing. I just thought the point of this book was cooking for two, not three or four.
If I remember correctly, most of these recipes could be done in 2 and 1/2 or three hours. This timing didn't work for me because I needed to leave the cooker on while I was out most of the day, and I didn't have a programmable cooker that would automatically switch to warm. Even if I had one, I don't think I would have liked eating food that had been sitting in the cooker for several hours.
I thought the purpose of using a slow cooker was to be able to make a healthy home-cooked meal without spending a lot of time in the kitchen. This author seems to have forgotten that. If you are looking for recipes that you can leave in the cooker while you are at work all day, or you are one of those people who just doesn't like to cook, I wouldn't recommend this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A great cookbook for working folks who like to cook in small amounts!!
Comment: I bought this cookbook because I was tired of cooking enough food to feed an army and because I liked the idea of a meal cooking while I'm at work. So far, I've tried at least half the recipes and have liked all of them. At first I was halfing even the recipes in this book (I really, really was tired of leftovers) but discovered that the whole recipe was just a couple of meals or a dinner and a lunch. Even the meatloaf which seems like it might make a lot is still manageable for one or two people and a sandwich or two. It really is much smaller than the traditional meat loafs in traditional cookbooks. I select recipes that require longer cooking times during the week while at work and choose the shorter cooking recipes for weekends when I'm more available so I like the fact she included both time frames. I own the 1.5 and 3.5 qt. crock pots and use both. It is such a pleasure to come home to a hot meal.
I enjoy good food and love to cook so I have a well stocked pantry. When I want to try a recipe and don't have an ingredient I just add it to my next shopping list. After cooking for a long time however, I have learned that it is possible to make substitutions. For instance regular bacon can be substituted for pancetta. The taste will be different but not unpleasantly different. Pancetta, once bought, can be divided and frozen for future use. Regular ole yellow onion can be used instead of other onion, but again, the taste will be different. For some recipes, Ms. Hensberger offers alternatives to the original. All instructions are clear and useful. Some of my favorites from this cookbook are BBQ pulled chicken, the lamb shanks, the meatloaf, the spaghetti sauce (I don't always have white wine so I substitute dry vermouth, yummmm), the chicken/dumplings, several of the chili recipes are good, the beans and sausage, skirt steak which I'd never had before, the ribs are wonderful as are all the soups I've tried. Well, actually, I'm back to having tried at least half the recipes and liked all of them. I love this cookbook and use it 2 to 4 times a week. Good job, Beth Hensberger.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nacho Mamas Crockpot
Comment: OK - I think my last Crockpot cookbook. Something about thinking about my Moms Crockpot cooking reminds my of Clam Chowder. Weird - must be some college damage. Anyway, I like to use all these recipes as a suggestion and see what else is in the kitchen or I can grab from a neighbor!
These are great too:
50 Liners only $14.99! OVEN SAFE FOOD SAFE Disposable Liners for All Crock Pot Style Slow Cookers
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not so much
Comment: Great idea; poor execution. I bought this because of the use of the words "Recipes for two" in the title. To take recipes that were obviously designed for 4 people and label them "serves two with leftovers" really begs the point. For instance meatloaf for "two" that calls for a pound and a half of meat.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Five stars from a begginer cook, Four from a more experienced view
Comment: I got this book for my boyfriend, who does not know a thing about cooking and has grown thin and hungry after me (a knowledgeable cook) not cooking anymore, being at work all the time.
The recipes are simple enough for him to follow, but interesting enough for me to try. The portions are great for two hungry fellas - and then some leftovers. The best thing for me is that he is know getting more acquainted with different ingredients (the recipes use a lot of variety in vegs, grains and spices), and not only learning a thing or two in the kitchen but also getting more comfortable with cooking. I think this is a great book if you want to start learning how to cook, but also a great gift for newlyweds!.
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