Hope Comerford - Fix-It and Forget-It Healthy 5-Ingredient Cookbook 150 Easy and Nutritious Slow Cooker Recipes

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For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Good Books, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or . Good Books is an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation. Visit our website at www.goodbooks.com. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. Cover design by Abigail Gehring Cover photo by Bonnie Matthews Print ISBN: 978-1-68099-412-4 Ebook ISBN: 978-1-68099-413-1 Printed in China To my beautiful and smart friend, sister, and confidant, Andrea.
Thank you for teaching me what being truly healthy is! Table of Contents Welcome to Fix-It and Forget-It Healthy 5-Ingredient Cookbook Eating healthy doesnt have to be hard, and were here to prove it to you! Its all in the ingredients you use. Youll find this book to be full of recipes you can feel good about eating! With step-by-step instructions and common ingredients, youll be feeling like a pro in the kitchen in no time.

This book is divided into six different sections for you: Breakfasts; Appetizers and Snacks; Soups, Stews, and Chilies; Main Dishes; Side Dishes and Vegetables; and Desserts and Beverages. You know the word desserts got your attention! Thats right! There are even healthy desserts! For every recipe, weve included nutritional information to further help you with your dietary needs. If you find a recipe you love, but it calls for an ingredient you cant have, please feel free to sub it with one that fits your particular allergen or dietary needs. For instance, if a recipe calls for peanut butter, but you have a peanut allergy, feel free to sub that with sun butter. Or, if a recipe calls for gluten-free soy sauce and you do not have a gluten-allergy or sensitivity, feel free to use regular soy-sauce. Its easy to make a recipe work for you! Most of the recipes in this book can be very easily adjusted! What qualifies as a 5-Ingredient recipe? A recipe that has 5 or fewer ingredients.

Spices do not count. Water does not count. Optional ingredients do not count. Serving suggestion items, such as rice or pasta, do not count. Choosing a Slow Cooker Not all slow cookers are created equal... or work equally well for everyone! Those of us who use slow cookers frequently know we have our own preferences when it comes to which slow cooker we choose to use.

For instance, I love my programmable slow cooker, but there are many programmable slow cookers Ive tried that Ive strongly disliked. Why? Because some go by increments of 15 or 30 minutes and some go by 4, 6, 8, or 10 hours. I dislike those restrictions, but I have family and friends who dont mind them at all! I am also pretty brand loyal when it comes to my manual slow cookers, because Ive had great success with those and have had unsuccessful moments with slow cookers of other brands. So, which slow cooker(s) is/are best for your household? It really depends on how many people youre feeding and if youre gone for long periods of time. Here are my recommendations:

Disadvantages: They take up more storage room. They dont fit as neatly into a dishwasher. If your crock isnt full, you may burn your food. Small slow cooker advantages/disadvantages: Advantages: Theyre great for lots of appetizers, for serving hot drinks, for baking cakes straight in the crock, and for dorm rooms or apartments. Great option for making recipes of smaller quantities. Disadvantages: Food in smaller quantities tends to cook more quickly than larger amounts.

So keep an eye on it. Chances are, you wont have many leftovers. So, if you like to have leftovers, a smaller slow cooker may not be a good option for you. My recommendation: Have at least two slow cookers; one around 3 to 4 quarts and one 6 quarts or larger. A third would be a huge bonus (and a great advantage to your cooking repertoire!). The advantage of having at least a couple is you can make a larger variety of recipes.

Also, you can make at least two or three dishes at once for a whole meal. Manual vs. Programmable If you are gone for only six to eight hours a day, a manual slow cooker might be just fine for you. If you are gone for more than eight hours during the day, I would highly recommend purchasing a programmable slow cooker that will switch to warm when the cook time you set is up. It will allow you to cook a wider variety of recipes. The two I use most frequently are my 4-quart manual slow cooker and my 6-quart programmable slow cooker.

I like that I can make smaller portions in my 4-quart slow cooker on days I dont need or want leftovers, but I also love how my 6-quart slow cooker can accommodate whole chickens, turkey breasts, hams, or big batches of soups. I use them both often. Get to know your slow cooker... Plan a little time to get acquainted with your slow cooker. Each slow cooker has its own personalityjust like your oven (and your car). Plus, many new slow cookers cook hotter and faster than earlier models.

I think that with all of the concern for food safety, the slow-cooker manufacturers have amped up their settings so that High, Low, and Warm are all higher temperatures than in the older models. That means they cook hotterand therefore, fasterthan the first slow cookers. The beauty of these little machines is that theyre supposed to cook low and slow. We count on that when we flip the switch in the morning before we leave the house for ten hours or so. So, because none of us knows what kind of temperament our slow cooker has until we try it out, nor how hot it cooksdont assume anything. Save yourself a disappointment and make the first recipe in your new slow cooker on a day when youre at home.

Cook it for the shortest amount of time the recipe calls for. Then, check the food to see if its done. Or if you start smelling food that seems to be finished, turn off the cooker and rescue your food. Also, all slow cookers seem to have a hot spot, which is of great importance to know, especially when baking with your slow cooker. This spot may tend to burn food in that area if youre not careful. If youre baking directly in your slow cooker, I recommend covering the hot spot with some foil.

Take notes... Dont be afraid to make notes in your cookbook. Its yours! Chances are, it will eventually get passed down to someone in your family, and they will love and appreciate all of your musings. Take note of which slow cooker you used and exactly how long it took to cook the recipe. The next time you make it, you wont need to try to remember. Apply what you learned to the next recipes you make in your cooker.