Paulene Christie - Slow Cooker Central

I dedicate this book to Simon and our three little miracles,
Caleb, Talyn and Ella.
You encourage me every day, in every way
my hope is to always make you proud. When I look back, I think my slow cooker journey began the same way it did for many of you, with the three Ss soups, stews and silverside. Throwing a heap of meat and veg into a machine, filling it up with water and letting it bubble away all day thats what slow cooking is all about, right? Wrong! I am a happily married and busy wife and mum of three young children, with a home to run, a high-pressure job involving shift work and never enough hours in the day. So the thought of having my familys evening meal all ready at the end of each long day was very enticing. But there are only so many soups and stew-type meals any family can want. I turned to slow cooker recipe books next, buying every one I could find, but I very quickly wanted more. Being a total Facebook addict, I naturally looked there next for inspiration.

And when a search for slow cooking pages or groups came up with nothing that fulfilled what I was looking for, I decided to create my own page and group. I had NO idea what I was beginning when I did so. The Slow Cooker Recipes 4 Families Facebook group was born in late 2012. I hoped that maybe a few of my friends would join and maybe share a few recipes and ideas. I guessed that perhaps a few other people might find us and join the group. Fast forward to April 2015 when we had more than 320,000 members, adding hundreds more each and every day.

The recipes members have shared in the group have been nothing short of amazing. Sure we get soups, stews and silverside amongst them and some pretty good ones at that but we also see so many amazingly innovative slow-cooker recipes, including food Id never in a million years have thought to cook in a slow cooker. From lasagne, cakes and fudge, to scones, scrolls and muesli bars, and recipes for every type of meat you could imagine. Theres also plenty for the vegetarians and those on healthy eating plans. And dont forget the desserts cheesecakes, pavlova, crme brle, self-saucing puddings... weve got them all! This was what I had been looking for when I started searching for recipes all those years before.

This was amazing! I managed the group myself until July 2014 when I appointed an incredible team of administrative people to assist me. These amazing, generous women give up their time each and every day to help run what has become a massive group. Without them I could never keep up! What makes Slow Cooker Recipes 4 Families unique is that we are a group, not a page to like. We are a group for sharing be it recipes, knowledge, skills, support or conversation. We have members from all over the globe, from every country you can imagine, and someone is always there thanks to the time differences. At any time of the day or night, 24/7, someone can ask a question on the group wall and usually have their answer within minutes.

And sometimes hundreds of answers. People ask questions while they are shopping, needing information about ingredients or sharing a find. People ask questions as they put together a dish, needing a substitute for an ingredient or if they are unsure of a step. People share what they are cooking that day, and lots come back to share photos of their finished creations. Its such a supportive and encouraging family-type community where members can get instant advice and feedback when they need it most. And for those who are new to cooking, or new to slow cooking, they get a sense of pride in what they can achieve.

The design restrictions of Facebook for a group like ours soon meant we needed a new home. The members were begging for it and I wanted to see my baby continue to grow and thrive. So we created a community fund drive and in no time the amazing members of our group helped me get www.slowcookercentral.com off the ground. The website, a sister site to the Facebook group, launched in August 2014. The website was just as busy but a much quieter and more organised space than the Facebook group. All the recipes and information were easy to search, access and contribute to, without the constant Facebook chatter! And it also meant our great recipes and group knowledge were no longer restricted to only those in Facebook land.

Just like the Facebook group did before it, the website took off at an incredible rate and within 10 weeks we had our first 1 million hits! We already have well over 1300 recipes in more than 40 categories to search or browse. All of our recipes are self-submitted by me or the members. Every single day I am inspired by the creativeness and inventiveness of our members and I want to thank you all without you we wouldnt have this fabulous website. Slow cooking has so many benefits. Im often told by members whove never cooked previously, or who relied heavily on takeaway food, how they now make nutritious home-cooked meals every night for their family. Theres also the money you can save by cooking at home.

One member of our Facebook group wrote to tell us that she had saved so much money, she actually had enough to buy a house by the beach. Slow cooking had transformed her life: 8 months ago, hubby and I would eat takeaway 3 nights, eat out 2 nights, and have either sausages or frozen pies the other 2 nights. I could NOT cook, and actually hated it. Detested it. I can now cook! And to top it off, I am about to move into a new house because I have an extra $180 in my wallet each week. Yes, EACH WEEK.

That is a lot of money to go towards a new house! Slow cooking is also cheaper than running a conventional oven and stove. Experts estimate slow cookers to cost 4 cents per hour to run versus 60 cents per hour for conventional ovens. So even after 8 hours of slow cooking, you are still saving money. Another money-saving benefit comes from the fact you can buy much cheaper cuts of meat, because slow cooking makes even the most inexpensive meats fall-apart tender. In most cases, slow cooking is a set-and-forget process, leaving us free to spend time with our families, time to ourselves or time to do what we need to get done. Our recipes are created, cooked and submitted by regular home cooks, just like you and me.

They definitely arent so daunting that the average person is scared to try them. It is real food, cooked by real people, in real kitchens. And thanks to the people at ABC Books and HarperCollinsPublishers, we have been given this amazing opportunity to gather some of the best of our recipes right here in one place for you. When I was first approached about doing this book I was so excited about what an awesome opportunity was being given to us all. We ran a competition for our members to submit their favourite recipes to appear in this book, and so many shared tears of joy and overwhelming excitement to hear their recipe would feature here. The end result is a collection of some of the best slow cooker dishes Ive seen, from people who range from beginner cooks to home chefs but who all share one thing in common a passion for slow cooking! This amazing collection of recipes was created, tested and submitted by the members of the Slow Cooker Recipes 4 Families Facebook page, slowcookercentral.com and also by me.

These are some of our very best and most popular recipes, and I cant wait for you to try them. So what are you waiting for go get slow cooking:) Paulene Christie

Next page