Book Review & Giveaway: Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook

Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook: Revised and Updated

 
by Phyllis Pellman Good

Summary: "The book has already sold more than 5 million copies, so we didn't want to spoil it! We have only added a few enhancements to this original cookbook in the wildly claimed Fix-It and Forget-It cookbook series:

1. Brand New: 100 new recipes for slow cookers.
   
   
2. Brand New: "Prep Time," "Cooking Time," and "Ideal Slow-Cooker Size" are included for each recipe.
   
   
3. Brand New: 4 pages of basic and very helpful "Extra Information":
   
   
• "Substitute Ingredients for When You're in a Pinch"
• "Equivalent Measurements"
• "Kitchen Tools and Equipment You May Have Overlooked"
  
• "Assumptions about Ingredients in Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook, Revised and Updated"
  
  
4. Brand New: 1 page of "Tips for Using Your Slow Cooker: a Friendly, Year-Round Appliance."
   
   
5. Brand New: Additional tips and tricks for making the most of your slow cooker, spread throughout the book.
   
   
6. Brand New: A second color -- a rich purple -- for recipe titles, contributors' names and addresses, the words "Tip" and "Variation," and the numbered instruction steps.
   
   
7. Brand New: The drawings on the opening pages of chapters and the spot illustrations throughout.
   
   
8. Brand New: 1 page of tip-in color, right inside the front cover.
   
   
9. Brand New: 2 pages of review excerpts to position the original book's success, immediately following the tip-in page of color.
   
   
10. Revised: An improved Index!
    
    
11. Revised: A personal Introduction to the book by author Phyllis Pellman Good.
    
    
12. Revised: Good's personal comments and voice throughout the recipes.

We've learned a lot since the original Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook first quietly appeared. Now you and your customers can benefit with this new edition of the beloved favorite -- Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook REVISED and UPDATED! "

Those of you who know me know that I am a crock pot-aholic! No lie! I will put anything and everything in the crock pot! I was super excited when I got to review the "Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook"! I love when I find cookbooks all based on slow cooker recipes! This book is my new bible! I have already made so many new recipes (which was much needed since I got in a rut).I love how there are so many recipes compiled by different people from all over! There was one recipe that was from a woman that lives a couple towns over! Weird I know...but I thought it was cool!

Here is my favorite part because even though I like to consider myself a slow cooker expert I loved these little tips!

"Tips for Using Your Slow Cooker: A Friendly Year-Round Appliance
by Phyllis Pellman Good,
Author of Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook: Revised & Updated: 700 Great Slow Cooker Recipes

1. What to buy

• A good standard size for a household of four is a 4-quart slow cooker. If you often cook for more, or you like to prepare sizable roasts, turkey breasts, or chicken legs and thighs, you'll want a 6-quart cooker.
  
  For parties or buffets a 1½ to 2-quart size works well for dips and snacks.

• Cookers which allow you to program "On," the length of the cooking time, and "Off," are convenient. If your model doesn't include that feature, you might want to get a digital appliance timer, which gives you that option. Make sure the timer is adequate for the electrical flow that your cooker demands.
• A baking insert, a cooking rack, a temperature probe, and an insulated carrying tote are all useful additions offered with some models. Or you can buy some of them separately by going to the manufacturers' websites.

2. Learn to know your slow cooker 

• Some newer slow cookers cook at a very high temperature. You can check the temperature of your slow cooker this way:

1. Place 2 quarts of water in your slow cooker.
2. Cover. Heat on Low 8 hours.
3. Lift the lid. Immediately check the water temp with an accurate thermometer.
4. The temperature of the water should be 185°F. If the temperature is higher, foods may overcook and you should reduce the overall cooking time. If the temperature is lower, your foods will probably not reach a safe temperature quickly enough, and the cooker should be discarded.

3. Maximizing what a slow cooker does best 

• Slow cookers tend to work best when they're ⅔ full. You many need to increase the cooking time if you've exceeded that amount, or reduce it if you've put in less than that.
• Cut the hard veggies going into your cooker into chunks of about equal size. In other words, make your potato and carrot pieces about the same size. Then they'll be done cooking at nearly the same time. Softer veggies, like bell peppers and zucchini, cook faster, so they don't need to be cut as small. But again, keep them similar in size to each other so they finish together.
• Because raw vegetables are notoriously tough customers in a slow cooker, layer them over the bottom and around the sides of the cooker, as much as possible. That puts them in more direct contact with the heat.
• There are consequences to lifting the lid on your slow cooker while it's cooking. To compensate for the lost heat, you should plan to add 15-20 minutes of cooking time for each time the lid was lifted off.
On the other hand, moisture gathers in a slow cooker as it works. To allow that to cook off, or to thicken the cooking juices, take the lid off during the last half hour of cooking time.
• Use only the amount of liquid called for in a recipe. In contrast to an oven or a stovetop, a slow cooker tends to draw juices out of food and then harbor it.
Of course, if you sense that the food in your cooker is drying out, or browning excessively before it finishes cooking, you may want to add ½ cup of warm liquid to the cooker.
• Important variables to remember that don't show up in recipes:
• The fuller your slow cooker, the longer it will take its contents to cook.
• The more densely packed the cooker's contents are, the longer they will take to cook.
• The larger the chunks of meat or vegetables, the more time they will need to cook.

4. Debunking the myths

• Slow cookers are a handy year-round appliance. They don't heat up a kitchen in warm weather. They allow you to escape to the pool or lake or lawn or gardens -- so why not let them work for you when it's hot outdoors. A slow cooker fixes dinner while you're at your child's soccer game, too.
So don't limit its usefulness. Remember the dozens of recipes-beyond-beef-stew in this collection! One more thing -- a slow cooker provides a wonderful alternative if your oven is full -- no matter the season.

• You can overdo food in a slow cooker. If you're tempted to stretch a recipe's 6-hour stated cooking time to 8 or 10 hours, you may be disappointed in your dinner. Yes, these cookers work their magic using slow, moist heat. Yes, many dishes cook a long time. But these outfits have their limits.
For example, chicken can overcook in a slow cooker. Especially boneless, skinless breasts. But legs and thighs aren't immune either. Once they go past the falling-off-the-bone stage, they are prone to move on to deeply dry. Cooked pasta and sour cream do best if added late in the cooking process, ideally 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time if the cooker is on high; 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time if it's on low.

5. Safety 

• A working slow cooker gets hot on the outside -- and I mean the outer electrical unit as well as the inner vessel. Make sure that curious and unsuspecting children or adults don't grab hold of either part. Use oven mitts when lifting any part of a hot cooker.

• To prevent a slow cooker from bubbling over, either when its sitting still on a counter, or when its traveling to a carry-in dinner, fill the cooker only ⅔ full.
If you're going to exceed that limit, pull out your second slow cooker (what -- you have only one?!) and divide the contents between them."

The Giveaway: Thanks to FSB Media one lucky Chubby Cheeks reader will receive their very own copy of Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook: Revised and Updated!

HOW TO WIN:

Please make sure you leave your email address or I won't be able to contact you. If it is linked on your blog profile please double check to make sure that it is not private. I do check to make sure that every task is completed so please make sure you remember to do what you posted! And please remember that there is only ONE mandatory entry. The other ones are just for fun and to give you a better shot at winning!

Mandatory Entry:

This entry must be completed or all of your other ones will be deleted!

Leave a Comment letting me know what your favorite thing is to cook in the slow cooker is! (You don't have to leave the whole recipe if you don't want)

Bonus Entries: 

1. Follow Chubby Cheeks via Google Friend Connect

2. Become a fan of Chubby Cheeks Thinks on Facebook

3.Follow me on Twitter & tweet about this giveaway leaving the link in a comment (you can tweet once a day and grab an extra entry!)

"    @chubbycheeks143  is giving away a copy of "Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook" #Giveaway!  http://tiny.cc/98g47    "

4. Subscribe to my blog via email

5. Enter any of my other giveaways (1 Entry per giveaway)
6.Enter this giveaway into a linky and leave me the link where to find it! (5 entries for each linky entered)

7. Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to it. 

Don't want to wait for the giveaway to end? You can purchase "Fix-It and Forget-It" from Amazon & Barnes and Noble!

Open to the US & Canada (No PO Boxes)

This giveaway will end on June 8, 2010 at 11:59 pm EST. Random.org will select the winner. I will contact you by email (please post with comments if it is not on your profile). You will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is picked.Good luck!

Disclosure: I received the book mentioned above, thanks to FSB Media,  for this review. No monetary compensation was received by me. This is my completely honest opinion above and may differ from yours. Because I do not directly ship most giveaways from my home, I cannot be held liable for lost or not received products.