Blog Tour Review: The Magical Slow Cooker by Sarah Olson

The Magical Slow Cooker

by Sarah Olson

Cookbook
Paperback, 215 Pages
March 10th 2015 by Cedar Fort, Inc.

Summary

Do you believe in magic? Well, your slow cooker does. From breakfast to dessert, these recipes are perfect for busy moms who want something that’s quick and wholesome—not to mention delicious! With prepare-ahead tips and time-saving tricks from this little book—and the swish and flick of a wand—you can experience the magic of your slow cooker every night of the week!

    

My Review

I enjoy using my slow cooker at least a couple times a month, but I've always thought I should utilize it a lot more. It's just that I think of big Sunday dinners when I think of the slow cooker. I also think about lots of meat, which we try not to eat every day. I was excited to grab a copy of The Magical Slow Cooker because finally I had a cookbook that gave me lots of options for different meals and ways to cook a whole meal (not of the usual roast variety - although those are here too) in one slow cooker or several.

I really enjoyed thumbing through this cookbook. There are seven food sections including: Breakfast and Brunch, Party Food, Side Dishes, Soups and Stews, Chilies, Main Dishes, and Desserts. I would have never thought about making Artichoke Parmesan Dip or Salsa in the slow cooker, but there are recipes for both and they look really yummy. I loved the Side Dishes section because it made me realize that I could get out my smaller cookers and my larger one and do sides in the smaller ones and a main dish in the main one. Then instead of having to still cook sides before dinner time, it would all be done ahead. I've done beans before and potatoes, but I hadn't ever really thought about doing other things that weren't main dishes. I also loved the Soups and Stews, and Chilies sections. We'll be rotating through those recipes quite a bit in the fall and winter. Main Dishes included quite a variety and some things that I wouldn't have thought of doing in the slow cooker. Desserts had a few good staples and some things, that yet again, I had never thought of cooking in the slow cooker, such as the Cheesecake and Pumpkin Caramel Flan.

The recipes were presented well and each had a picture, which is a big deal-breaker for me with cookbooks. I loved the variety and how many of the recipes I wanted to try at first glance. I love spicy food and meatballs, so the Fireballs look and sound so heavenly! The "No Can" Turkey Chili grabbed my attention from the Chilies section. I have still got to try the Meatloaf Onion Bombs and the Cilantro Lime Drumsticks in the Main Dishes section, as well as many others in this section and others. There were so many recipes I wanted to try out!

I still have a few recipes I'll be cooking up this weekend into next week, as well as others that I will definitely be making in the future. We did try the Easy Asian Beef. I loved the freshness of the peppers, but if you don't like yours quite so raw, it would be easy to add them at the very end and just mix to get them warmed up and slightly cooked. I did think the sauce needed a little more something to be more flavorful or taste more Asian. Maybe some Chinese Five Spice. If you think beef in a light gravy then you'll know what to expect.

Easy Asian Beef

We also tried the Lemon Rosemary Chicken, which was absolutely delicious. I didn't get a picture as the family was hungry and it got devoured rather quickly, but it is the recipe shown on the front of the cookbook. Definitely a perfect Sunday dinner. I hadn't ever used aluminum foil balls before and that was interesting, but it worked. We really enjoyed the Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwiches. The chicken was tender and sweet and mustardy. Perfect on some whole wheat buns.

Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwiches

Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwiches on whole wheat bun with veggies and red potato salad

I had to try the Turkey-Stuffed Peppers because I was curious if the peppers would be really mushy.  They weren't as crisp as they would have been coming off the grill, but I was able to put the ground turkey for the filling in raw and it cooked lovely inside the peppers, which saved me from having to brown the meat ahead of time. The peppers were still decent as well and I liked the addition of the ketchup on top.

If you're looking for some fun, simple, and delicious slow cooker recipes, then I would recommend The Magical Slow Cooker. We'll definitely be using it quite a bit in the future, hopefully eventually getting to every recipe. I'm looking forward to it!

Source: I would like to thank the publisher, Cedar Fort, for my complimentary copy, which did not affect my review in any way.

About the Author

Sarah Olson is the creator of the blog “The Magical Slow Cooker”. She loves that a few simple ingredients can turn into magic while slow cooking. Sarah also works full-time as a mail carrier and resides in Springfield, Oregon with her husband and young daughter.

Website - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Instagram - Goodreads