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"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies," said Jojen. "The man who never reads lives only one." - George R.R. Martin, A Dance With Dragons

Showing posts with label Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook by Phyllis Pellman Good... a Tasty Review (Recipe Included!)


"Food sustains us, both physically and socially. I want to make it possible to prepare food at home, despite our hectic lives, and to be able to share it together."
...Phyllis Pellman Good

Here's another great tasting book review today! Millions of people have bought Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook's by Phyllis Pellman Good. And the reason is that Fix-It and Forget-It recipes are easy to put together (usually just a handful of ingredients), taste great, and are family friendly. Got a slow cooker? (aka Crock Pot) Then you're half way to a great meal. And in the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook Revised & Updated by Phyllis Pellman Good you have 700 Great Slow Cooker Recipes to choose from and after cooking from this cookbook myself , I know you won't be disappointed! Cook for yourself or cook for a family, slow cooker recipes are adaptable and are forgiving!

Slow Cookers have been around since the 1970's. They've gone in and out of fashion since then too. But our lives are busy, and slow cookers help put a great meal on the table with very little effort. Slow cookers have become very popular again, with many choices out there from many manufacturers, and The Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook gives you tips on buying, using and adapting recipes for a slow cooker, in addition to recipes ranging from Salsa to Pizza Fondue, Stuffed Peppers to Lasagna!

What will you find in The Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook? Recipes for Appetizers, Snacks and Spreads, Breakfast Recipes such as Cheese Souffle Casserole, Soups , Stews and Chilis, Beef & Pork Recipes, Chicken & Turkey Recipes, Pasta and Bean Recipes, Vegetarian Dishes, Veggies, Desserts and Drink Recipes. You'll find recipes for Turkey Chili, Pot Roast, Hearty Stew, Enchilada Casserole, Barbecued Ribs, and Chicken Parmesian. How about a recipe for Bread Pudding or Baked Apples with Raisins! There's plenty of variety in this cookbook. Great recipes for family dinners, pot-lucks and BOOK CLUB dinners!

One of the recipes my family really enjoyed from this cookbook was Darla's Chicken Cacciatore. Chicken Cacciatore is a hearty chicken stew, usually referred to as hunter's stew because it was an easy way to cook a rabbit or chicken outside while hunting. What's different and nice about this recipe is that it uses boneless chicken breasts that are cubed, so that there are little bites of chicken mixed in the sauce, and is perfect over spaghetti or even rice. With permission from the publisher, I am able to share this recipe! Here we go...

Darla's Chicken Cacciatore
Reprinted from Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook. © by Good Books (www.GoodBooks.com). Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Makes 6 Servings
Prep Time: 5 - 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 8 Hours
Ideal Slow-Cooker Size: 4 Qt.

Ingredients
2 Onions
4 boneless chicken breast cubed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. dried basil
1 bay leaf
2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes
8 oz. can tomato sauce
4 oz. can sliced mushrooms

1. Place onions in bottom of slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients.
2. Cover. Cook on Low 8 hours.

How easy does that sound? I served it over spaghetti, but rice would also be a good choice. *Now a few personal notes on the recipe... I have a 6 quart slow cooker, so I added 1/2 more of the ingredients. (6 chicken breasts instead of 4 etc.) Slow cookers are adaptable and so when a recipe calls for 4 quart, it's easily adaptable to a larger pot and vice versa. ALSO, my slow cooker tends to cook fast for some reason, so I didn't go the full 8 hours on Low, I checked it at 6 hours and it was pretty much done. Always check your chicken or other meat to make sure that it's cooked through, and the more you use your slow cooker the more you'll know how fast or slow it compares to most recipes.

This cookbook will appeal to any person who would love to come home, after a day at work or play, to a home cooked meal! I want to thank Anna of FSB Associates for sending along this book for review! Not only a feast for the eyes, but for the tastebuds as well!

*Hey, I'm sharing this review on Cym Lowell's Book Review Party!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

The Sunday Salon... "Feeding your Soul" with a Great Cookbook!


Happy Father's Day! To all you men out there today, I hope your day is relaxing and the food is good! Grab a cup of joe and relax a bit with me, as we sit around and gab a bit about books!

It's been a while since we've chatted about FOOD, and I just love tooling around in the kitchen & I LOVE cooking, so I thought this week's Sunday Salon would be about feeding our souls with a good cookbook!

I've spotted some great cookbooks this week at my local bookstore, and I even received a cookbook in the mail to review this week, so here are a few books to "feed" the soul...


The Frankies Spuntino: Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual by Frank Falcinelli, Frank Castronovo and Peter Meehan... What I first noticed when I saw this book was a bright green wrap around what appeared to be a leather bound book with a distinctive message- "100 Recipes", and "Grandma never broke a sweat. Neither should you." It didn't look like a cookbook, and it wasn't in with the cookbooks. I just had to pick it up though and open it up. What I discovered was that "The Frankies" are friends and cooks, owning two restaurants (Frankies in Brooklyn & Manhattan) and that this cookbook is the "manual" for the food served in their very popular, authentic Italian eateries. This book is beautifully illustrated, is really informative ( from equipment,what to have on hand in your pantry to how to's), and the recipes are simple, easy to understand and they look delish! The Frankies share recipes such as Roasted Eggplant to Pork Braciola Marinara. There's a recipe for Sunday sauce, meatballs and even desserts. I've got this sitting on the counter waiting for me decide what to make first. I'll have a full review for this cookbook that doesn't look like a cookbook soon!

Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook (Revised & Updated) by Phyllis Pellman Good... I love my Slow Cooker! I go through these phases of using it like a demon to not using it for a while. But it's a cookbook like the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook that reminds me what a great cooking tool my slow cooker (crock pot) is! This cookbook has 700 (yes I typed 7-0-0) Slow Cooker recipes! Recipes range from Dips, Chilli and Salsa to Barbecued Chicken wings and Casseroles! No need to heat up the whole house for a great meal! And Slow Cooker recipes are usually very easy to throw together without a fuss. I'll be cooking up something from this cookbook this week and have a full review of the cookbook too! Thanks to the publisher for sending this one along!


Recipes from an Italian Summer a collection put together by the Editors of Phaidon Press... A Beautiful FAT cookbook with warm weather recipes. The emphasis here is fresh, wonderful ingredients that are abundant in the summer. Fresh produce, fruits and berries, and herbs. 380 recipes for lighter, easy-to-follow summer dishes with big beautiful photographs. The cover caught my eye, and I love big cookbooks that almost seem like a meal in themselves, so this is one my wish list! *Update! Thanks to the publisher, we'll be cooking from this cookbook this next weekend!

What are YOU cooking up this sunday?! What are your favorite cookbooks?! Share them here, I'd love to hear about them! If you missed it, I have a review of Lidia Matticchio Bastianich's cookbook Lydia Cooks From The Heart of Italy, AND with permission of the publisher I have included her recipe for Baked Penne & Mushrooms, which my family devoured and yours should too! Plus here's the Review of I Know How to Cook by Ginette Mathiot and her recipe for Navarrais Chicken, which is an easy chicken recipe in a tomato sauce. Stop by tomorrow for Memoir Monday, because I have a review of a memoir filled with great recipes!

The week in review...

Review of Knight of Passion by Margaret Mallory, a great historical romance I just loved. If you haven't all ready, enter the GIVEAWAY for 1 of 5 copies! Giveaway ends June 28th.

Review of the Kid-friendly, Adult enjoyable Alison Dare graphic novels by J. Torres & J. Bone, as part of the Alison Dare Blog Tour hosted by Tundra Books. You can enter to win an Alison Dare prize package by taking Alison on her own adventure! Get all the details on my post, plus take a peek at what adventure I found Alison Dare climbing to!


The Kobo eReader has landed in homes around the US this week! One landed in mine too! This week I'll let you know what I think of this new eReader- the good, the bad & the ugly! So far, I'm liking it! I don't think it's going to "kill the Kindle", (why are industry people always looking for that eReader that will "kill the Kindle"?) But it's seems to be a great "bare bones" eReader at a great price. More on that this week...


And I know it's Father's Day, but don't forget the women today... there's still time to enter the GIVEAWAY for the unabridged audiobook of Put Your Crown On by Queen Latifah. That giveaway ends June 26th.

Hope you've found something to whet your appetite this week! In the meantime... Happy reading!
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