The Healthy Slow Cooker by Judith Finlayson is a cookbook with recipes that are not only convenient, they are great healthy eating!  It includes more than 100 recipes .  All of them take advantage of the convenience of the slow cooker to provide a tasty, nutritional meal.

Along with tips on using your slow cooker, there are chapters entitled:

• Bread & Breakfast
• Soups
• Poultry, Seafood & Fish
• Meat
• Pasta & Grains
• Just Veggies
• Desserts

About The Recipes In The Healthy Slow Cooker

This book has a lot of information included with each recipe.  To start with, there are labels above the title of each recipe for those that are compatible for vegetarian or vegan diets.

Above each recipe you’ll also find a short comment about that particular recipe from the author. That helps you get a better idea about the recipe.

On the left hand side of the page are even more tips for each recipe that give you variations on how it can be prepared.   One nice addition here is a box entitled “Make Ahead” with instructions on how to make the dish ahead of time and use it later.

Getting The Right Sized Slow Cooker

The main part of each recipe page begins with information on the size slow cooker needed for that particular recipe. This is important information and sometimes left out of slow cooker cookbooks. It really isn’t a “one size fits all” situation. You need to have an idea what size cooker you should use for the recipe to turn out properly.

Naturally, just like usual for cookbooks, there is an ingredient list. The steps for making the dishes are thorough and easily understood.

The Healthy Slow Cooker

Each Recipe Has Lots Of Info!

At the end of each recipe there is even more information. There are four blocks included:

1. Mindful Morsels: Usually has specifics about nutrients in the food, such as what vitamins there are and how they are helpful to your health.
2. Nutrients Per Serving: Specific information on calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat, fiber, sodium and cholesterol.
3. Natural Wonders: Expands on one of the ingredients in the dish, with more information on its’ nutritional value.
4. Good Sources: The last box gives a short overview on the nutrients available in the featured ingredient.

There are also diabetic food values for each recipe included at the end of the book.  It’s not as handy as having them right on the page, but they are available if needed.

Bread & Breakfast Recipes in The Healthy Slow Cooker

This section includes such recipes as:

• Pumpkin Date Loaf
• Breakfast Rice
• Multigrain Cereal with Fruit
• Banana Walnut Oat Bread
• Apple Oatmeal with Wheat Berries
• Irish Oatmeal
• Apple Cranberry Bread

Breads are made in the slow cooker by putting a smaller pan inside a slow cooker and letting the bread “bake” inside the cooker.

Recipes for breakfast cereals are nice because you can start them the night before and the food will be ready when you get up the next morning.

As an example of ingredients, the Pumpkin Date Loaf has flour, baking soda, dates, pecans, eggs, sugar, olive oil, pumpkin puree, and spices.

Here’s What’s In The Soups Chapter

A cookbook for slow cookers has to include soups!  This one is no exception, and a variety of recipes are included. There are over 20, including:

• Turkey and Black Bean Soup
• Two-Bean Soup with Pistou
• Thai-Style Pumpkin Soup
• Caldo Verde
• New World Leek and Potato Soup
• Cockaleekie
• Greek-Style Split Pea Soup

The cookbook incluses many different cuisines and flavors in the recipes, so that there should be soups included for about anyone’s taste.

As an example of ingredients, the Turkey and Black Bean Soup uses onions, carrots, celery, garlic, oregano, cracked black pepper, lime zest, tomato paste, cumin seeds, chicken stock, turkey, ancho chili powder, jalapeno or chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, and bell peppers.

The Healthy Slow Cooker

Poultry, Seafood & Fish Recipes

Main dishes using poultry, seafood or fish, do well in the slow cooker. There are 21 recipes in this chapter, with such offerings as:

• Chicken Cassoulet
• Chicken Cacciatore with Broccoli
• Spicy Peanut Chicken
• Peppery Turkey Casserole
• Creamy Tuna Casserole
• Caribbean Fish Stew
• Salmon Loaf
• Onion-Braised Shrimp
• Thai-Style Coconut Fish Curry
• Louisiana Seafood Stew with Chicken and Sausage

As with the soups, there is a wide variety in styles and tastes.

For an idea of the ingredients used, the Chicken Cacciatore with Broccoli is made with olive oil, onions, garlic, dried oregano leaves, salt, cracked black peppercorns, cremini mushrooms, wine or chicken stock, tomatoes (canned), chicken thighs, dried red chili peppers (optional), green bell peppers, and broccoli.

Recipes For Meat In The Healthy Slow Cooker Cookbook

There are a variety of meats are found in the 16 recipes in this chapter, including veal, beef, lamb, and pork. A sampling of the recipes offered include:

• Spanish-Style Pork and Beans
• Veal Goulash
• Greek-Style Beef with Eggplant
• Lamb with Lentils and Chard
• Ribs with Hominy and Kale
• Buckwheat Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
• Indian Beef with Cauliflower and Peppers

Once again, many different cuisines are represented in the recipes. To give you an idea what kind of ingredients are used, in Spanish-Style Pork and Beans, you need olive oil, boneless pork shoulder, onions, garlic, oregano leaves, salt, cracked black pepper, white wine or chicken stock, sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar, tomatoes (canned), white kidney beans, paprika and kale.

Pasta & Grains Chapter

Recipes ini the pasta and grains chapter utilize rice, barley corn meal, millet and more. It also includes some sauce recipes for use over top of pasta and grains.

Included in the 15 recipes included are:

• Tamale Pie with Chili Millet Crust
• Barley and Wild Rice Pilaf
• Creamy Polenta with Corn and Chiles
• Shrimp ‘n Grits
• Vegetable Cobbler with Millet Crust
• Mushroom Tomato Sauce

There is also a recipe for Basic Polenta and a yummy sounding Caramelized Onion Sauce with Whole Wheat Pasta.

Ingredients example is for the Mushroom Tomato Sauce, which uses olive oil, onion, celery, garlic, rosemary, salt, black pepper, white wine or chicken or vegetable stock, tomato paste, canned tomatoes, and optionally, red pepper flakes. The sauce is served over whole wheat pasta, polenta or grits, with an optional sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Just Veggies Chapter of The Healthy Slow Cooker

You can also cook side dishes in Slow Cookers! And of course, sometimes veggies make a great meal all by themselves. There are another 15 recipes with such offerings as:

• Vegetable Curry with lentils and Spinach
• Ratatouille
• Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie
• New Age Succotash
• Vegetable Chili

There are many delicious sounding recipes for vegetables!

Ratatouille provides our ingredients example, using eggplant, salt, olive oil, zucchini, garlic, onions, herbes de Provence, salt, black pepper, mushrooms, canned tomatoes, bell peppers, and parsley or basil leaves.

And We Can Forget Desserts!

It’s a real treat to have a nice warm dessert ready in the slow cooker at the end of the meal is a great way to finish things up. Some of the recipes included are:

• The Ultimate Baked Apples
• Cranberry Pear Brown Betty
• Coconut Cranberry Rice Pudding
• Basmati Rice Pudding
• Apple Oatmeal Pudding

Another recipe for Pumpkin Rice Pudding uses brown rice, pumpkin purée, dried cranberries or dried cherries, evaporated skim milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and other options.

Comment From Others About The Healthy Slow Cooker

Most of the people reviewing The Healthy Slow Cooker cookbook at Amazon gave it a 5-star rating, the highest available. Most comments were quite favorable.

Some of the comments include:

“This book has been a life saver for having healthy cooked meals, during the week, at a decent hour.”. – Actual User Comment on Amazon Canada

“I like the slow cook alternative, particular those delicious, quick to prepare recipes that I can throw in the cooker at the start of the day and have ready for supper. That these meals are actually nutritious is an added bonus.” – Actual User Comment on Amazon Canada

“. . .best slow cooking book! I own many, but this is easily my favourite.” – Actual User Comment on Chapters.Indigo

The only complaints seem to be that some of the dishes require a little prep work beyond just throwing raw ingredients into the slow cooker, such as this review comment:

“…. there’s a LOT of prep…including sautéing food before putting it in the crock pot. A good buy if you have time, but if you’re looking for … throw it all in and leave… this one may not be right for you.” – Actual User Comment on Amazon.com

Miscellanous Info About The Healthy Slow Cooker

This is a paperback by Judith Finlayson and has 288 pages. The publisher is Robert Rose (December 2005). It includes several color illustrations of the food included.

If all this sounds like a cookbook you can use, it’s available at Amazon:

The Healthy Slow Cooker

Post from: Cookware for a Healthy Kitchen

The Healthy Slow Cooker Cookbook Review

If you’re looking for a great grill to use indoors, the George Foreman GRP99 Next Grilleration Grill is a good choice. It helps you cook healthy meals, living up to the advertising of being a “Lean, Mean Grilling Machine.”

It has many benefits, including:

1. Digital read-out for temperature controls are large and quite easy to see.
2. Removable plates, which makes the grill a whole lot easier to clean!
3. Non-stick surface, which also makes the grill very easy to clean.
4. Big cooking surface allows you to cook a family sized meal all at once.
5. Instruction booklet included has cooking times for lots of foods.

I looked at a lot of reviews, and most all of them gave the grill a high rating. About the only drawback which was mentioned by a few people was the fact this grill doesn’t get as hot as older models of George Foreman grills, but even so, they said it still works great.

Here’s what comes with the George Foreman Next Grilleration Removable Plate Grill:

• The Grill Itself
• Drip Tray
• Plastic Spatula
• Owner’s Manual

How To Use The George Foreman Next Grilleration Grill

Grilling food with this appliance is quick and easy.

To start with, it’s a good idea to use a hot mat under the grill.. These grills put out a lot of heat, and just to be on the safe side and make sure there is no damage to the counter, I sit mine on a wooden cutting board. There are heat resistant mats available also. Just bear in mind the heat resistant part – a plastic mat is obviously a bad idea.

Also, be sure to place the grill out “in the open” while cooking, so there is space for the steam to escape. There’s usually a fair amount of steam produced while the food is cooking, and iyou don’t want that going up right under your kitchen cabinets.

Preparing To Use The Grill

1. Preheat: Make sure the grill is plugged in and the lid is closed. The time and temperature displays will show dashes, which means the grill is off.

2. Press the “Power” On/Off button to turn on the grill. The time and temperature lights will come on.

3. The time display will show a “5” which indicates the start of the 5 minutes pre-heat cycle.

4. The temperature display will show a flashing “300”. Now is the time to adjust the temperature according to what you’re cooking. The owner’s manual includes a chart showing the correct temperatures for various foods like fish, turkey burgers, pork chops, hamburgers, chicken, steak and more.

5. When the preheating countdown is done, the unit beeps four times.

Be aware of one quirk here – sometimes the beeps are confusing. If the grill reaches the correct temperature before the 5 minute countdown is up, the temperature display will stop flashing and the grill will go ahead and beep 4 times. Unless you reset the timer, however, it will continue the 5 minute countdown and then beep again when the time is up.

On the other hand, sometimes the grill is NOT ready when it beeps at the end of the 5 minute preheat countdown because it hasn’t got hot enough yet.  If the temperature display is still flashing that means the grill hasn’t reached the correct temperature setting yet. Don’t start grilling until the temperature light has stopped flashing. The unit will beep again when the right temperature has been reached.

So if the beeps are confusing to you, just ignore them. All you have to do is check the grill and see when the temperature light goes off. Then it’s at the right temperature to cook.

Grilling With The George Foreman GRP99 Next Grilleration Grill

Be sure and place the drip tray under the front of the grill before you start cooking, and make sure you’ve got it placed correctly to catch the drips. Otherwise you could have a real mess to clean up when all the grease drips all over your counters!

Once the grill reaches the correct temperature for the food you’re cooking, use a pot holder to open the lid. Place your food on the grill, shut the lid, and set the timer to the correct length of time for what you’re cooking.

When the food is ready, the grill beeps. Keep in mind that it does NOT shut off after it quits beeping, so if you leave the food in there, it’ll keep cooking and you could end up with some overdone food.

Granted, the grill does automatically shut off after an hour if you leave it on, but I think any food grilled for over an hour is not likely to be very appetizing!

So when you’ve finished using the grill for cooking, remove the food, and unplug the grill.

Keep in mind, the non-stick finish on the removable plates does not take kindly to sharp objects. Use plastic or wooden utensils, and avoid metal tongs, forks or knives that can scratch the finish.

After Cooking, It’s Time To Clean The Grill

When moving the drip tray, have a care. It’s easy to tip it and spill all those drippings. Getting grease on the counter or floor isn’t much fun to clean up.

One big advantage to this particular grill is the fact the grill plates can go in the dishwasher. It’s a fact! They not only pop off the grill for easier cleaning, you can even run them through the dishwasher.

It’s best to scrape off the excess fat and food particles first, however. The plastic spatula that comes with the grill has grooves designed to fit the grill perfectly and help with this task.

For myself, I usually just use a dish cleaning brush and dishwashing detergent that works well for greasy stuff such as Dawn or some generic version. It only takes a couple of minutes to get the removable plate clean, dry it and pop it back in the grill.

More Tips For Cleaning The George Foreman Grill

Here are some things you should DO:

• Wipe the uncoated side of the removable plates with a dry towel after they’ve been through the dishwasher cycle.
• Use a non-metallic scrubbing pad to remove any stubborn build-up of grease or food.
• Use a warm, wet dishcloth or sponge to clean off the outside of the grill.
• Keep hold of the top cover while cleaning so it doesn’t fall down and injure your hand.

And here are some things you should NOT do!

• Use steel wool, abrasive cleaners, Brillo pads or similar scrubbing tools on any part of the grill or removable plates.
• Immerse the body of the appliance in water or any other liquid. (It’s got electrical elements you could ruin!)

All In All, This Is A Great Grill

The George Foreman GRP99 Next Generation Grill with Removable Plates is a great addition to your healthy kitchen. It works well for grilling indoors when the weather’s bad. It automatically drains fat off meats as they cook, but works well for vegetables like peppers and hash browns, too. You can use it for grilled cheese sandwiches or hot dogs. You can even use it to cook kabobs as long as you use wooden instead of metal skewers!

So if you’re looking for a great grill, the George Foreman GRP99 Next Grilleration Grill fits the bill.

Post from: Cookware for a Healthy Kitchen

Try A George Foreman Next Grilleration Grill

Should you decide you want to hire someone to paint your kitchen. . .  This guest post has some good thoughts on what to look for in a painting contractor.

To most families, the home is a vital part of their lives.  Not only just for living in it, but also, family life goes on there, great times, and leisure time.

Well when the time comes when you do have to work on your home, such as doing some painting, this can be a very hard and stressful time in your life.

So with that being the situation, I would like to give you some solid advice on how to choose the right painting company.  This advice comes from years working with homeowners and also running a San Diego painting company myself.

At first, choosing the right painting company doesn’t seem like a big deal.  But if you consider the fact that this project will cost thousands of dollars, cause an interruption in the normal day to day life in the home, and of course can result in a beautiful job you can be proud of to one that you are embarrassed to show.This is a very big decision.

So here are some tips from my experience as a painter San Diego.

First off you are going to want to get quotes from several contractors.  You aren’t just doing this for the best price.You are doing this so you will be able to get to know the company that you will be working with.Well of course, if you do get a good price that’s good, but don’t make that be your main goal.Remember, you want the work to be done well.

Second, find out what type of warranty or guarantees they will give you on the work they do.See if the company makes a strong guarantee about your satisifcation.  This shows how confident they are in their work.

Thirdly, you will want to know when and how soon can they start.Also, you want to get a good feel on when they think they can get it done and how quickly.  When you are going to cause a disruption like painting your house.You will have to know how quickly they can get things back to normal.

Finally, make sure to get some testimonials from previous customers.Make contact with them and see what their opinion of the company is.  See how well the work was done, if it was done on time, and is it a good company to work with.

Do these things and you will create as stress free an experience as possible during this stressful time.  Take it from my years of working with painters in San Diego, doing these few steps will help you greatly.

Post from: Cookware for a Healthy Kitchen

Pitfalls to Avoid When Choosing a Painting Contractor For Your Kitchen