Some people are born to be chefs and write great books. But Geraldine Helen Hartman doesn't just write an excellent how to cook book. Even when she adds the tiniest ingredient and for everything that goes in the pot, she describes it to a T; she never leaves out any information.If you love to cook, you want a chef who shares everything that goes into that magnificent meal.
You'll know the equipment you need and the best ingredients and spices to make it a work of art. That's not always the case with cookbooks, believe me. But what factors in such an excellent book is that your meal will turn out exactly as hers did!
She even gives a small introduction to the meal she prepared, and that information can make a difference in whether you will try it or not. For those of you out there, who were born to cook, you will want this book.
I didn't find a single recipe that appealed to me in this book. I guess I should admit that I have no interest in vegetarian products that try to emulate the texture and/or taste of meat. I found meat repugnant and have not eaten it since age 4 so I can't comprehend why anyone would want to eat something crafted to recreate the experience of eating carrion. But I digress......
Many of the recipes are for items such as breads, salad dressings etc that are not made in a slow cooker so in a book just over 100 pages there weren't as many main dishes as I had hoped.
Mmmm-mmmm! With winter coming I was looking for a cookbook just like this one. I was more than pleased scrolling through the recipes. My mouth was watering reading it and the other recipes. I like the way this book is put together too. It's laid out in a way that'll make it easy for me to set my kindle on the back of my counter and work from there on putting together these ingredients. So many of them are the things I already use in my meals. I'm not a vegetarian though, so I might tweak some of the recipes and add chicken or other meat. Some of the recipes have 'meatless meats' in them, such as 'sausage'. So this cookbook could be used all around whether a person is a vegetarian or not, by using sausage instead of the meatless-sausage. Either way, it's a cheery and sensible cookbook.
Interesting recipes, balanced, easy to find ingredients....I hate cooking but love the slow cooker. Unfortunately, the slow cooker tends to be good for meat, which I don't like. I have a lot of veggie slow cooker cook books but they don't really take into consideration that veggies are more delicate than meat. After reviewing the techniques here, I think the author is giving respect to the constitution of plants, and that we do not need them turned to mush in the slow cooker. ( Although some cultures do like vegetables cooked longer than Americans, and that might be reflected in certain recipes.)
I thought this book had all slow cooker recipes, but it does not. Imagine my excitement when I saw we could make bread recipes in the slow cooker! Nope, apparently we need a bread machine for it. I realize there are things we need to cook outside the crockpot - brown onions, garlic, etc, but a lot of recipes call for cooking in the oven as well.
While the recipes may be yummy, it's just not convenient for me, as a busy working mom, to cook much outside the slow cooker. Another thing that didn't sit well with me is that the entire book is center aligned.
Huge disappointment, considering the book is rated so high (as of today, 4/26/2014, 4 1/2 stars based on 12 reviews). It's been removed from my kindle.
This is a really nice little book. Don't let its small stature deter you. It has slow cooker recipes for easy, fast soups and stews, bread-machine breads (awesome!!), Curry, grain/rice salad, even a sauerkraut recipe. The author uses soy meats, like sausage and ground beef alternatives, etc, made from soy, but you could easily just leave these out -- we're vegetarian in my house but don't like the fake meats very much. She also includes tips for using the slow cooker, several excellent tips for preparing food in general, and tips for using a bread machine, too, not that there are many bread machine recipes in this book, but there are a few, so it's nice she includes information on that, in case you are new to a bread machine. You certainly do not need a bread machine for these recipes, though -- it's just if you have one and want to use it to make bread to accompany the main dinner recipes. I'm really glad I ordered this book. Am going to use it regularly.
The Groovy Green Kitchen: Weeknight Veggie Slow Cooker by Geraldine Helen Hartman
As I have been going through my kindle cookbooks I was glad to review this one also. It shows fresh picked vegetables which speaks hearty to me.
Some of the dishes sound very exotic to me, the flavors and spices needed and even the names of the dishes.
I did learn a lot about dumplings and the making of beans from a dry mix-which I have tried in the cooker before with no success. Glad I know now what I need to do.
Can't wait to try a few of these recipes. With just two of us I try not to have a lot of leftovers. There are few pictures of the dishes made.
Excellent book! It's so funny because a month ago I started craving home cooked meals using my slow cooker, and I made the mental note to look up some recipes and learn how to use my slow cooker a bit more. Now I can use this wonderful book to make those home-cooked meals I was craving. I cannot wait to make the spicy cream of carrot soup.