Rating: 
Summary: Same old, same old....
Review: I love my crock pot, and I try to use it as much as possible because it makes cooking for a busy family much easier. With that in mind, I thought this cookbook would give me more ideas for meals. Well, I was wrong. Almost all the recipes are the same, except for personal additions that vary from recipe from recipe. Beef stew is beef stew, regardless of how you make it. If you're looking for a variety, don't buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Ok book, not really worth buying
Review: I thought this book would have a bunch of great recipes that I could try in my slow cooker, but instead I found myself flipping through the pages and pages (with no pictures) and nothing catching my interest. It seemed to me that this would definently not be a good book for vegetarians because almost every recipe contained some sort of meat. I returned the book because it was not going to get any use from me.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor nutrition and overly repetitive
Review: 3 reasons this book is bad: 1. There are so many repeated recipes here! This cookbook is a gyp because you are paying for a book full of recipes, when the reality is that it has only a few that are repeated ad nauseum.
2. And there is FAR too much reliance on canned soup! Very poor nutrition.
3. Poorly organized! As other reviewers have noted, you cannot simply look into an index because it is not indexed by ingredient, but by a catchy name. If you want to save money, get a variety of good recipes, and save time by cooking some healthy food, try another book.
Rating:
Summary: I was so disappointed!
Review: I had heard great reviews for this "cookbook" from several slow-cooker e-lists. I just received the book in yesterday's mail, and I was so disappointed! It isn't a cookbook, it's just a collection of recipes from people other than the "authors." I'll bet most of them weren't even tested. There is nothing about technique. And the recipes are repetitious--there is a large section on soups and stews (mostly chili and beef stew), and then a good number of the recipes in the main dish section are also stews. As mentioned in other reviews, a very large percentage of the recipes call for canned cream soup. There are 600 recipes, but as I looked through the book, I saw only one or two that interested me.
Rating: 
Summary: Won't buy this book because...
Review: I love the idea of fast and easy meals. The recipes in this cook book sound delicious and simple, that's why I give it three stars. The catch is the index. I would spend too much of my precious time searching for porkhops under "P", and probably never find "Golden Porkchops". Why would I search for roast beef under "Slow Cooker...". I despise cookbook indexes that are organized by funky recipe titles instead of the main ingredient that you have on hand. Sorry, but I don't have the time for this "time saver".
Rating:
Summary: Bland & Bad for you
Review: I've given this book 100% effort in trying to find a keeper recipe - have tried over 20 recipes to date and found one (Taco Soup) - the rest were definitely not keepers. A good chunk of the ones I haven't tried were over the top bad-for-you or sounded down right icky (and I'm fairly adventerous when it comes to trying recipes). I agree with the other reviewers - lots and lots of duplicate recipes where one or two ingredients were changed. Lots of canned soups and processed cheese. There's got to be a better book out there - if not - someone please write one! With healthy yummy recipes! The crockpot is so handy - I'd like to think I can make great food in it that doesn't cause my arteries to dial 911.
Rating:
Summary: Just Average
Review: I tried a few recipes from this cookbook and had to wonder if the recipes were tested at all. The first one I tried, I couldn't get all the ingredients to fit in my 5-quart cooker. The second one I tried supposedly served 8, but it was too small of a recipe for my cooker and it burned. The recipes I tried didn't have much flavor, because there were no herbs or spices listed in the ingredients. I would have liked to have seen recipes with more flavor, less reliance on canned soups, and suggestions on what size cooker to use for each recipe.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely a godsend
Review: I picked this book up at a mass retailer in December of 2001, flipped thru it and put it on the shelf and didn't look at it again for over a year. My household changed dramatically in that year. I've went from 1 child, a short work commute and a husband who was home later to 2 children, a longer commute and a husband who has to leave with 30 minutes of me getting home. Crockery cooking is about the only way we can get a decent meal. I'll admit that the book tends to be highly repetitive and includes a lot of high-salt & high-fat recipes but with a little creativity these issues can be worked on. I tend to buy salt-free, fat-free soups for cooking and then season foods according to my taste. This book also serves as a great guideline for creating my own recipes. Its a great cookbook for novice cooks and a good *idea* book for those a bit more skilled. All in all, this book has been a total godsend to me and I could absolutely kick myself for shelving it for over a year!
Rating:
Summary: Majority of recipes not healthy (but some are), repetitive
Review: I bought this book and I am not sure I would again. There are about 800 recipes in the book. There are 4 major drawbacks to this book. First -- A vast number of them do contain a LOT of cheese and fats (1 to 3 cups per recipe) and preprepared soups and soup mixes. Definitely not the healthy meals I try to prepare. Second -- There are multiple variations of the same recipe. How many times can you vary beef stew and beef vegetable soup and still call it a different recipe? This book does it about 50 times. Third -- the table of contents isn't detailed enough. You have to sift through 200 main dish recipes at a time. It would have been nice if there was some grouping such as 'beef main dishes, chicken main dishes, vegetarian main dises' etc. Fouth -- It could use a better overview section on the principles of slow cooking to cover such things as safety, keeping the crockpot at least 1/2 full, etc. Having said that I did go through and highlight the recipes that I would cook -- reasonble in fat and salt content. I found that there were only about 10% (excluding the repetitive ones) that I would use. Because of the 800 recipes to start with this still leaves me about 80. I tend to think of the value of a cookbook in how many recipes I get for the value. So this one ended up being 80 recipes for the cost of the book. That's not unreasonable. I do prefer Rick Rodger's book. I compromise on both books. Rodger's book is long on techinique and preparation, but much better on nutritional content and flavorings.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVE IT!!
Review: This is not only the greatest crock pot cook book, but its the best cook book overall, that I have . Its simple, well organized and has a recipe for just about any ingredients you have on hand. I never make chile any other way than but scratch now!
My poor husband bought it for me for Christmas,and he never got to wrap it...i started using it RIGHT away.
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