It seems that if slow cookers are trendy – sometimes they are in, and sometimes they are out. In the last year of blogging and reading food blogs, I don’t remember seeing a whole lot of slow cooker recipes – until Christmas, that is. It feels like a lot of my blogging friends received slow cookers for Christmas, and now I am seeing recipes all over the place!!
I have always been a fan of the slow cooker. It is a great help for people like me who work all day and don’t have a lot of time to plan and make a meal on weeknights. But for me, a good slow cooker recipe is kind of hard to find. Just about everything I’ve made in the slow cooker ends up being watered down. I still have faith though, especially since I just bought a new cookbook that a fellow blogger has been blogging about, and I’m very excited to try it out!
I am generally a fan of the Pillsbury cookbooks, and have mostly made good meals from the Pillsbury cookbooks that I own – except for this one – Slow Cooker Recipes. I don’t know if it’s just a bad cookbook, or if I just chose bad recipes the 3 times that I have cooked from it. I shouldn’t say they are all bad – the Mexicali Chicken and Corn Soup was decent, but only after we topped it with cheese and sour cream and ate it with tortilla chips. We didn’t hate it, but we didn’t love it either. I am sharing these all with you, so if by chance you have this cookbook, you can learn from my experiences (or just avoid these recipes all together!!)
I had great hopes for these Five Spice Chicken Big Bowls. I had never used Chinese Five Spice before, and I guess the good thing that came out of this recipe was that I now have a bottle of this spice in my spice cabinet. While this was cooking, the smell of the Chinese Five Spice filled the house and it smelled heavenly. But when we went to eat, this really didn’t taste like anything. It was horrible, but it was very bland. My husband ended up covering his in sauce and eating it, but I just took a few bites and was done. Will definitely be using Chinese Five Spice again, but not with this recipe!
I actually made this Hearty Steak and Tater Soup last May, but have never blogged about it – mostly because we didn’t care for it. It is definitely not the prettiest soup to take a photo of, but once again, it didn’t have a whole lot of flavor. I don’t remember much about it except that I marked to never make it again!!
I will share the recipe for the Mexicali Chicken and Corn Soup with you, because I do think it has potential. As for the cookbook, there are a few more recipes in it that look good, so maybe I’ll give it one more chance. If the next try doesn’t work out, though, this cookbook will get the boot!!
Mexicali Chicken and Corn Soup
from Pillsbury Slow Cooker Recipes
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 (1 lb.) package frozen whole kernel corn
28 oz. chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup uncooked instant brown rice
1 (1.25 oz.) package taco seasoning mix
In a 3 1/2-4 quart slow cooker, combine chicken, corn, broth and tomatoes; mix well.
Cover; cook on low setting to 8-12 hours.
About 20 minutes before serving, stir rice and taco seasoning mix into soup. Increase heat setting to high; cover and cook and additional 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir soup before serving.
Makes 6 servings
This soup sounds like a great meal for winter, plus I love using my slow cooker. I’m going to give this one a try soon.
I bought a vegetarian slow cooker cookbook last summer but have yet to use it yet. I guess I’m scared things won’t turn out, plus I’m gone from my house for usually 10 hours on weekdays which is longer than I think I can leave food in the slow cooker? Anyway, hope you find some good slow cooker recipes! My mom made a yummy vegetarian stuffing in the slow cooker, but then that’s not a meal…
eatme_delicious – I actually have a slow cooker that has a timer on it – that way it turns off and just keeps the food warm until I get home. It’s a life saver!
So sad to hear about all your disappointments! I am also determined about it’s potential. I think you have the wrong link up there, they both seem to be to the Pilsbury book.
We are on the same wavelenght again. I have been using my slow cooker a lot lately. Just ad libing, no recipes. I throw in anything that comes to mind.They really re the best and the meat gets so tennder.
Hi Deborah! Thanks for stopping by and encouraging me in the New Year. I see you’re still up and running regularly. Keep it up!
oh that looks so good! it’s making me very hungry, ugh!
I was so excited because I thought maybe you’d found a good slow cooker recipe. I have tried several of the fix it and forget it books, and nothing seems to come out good. We also have a small lactose problem over here so that cuts a lot of the slow cooker recipes already.
Thanks for the heads up on the cookbook!
hi there–I found you googling for slowcooker recipes.
This one sounds delicious—I haven’t tried it yet.
I’m looking forward to it.
–steph
Hi Deborah,
Take a look at the Saving Dinner cookbooks by Leanne Ely. She has a weekly slow cooker recipe, and each one I’ve tried has been good — some are more memorable than others, to be sure, but most are pretty delicious.
Thanks for all your nice comments, too! (Judy)
We’re quite fond our our slow cooker around here… someday I’ll get around to writing about our favorite slow-cooker meatloaf recipe.
Thats disappointing Deb. I don’t have a slow cooker. Love 5-spice tho!
Thats disappointing Deb. I don’t have a slow cooker. Love 5-spice tho!
In my experience, I have found that once a spice is grounded and used in a long-cooking dish, the final dish is usually devoid of any of its (ground spices) flavour, you’d be better off using the whole spices.
Ground spices work best with fast, quick cooking, if it is added at the beginning of the cooking a little is also added at the end to give that tah-dah aroma and flavour.
I just found your site!! It is awesome! I’ll be back often
This looks SO good for the winter! AND I just got a slow cooker as a wedding gift. Yes!
And now my brain thinks of you when I see five spice recipes! http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/cookbook/chinese_cook.html
And now my brain thinks of you when I see five spice recipes! http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/cookbook/chinese_cook.html
anything Mexicali sounds good. i can taste the corn now!… slow cookers are another things. ever tried a pressure cooker?!
I have this cookbook too, and I’m glad I’m not the only one that hasn’t had great success with the recipes. I have a great and very simple crockpot recipe, if you would like it:
3-4 chicken breasts
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup milk
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 package dry Italian seasoning mix (i.e. Good Seasons)
Combine everything except the chicken and mix well. Place chicken in crockpot. Pour sauce over chicken and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 8-9 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Add chicken back to sauce and serve over rice, potatoes or noodles (I use rice).
I think I remember reading on your blog that you aren’t a fan of cream of chicken or mushroom canned soup – but in this case it adds a lot of creaminess.
First time here….love your recipes and the blog….the soup looks warm and delish
slow cooking always bring out the best in any soup…love your mexicali soup..this is what i need in cold times like this
Oh boy that is such a good looking soup. especially as it has gotten colder here and this looks really inviting!
I just ordered a slow cooker. Well it’s a slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer thing in one.
I was givan a slow cooker years ago but I thought it looked dangerous, electrical stuff scares me.
Look forward to seeing what you think of the new cookbook you’ve ordered.