Fix-it and Forget-it 5-Ingredient Favorites: Comforting Slow Cooker Recipes

by Phyllis Pellman Good

          So who has time to prepare food these days? We time-starved cooks need recipes that are guaranteed to be— Quick to fix, Easy for anyone to make, whether you're a cook or not, Delicious and satisfying. The solution? Fix-It and Forget-It 5-Ingredient Favorites—the latest member in the multi-million copy Fix-It and Forget-It cookbook series! This smart cookbook offers convenience and comfort to anyone faced with a too-full life and hungry people to feed. Gather five or fewer readily available ingredients + your slow cooker + Fix-It and Forget-It 5-Ingredient Favorites—and you can have— Apricot Chicken, Lazy Lasagna, Sweet and Savory Brisket,   Bacon Feta-Stuffed Chicken, Tortellini with Broccoli, Upside-Down Chocolate Pudding Cake, Brownies with Nuts.           Fix-It and Forget-It 5-Ingredient Favorites, with its more than 700 recipes, can be your new faithful companion. Turn to it for Main Dishes, Meats and Pastas, Vegetables, Soups, Breads, Breakfasts and Brunches, Desserts, Appetizers, Snacks, and Beverages. From New York Times best-selling author Phyllis Pellman Good, who believes that it is possible to do home-cooking and to enjoy the great satisfaction it brings to those who cook and to those who eat.

Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Good Books and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of cookbooks, including books on juicing, grilling, baking, frying, home brewing and winemaking, slow cookers, and cast iron cooking. We’ve been successful with books on gluten-free cooking, vegetarian and vegan cooking, paleo, raw foods, and more. Our list includes French cooking, Swedish cooking, Austrian and German cooking, Cajun cooking, as well as books on jerky, canning and preserving, peanut butter, meatballs, oil and vinegar, bone broth, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Reference, Food

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Angie Lisle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The recipes in this book are Americanized versions of (mostly) European comfort foods. The book is geared for people on the go or people with limited cooking abilities.

I'm an intermediate-cook (and a kitchen witch!) who will happily dedicate an entire day to the kitchen. I love quick and easy recipes but I also like to challenge my cooking skills. This book didn't challenge me.

My house is flexitarian; we skip meat many times a week. Most of these recipes involve meat in some form.

My household works around strict diets of sodium (heart health) and carbs/sugars (diabetes), as well as food allergies. Most of the recipes call for pre-packaged/processed foods. There weren't many recipes that I could test because of the dietary restrictions. As for making substitutions, I would wind up making the original European recipes which negates the need for these recipes.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many can-o-soup or envelope of taco seasoning recipes. Some good ones. Me thinks I should read the low fat book

[Greta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw this in the library (at the same time I picked up the other "Fix It and Forget It" slow cooker cookbook I reviewed separately) and thought, "Wow, that's great - I only need 5 ingredients." Well, I got home, started reading and found out that most of those ingredients included some combination of cream of ____ (chicken, mushroom, celery) soup and other canned products that are typically very high in sodium (even the low sodium versions). So, even though there are plenty of recipes to choose from, in the end, I can't endorse this book simply because the combination of those ingredients isn't very healthful and subsitutions would be tricky (and then it would no longer be a 5-ingredient recipe or as simple as the book claims).

[Leslie Ferrari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was particularly interested in this book since it limits the number of ingredients and my daughter has a small kitchen. I did not find new recipes, but rather recipes from other books in the series. As previously mentioned, many have optional ingredients that you would want to use.

[Chinchilla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t see the subtitle of this book before I started reading it, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. I am enthusiastic about cookbooks showcasing delicious meals prepared with only few ingredients, but I am not a huge fan of slow cookers myself. Perhaps part of it is because I have only used it a handful of times (Instant Pot), not nearly enough to master the appliance. As well, the whole slow-cooking idea just doesn’t make sense to me, especially how long most dishes cook for while making the entire place smell like food. I can understand the convenience of slow cookers for people who work during the day, but for me, leaving an electrical appliance with a heating element on unattended just doesn’t seem like a good idea.

“Comforting” would be the word I use to describe recipes in this book. Every dish can be served at weekend family gatherings without offending or surprising anyone (anyone who’s not a vegetarian or a vegan). Many recipes here call for canned soups as sauce base or pre-cut vegetable mix to save time. While those ingredients may not be things I would use myself, they can definitely be advantageous for busy and/or new home cooks.

I give this book 2 stars. It’s not a book for me, but can for certain find its way into many home kitchens.

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The recipe is in this cookbook are tasty and easy to prepare. Most of them use very affordable ingredients. The directions are simple, and each recipe contains five ingredients or less, not counting water. I especially like the slow cooker lasagna recipe in this cookbook.

[Honest Mabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

it can’t get more Midwest than this

These are those old school Midwest-esque where it’s going to be basic decent but bland food. It’s great for new cooks for people who are looking for base recipes to jazz up

[Barb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got very repetitive and too many short cuts using canned not fresh foods.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

So bad! I tried a few of the recipes. Most the recipes look pretty unhealthy and not tasty. Most recipes included canned soup, canned vegetables, powdered soup packets, and processed cheese. Yuck.

[WickedStorme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book for disclosing on a budget.😊😊

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this because I'm all about easy crock-pot meals. I only gave it 3 stars because the recipes are not actually by the "author". Instead, it is a collection of user submitted recipes; like a church cookbook. I'm not sure if the author personally tested all the recipes as there are hundreds in the book. But I was rather disappointed because I don't want to spend money and time on making something that has not been through a professional test kitchen; I've had enough home-cook recipe failures that are either bland and tasteless or the ingredients and cook time are way off. So, if you're brave enough to trust the tastes and talents of non-professionals and want a variety of easy recipes then give this a whirl.

[Jbussen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lame. Good N Bad. Mostly bad. Meh. I have been reading these Fix-It/Forget It type books lately. For some poor guy like me who is not a decent cook, nor having enough time to learn, this is a decent instruction manual. I just grab some stuff and crock pot it, no fuss (sometimes). Basically this book is just some ingredient ideas and performs quite nicely at that. But only that.

Money. On the flip side, when you buy a can of beans or corn, versus buying beans or corn, the $ dynamic's change. It can be expensive to buy some of these ingredients. You may want to plan. A recipe might ask for a 1/2 pound of hamburger or Italian Sausage. Nobody sells that by the half pound. Who sells a 1/2 cup or even 1 cup of salsa? It is not a good idea to double up a recipe in a crock pot. Everything tastes good when you start with lobster and steak, and then add fat.

Speaking of, no regard is given to calories. A recipe might ask for 3 cups of cheese. Fatty black olives etc. And the serving size recommended is for who? Children? Also, the Fix it and Forget it is true. Once you get it in the pot that is. One taco like recipe had me grill beef and add a bunch of stuff; in other words I "cooked". Then put that into the pot with a few more ingredients. I'm wondering since I already cooked 75% of this dish, why not just cook the rest? The whole point is to fix it, and forget it. Not fix it, cook it, and fix it again, and crock pot it, and wait 3+ hours. I may try another recipe or two but right now I can't see the sense in this book. If a person had this kind of $ they could eat out or take out. If they had this kind of time why the fix it and forget it?

[Meg McGregor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that I am not working that much, I wanted to learn how to use the Slow-Cooker for more than just our regular meals!

This book has 150 recipes for the slow cooker! I found ten, that I thought my husband and I, would enjoy!

My favorite recipe was for Fresh Zucchini and Tomatoes! (MMMM!) I have included the recipe below.

INGREDIENTS:
1 and 1/2 zucchini, peeled if you wish. Cut into 1/4 slices.
19-oz. can, low-sodium strewed tomatoes, broken up and undrained.
1 and 1/2 cloves, garlic, minced.
1/2 tsp. salt.
1 and 1/2 coconut oil.

PREPARATION:
1. Place zucchini slices in the slow cooker.
2. Add tomatoes, garlic, and salt. Mix well.
3. Dot with coconut oil.
4. Cover and cook on HIGH 2 and a 1/2 or 3 hours OR until zucchini's are done to your liking.

This book was very good. But I gave it only 3 stars because many of the recipes were in other titles of this collection.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I've marked this as read, I am still trying out many of the recipes in this book. As someone who is hopeless in the kitchen, this book has been a Godsend to me, and I can finally help my husband out by preparing a few meals a week. The recipes are super easy to follow, and more than half the time are delicious (even those that weren't delicious were still perfectly edible). I would highly recommend this book to anyone who either hates or fails at cooking, or has little time to cook.

[Wendy Holcombe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wouldn't say that a lot of these recipes are 5 ingredients or less, when one of the ingredients is something else you would have to make, (or buy premade) then it takes more ingredients.
Also, most of these recipes aren't the healthiest, but the book doesn't claim to be healthy.

I can use it for some ideas, but I would change most of the recipes to make them healthier, and I'd end up using more than 5 ingredients in a lot of them.

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not kidding there is a recipe in here that involves hotdogs and equal parts grape jelly and prepared mustard. It dampens my ability to feel confident in the editing of this book (these recipes were all submitted by people from all over the country). In fairness the beef and barley soup recipes look good.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite cookbook! Why? Because all of the recipes are so easy to make (5 ingredients or less) and everything I have made from this book tastes delicious! Even my extremely picky husband has tried the dishes I have made using these recipes and will admit that he likes them! And of course, who doesn't like using their slow cooker to make dinner? Best cookbook ever!!!

[ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The recipes are just so simple, and make busy weekdays/nights so easy, I can't not love this book. And since there are just a few ingredients, it even helps simplify grocery shopping (huge win). Most of the dishes I've made have been good, not great, but everyone in the family has liked them, and you just can't beat the ease!

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's too bad it's a library book, I'd have loved using it indefinitely. There are tons of recipes in there I'd like to try. Most cookbooks I look at have hardly any recipes that I'd be interested in.

[Kae Larsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a huge assortment of recipes, which is awesome. The problem I find with it is that even though it is a 5 ingredient recipe book many of the recipes have a lot of 'optional' foods you can add to them. Mostly if it is gonna taste good ya better add the optionals!

[Nora · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yes it's five ingredients, but most recipes require a canned soup, bottled salad dressing or some sort of pre-packaged or processed store bought product. There are also numerous recipes that are basically the same ingredients.
Glad it was a library book, wouldn't waste my money on it.

[Katie Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slow cooker

Very disappointing. Written for the U.S., yet sold to us in the UK. Many ingredients just not able to purchase in my little Welsh town. Velveeta is unheard of except in the memories of expats. Wasted my time and money, nothing worth trying to adapt.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this as a gift and have yet to find anything in it that I want to make. I plan to keep trying.

[Annmarie]

Recommended by my brother. But I am always up for receipes with only 5 ingredients!!! (:

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have been eating with this book for the past 2 weeks and I have loved everything. This is one of my favorites in this cookbook series.

[BookMouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good cookbook but there's a lot of overlap of recipes with all the other Fix it and Forget it books.

Buy the Big Fix it and Forget it book.

[Connie Gunderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

These are pretty horrible recipes, though they are easy as hell. I haven't made one thing I've liked much and I've made like 7 things from this book. Pass.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great recipes

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite cook book ever!!! You can't beat a slow-cooker, and these recipes are so easy and taste great, too!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for People just learning how to crock pot cook! The small number of ingredients doesn't make cooking intimidating.