Semi-Homemade: Slow Cooker Recipes

by Sandra Lee

Incredible meals and extra easy dishes that taste like they're made from scratch

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 7, 2006

About the author

Sandra Lee Christiansen, known professionally as Sandra Lee, is an American television chef and author. She is known for her "Semi-Homemade" cooking concept, which Lee describes as using 70 percent packaged and 30 percent fresh products. She received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Show Host in 2012 for her work and her show. As the partner of former New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, she served as the de facto First Lady Of New York from 2011 to 2019, when the couple ended their relationship.

Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Kayris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realize that Sandra Lee caters to a certain kind of cook, but I was a little put off by the numbers of recipes that used condensed soup or very salty seasoning mixes. I have been cooking since I was a kid and am very comfortable in the kitchen, so I subbed some ingredients, chopped my own onions, and made my own seasoning mixes.

Some recipes were decent, but others were just terrible. The Orange Pork Chops with Cinnamon were dreadful, as was the Chicken Stew with lemon curd. My 5 year old daughter is a very good eater and even she turned her nose up at those two.

My other complaint--the reasonn I like to use a slowcooker is because we are extremely busy and I am often not home for ten plus hours. So many of these recipes called for a 4 to 6 hour cooking time. Even on the very lowest setting, many of these dishes would be completely ruined by the time we get home.

Overall, I'm keeping it because it was a 7 dollar clearance purchase, but I'm not wowed at all.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mom often uses the slow cooker and she bought this cookbook thinking she could find great recipes for the Crock-Pot. However, only a handful of recipes stood out. Those include Cajun Chicken Pasta and Five-Alarm Three-Bean Chili. For the pasta, we substituted penne for farfalle, as their middles never seem to cook fully without the edges turning to snot, and we modified the chili to Four-Alarm Chili, and only used one bean. If I were you, I'd save my money and just look online and look for a slow cooker recipe.

[Sara ♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cookbook was alright... I tried three of the recipes. Two of them were okay, and one of them is definitely a keeper (can't go wrong with chicken, bacon, and mushrooms) and there are a few more I want to try... The main problem with this cookbook is that I've found that a couple ingredients (a couple types of Campbell soup) are no longer being made, so that makes a few of the recipes a bit difficult to cook! Oops! I guess that's what happens when the recipes are
semi-homemade!

[Alicia Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a fan of her Food TV show but I thought I would give this book a read through to get some dinner ideas. I was very put off by her use of so many condensed soups. There are plenty of delicious slow cooker meals that don't need condensed soup to be delicious. The book is well written and did give me some base ideas for future slow cooker meals I plan on making. Wonderful pictures too, which is one of the best parts of reading a cookbook.

[Kasey]

made the blackberry cobbler last night. YUM!
I think she's hit the nail on the head as far as desserts, but her main courses leave a lot to be desired. Planning to make the hot cocoa cake next.
The cake missed the mark. Very moist but nothing special. Looking to try the lemon-blueberry cake and then return it to the library.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Every recipe I've made from this cookbook has been bad. I won't be buying anymore of her books.

[Tisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book didn't have quite as many good recipes as her Cooking Light book, but still had some fun ideas.

[Brandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

haven't made anything yet, but got some good ideas. I'll update when I've actually tested some of these.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

We only made a few recipes from this collection and all were pretty terrible. There are better titles in the "Semi-homemade" series.

[Christiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I made the hot cocoa cake and it went really well. I'm hoping she'll continue to do me proud as I try some of her other stuff.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't tried any of the recipes in this...but I did copy a few.

[Nancy S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting recipes. Made notes of my favorites....might change this review if they dont come out as promised!

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super time saver recipes

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has some good recipes.

[Kjersti · Rating 2 out of 5]

This came in below expectations. Lots of cream of mushroom / celery / chicken soup involved in these recipes. No thanks.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent recipes in here for the crock pot.

[Stephanie Winebarger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must during baseball season! :)