Fix-it and Forget-it Christmas Cookbook: 600 Slow Cooker Holiday Recipes

by Phyllis Pellman Good

          600 delicious slow-cooker recipes, perfect for holiday meals, from home cooks across the country who want to feast with their loved ones without being exhausted or frazzled—or getting stuck in the kitchen. From bestselling slow-cooker author, Phyllis Good.

     

     "You absolutely can make holiday meals with ease and with pleasure!" says slow cooker champion Phyllis Pellman Good. Her latest collection, Fix-It and Forget-It Christmas Cookbook: 600 Slow Cooker Holiday Recipes, will fill your head with menu ideas, give you gentle guidance with each recipe, and deliver dishes that your friends and family will love. "Stop your fretting. Put an end to the nightmares. Get out your slow cookers!" Good urges. "These are 600 stand-out, slow cooker recipes — all from home cooks from across the country. "These are 600 manageable, slow cooker recipes — from cooks who want to feast with their loved ones without being exhausted and frazzled."

Genres: Cookbooks, Christmas, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food, Holiday

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just got into cooking a couple of years ago. Before that I preferred to eat out because I didn't have time or the confidence to make a meal at home. Now, I have taken a total 180. I would much rather spend time perfecting my own meals and now, when we go to a restaurant, I'm like "I could make this better". So what's my secret? I turn to what I call my "Cookbooks For Dummies". The step by step directions are so easy that anyone can make the perfect meal. The Fix-It and Forget-It Christmas Cookbook has become my bible in the kitchen. It contains all the recipes you could ever need, for any occasion. Appetizers, entrees, snacks, deserts, it's all there. The Holiday Spinach and Artichoke Dip is amazing! One thing I really love about this book is that you can make little changes and have exactly what you want at that moment. I made Chicken Tortellini Soup instead of using sausage and it was phenomenal! I love this book! It would make the perfect present for the holidays.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good ideas to make life a bit easier at busy times. I bought a copy to keep around and enjoyed thumbing through and choosing a couple recipes I found that would appeal to my family. Ingredients are easily available and recipes are not complicated.

[Meg McGregor · Rating 4 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 my usual meals!

This book has 600 recipes for the slow cooker! I found about 20 that I thought my husband and I would enjoy!

My favorite recipe was for Chicken and Dumplings! (MMMM!) I have included the recipe below.

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 and 3/4 cups chicken broth
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
2 celery ribs, cut into 1 inch pieces
6 small carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks

BISCUITS
2 cups buttermilk biscuit mix
1/2 cup, plus 1 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. parsley

PREPARATION:
1. Arrange chicken in the slow cooker.
2. Dissolve bouillon in broth in bowl. Stir in salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning.
3. Pour over chicken.
4. Spread celery and carrots over top.
5. Cover. Cook on LOW 6-8 hours or on HIGH 3 - 3 1/2 hours, or until chicken is tender, but not dry.
6. Combine Biscuit ingredients in a bowl until just moistened. Drop by spoonfuls over steaming chicken.
7. Cover. Cook on High 35 minutes. Do not remove cover while dumplings are cooking.
8. Serve immediately!

The only reason I didn't give this five stars is because there are no pictures of any of the cooked foods. I like to know what a dish should look like, before I attempt to make it; and after I have made it, to compare it with the picture.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not particularly Christmas-y until the end where there were many good ideas for side dishes, hot drinks, and desserts. (Between standard recipes there are many suggestions for stress-free holidays.)

Because it's a compilation, and not done by one author, there are often too many recipes to pick from (10 sweet potato recipes, over 20 chili recipes, 20 pot roast recipes, etc). The advantage of this is that you could skim through them till you found one that had the same ingredients that you already have in your cupboard. Or ingredients that your family will eat.

Also, since convenience is the key, many recipes call for a can of soup or some other prepared ingredient. Since we've switched to more clean eating, I found only a small percentage of these recipes to be usable. Still, I look forward to trying those.

[Clinton Senior · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good, so-so, and bad cookbook. But with 600 recipes they can't all be winners. However as our high rating states there is some excellent recipes that we tried and want to try in the future. To really know how well this book was received and liked by our group. One of our members refuses to buy cookbooks anymore because of her collection at home. She stated that she is thinking of buying it so you know it is a keeper. During our club meeting we sampled the sweet and sour chicken wings, hot crab dip, snack mix, cheesy broccoli soup, Christmas meatloaf, glazed carrots, slow cooker rice pudding, eggnog gingersnap custard and sipped on Viennese coffee

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are no pictures of the food, which makes me sad, but there are some great recipes. Having borrowed this book from the library, I now want it for my own shelves.

[Cynthia Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of holiday recipes as well as normal everyday items. I love using my crock pots to cook with

[Linds · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of these recipes are just normal recipes, not really all the Christmassy.

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Other than the little snippets of ideas for celebrating Christmas that are scattered through the book, this cookbook is not particularly Christmassy. The vast majority of the recipes are standard slow cooker favorites, of course emphasizing more wintry stews, etc. I was struck by two things: first of all, Ms. Good has quite a business plan; she gets people to send her recipes, tests them and then includes them (with credit, to give her credit) in a cookbook. At least, I'm pretty sure she tests them because of occasional comments. Second, the (mostly) women who send her the recipes are heavily of German origin (not that surprising since it's one of the largest ethnic groups in the US that hardly considers itself ethnic any more) and concentrated in the eastern midsection of the country and parts of the south. Without actually counting, it appeared that Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania accounted for a great many of the recipes. There's a fair amount of canned soup and other convenience foods called for. You could probably get many similar recipes in any church cookbook and save some money (though, I bought this used and it didn't cost much.) Your mileage may differ.

[Nancy Coleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice cookbook, poor formatting for Kindle

I have about 200 cookbooks, and am a frequent slow cooker user. This recipe book sounded awesome, because who doesn't need more time and simplicity for Christmas dinner?
Unfortunately, the book is very frustrating to use on my Kindle. The names of most of the recipes do not appear, you cannot bookmark only one page, and there are multiple blank pages randomly interspersed.
I think the cookbook likely rocks in a standard format, but if you are buying it to use in a Kindle, save yourself the money and angst.

[Just - The romance reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good recipes. The thing I don't like much about the Fix-it and Forget-it series is that there are no photos and there are often nearly duplicates of some recipes, with only minor changes and no explanation on what makes one recipe different from the next.

I haven't had a chance to make any of the recipes yet but I'm hoping to try:
Taco Casserole page 125
Glazed Carrots page 212
Gingerbread Pudding Cake page 242

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the recipes in this book are not at all healthy, and don't sound that tasty, either. I did like all of the recipes on holiday drinks: there are probably some ones worth trying in that section. There are a few party appetizers and entrees that might be worth a shot as well. Still useful as a source of inspiration for Christmas recipes, but not a book I'll be buying anytime soon.

[Wulfwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite slow cooker cookbooks. I use it on a regular basis. It is a cookbook I will be using throughout the year. Slow cookers are awesome year round. This book has many recipes that would work anytime as well as ones that are great for parties and holidays. I love it. The recipes are easy enough for beginners and there are recipes for the experienced cook.

[Tish · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short cookbook that seemed to have a lot of recipes that have been around for ages. At least one didn't even use a slow cooker to prepare the dish. But it would probably come in handy for the hectic days leading up to Christmas when you need something easy for a holiday party.

[ReadingWench · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are lots of easy seasonal recipes in this book. Perfect dinners for a cold night.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn't see anything in this cookbook that I was even tempted to prepare. There are any number of websites with much better recipes than those in this book.

[Also216 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use this cookbook ALL OF THE TIME. I have tried several recipies and most have been perfect. This is the 1st cookbook I have owned that I have used this many recipies from.

[Salsabrarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm going to come off as a slow-cooker snob here, but these recipes are too middle-America for me. However the Christmas Smells recipe on page 4 really does work! That one's a keeper.