Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes [Paperback]

Sandra Lee (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade | Publication Date: November 7, 2006

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

• 120 recipes including chili, hearty soups and stews, one-pot meals, five-ingredient dishes, and slow-cooked desserts
• Tips and hints on how to reinvent slow cooker leftovers and cut fat and calories from comfort food favorites
• Deliciously simple recipes and suggestions for entertaining groups while taking it easy on the cook

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sandra Lee is host of two popular shows on Food Network, Sandra's Money Saving Meals and the Emmy-nominated Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. A New York Times bestselling author and editor in chief of the Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine, she is the foremost expert on how to make all areas of home life more beautiful and enjoyable for a fraction of the cost and time. For more information and great recipes, please visit the official Sandra Lee website at www.SandraLee.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0696232642
• ISBN-13: 978-0696232640
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sandra Lee has a passion for simple solutions that create dramatic results in all areas of home life. She is editor-in-chief of Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine, the host of two highly rated television shows (the multi-Emmy-nominated Semi-Homemade Cooking and Sandra's Money Saving Meals), as well as a New York Times bestselling author of seventeen books. An internationally-acclaimed home and food expert, Sandra has revolutionized the way people think about traditional, time-consuming, "from-scratch" methods. With her trademark 70/30 philosophy, which combines 70% ready-made products with 30% fresh touches, Sandra creates aspirational meals and breathtaking living environments that are affordable and attainable, making her the foremost recognized advocate to every over-extended person.
Sandra's philosophy was born out of necessity and the challenges she faced throughout her childhood. The oldest of five children, Sandra was responsible for caring for her four younger siblings and managing the household. Forced to live on welfare and food stamps, Sandra quickly learned how to turn budget-friendly foods into delicious and special meals for her family while stretching every dollar and every minute.
In 1989, after attending the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Sandra was faced with her own home decorating dilemma: How to decorate her home with style and flair on a limited budget. She invented a quick, easy way to re-create her home and realized that others could use the same solutions. She invented her own line of patented home, garden and craft products and launched her company in 1993. Sandra quickly became the retailers "go-to-girl" for innovative, smart consumer products, working with Walmart, Target and QVC-USA. The product lines were so successful that she was asked to anchor the on-air launch of the home, garden and craft categories for QVC-United Kingdom and QVC-Germany. This success motivated Sandra to produce one of the first Do-It-Yourself home improvement video series, which sold over a million copies. Her product lines garnered numerous industry awards, including Wallcoverings, Windows & Interior Fashion's "Achiever of the Year" and Profitable Craft Merchandising's "Home Decorating Product of the Year."

Sandra then attended the world's leading culinary art institute, Le Cordon Bleu. She learned how to apply her Semi-Homemade(R) philosophy and savvy shortcuts towards gourmet recipes so that anyone could create and savor delicious dishes at home in less time and at a fraction of the cost. Since then, Sandra has become a New York Times bestselling author and has written sixteen cooking and entertaining books. She has sold more than 3 million books since the fall of 2005 and has been awarded the prestigious, International French Gourmand Award for "Best Easy Cookbook". In fall 2009, Sandra will release three new books: Easy Weeknight Wonders, Money Saving Slow Cooking and Cocktail Time.

Semi-Homemade(R) moved seamlessly from books to television, radio and the Internet. In 2003, her Food Network TV series, Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee, debuted as one of the highest-rated show launches in the network's history and celebrated its 200th episode in 2008. Nominated for numerous Daytime Emmy's, Semi-Homemade Cooking remains a top performing program. Sandra has also hosted ten one-hour primetime specials. Her personal story was documented by Food Network's Chefography to rave reviews and high ratings, and her memoir, Made From Scratch, was a Barnes & Noble bestseller. In May 2009, Sandra launched a second Food Network series, Sandra's Money Saving Meals, which will save viewers an average of 39% - 50% on every grocery store bill. In fall 2009, Sandra will become the first cross-over talent on the Scripps Network, with HGTV's Sandra Lee Celebrates.

Sandra was awarded the President's Volunteer Service Award for her involvement with many charitable and philanthropic organizations, as well as the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2009 by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate for contributions made to society. Sandra is the national spokesperson for Share our Strength's Great American Bake Sale and Operation Frontline, two groundbreaking programs focused on ending childhood hunger in America. She is a founding member of the Los Angeles chapter of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and has served on the board of directors of Children's Hospital. Sandra is a generous supporter of God's Love We Deliver, Project Angel Food and the Central Park Conservancy. She was the celebrity chef for DineOut LA in 2008 and GoEat LA in 2009, raising funds for Aid for Aids International (AFAI). She participates in Harvard Business School's annual Woman's Entrepreneurial Conference and is a lecturer at Yale University's School of Management.

Sandra's passion and enthusiasm is contagious. Her attainable, couture-styled, approach allows her the privilege of being a frequent guest expert for many national TV shows including Good Morning America, Today, Weekend Today, Fox News Channel, Ellen, and Tyra, among others. She is a bankable personality having appeared as the cover celebrity on many national magazines including Ladies Home Journal, Redbook and TV Guide.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I like it!, December 17, 2006

By 

lovestoread - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes (Paperback)

I will admit to avoiding these books like the plague for a long time. I wouldn't even flip through them to look at the pictures until my mom finally talked me into it. I love the photos. That right there will sell me on any cookbook, but I also like the lay out. I wish Rachael Ray would do the same thing. I think I'd like her books a lot more if they had photos like these do. Anyway, I ended up buying the slow cooker, the 20 minute meals and the grilling book. I took them home and spent a lot of time looking at the photos and reading each recipe and realized these are my new favorite cookbooks. I do cheat, I cut up my own onions, I make my own potatoes and sweet potatoes instead of using canned and pre-packaged ones, I grate my own cheese, and I try to use fresh ingredients over the pre-packaged, which I know defeats the purpose of the cookbook, but the recipes are right there with my own taste buds that its worth the extra time to make as many of the ingredients I can from scratch. I ended up buying all of the books and will continue collecting these as long as she prints them, and as long as they stay the same with the color photos and nice lay outs.

I love the sweet potato sheppards pie. That has to be my favorite so far, though I have enjoyed everything I have made.

I wish I hadn't been so stubborn for so long and found these books sooner. They are great, and remember, just because she says to buy pre-made mashed potatoes doesn't mean we can't make our own without all the added preservatives and junk, or that we can't cut op our own onions, etc. The options are there to help us save time, but if we have time, we can use fresh ingredients in place of pre-packaged.

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why did I wait so long?, January 19, 2007

By 

Tab "Tabitha" (Bangor, ME) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes (Paperback)

I Love this book. Love it with a capital 'L'!! It's got a great sampling of recipes and ingredients. I'm a big fan of the 5 ingredients chapter. It makes it easy where I'm a fresh out of college student so I don't have to buy all kinds of stuff for one meal. I was also amazed by the desserts you can make in the crock pot (Hot Cocoa Cake looks sinfully delicious--mmmmm!) Sandra Lee also put in some helpful hints and tips about using a crock pot that you may not know if you're a first time user or haven't used one in a long time. She addresses issues that affect both the new digital crockpots and the ones that just have a knob for off, low and high settings. I was impressed with the section that also doubles as a casserole section. I never thought about using the stoneware (if you have a removable stoneware of your crock) to double as a casserole dish....so many new ideas! One thing I recommend (and I saw this on her show) is to spray the inside of your crockpot with non stick cooking spray every time you use it and it'll never be a nightmare to clean again! It's worked every time for me.

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book but some things needed to be tested before published!, December 22, 2006

By 

A. Darling "darlingswe" (Charleston, SC, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes (Paperback)

I decided to pull the ol' crock pot out again when I went back to work full time. I thought the whole point of slow cooking is to multi task and who does short cuts better than Sandra Lee?

I agree with much in the other reviews such as the great photos. I also like her tips up front especially that slow cookers don't evaporate liquid like stove top so be sure to lighten the liquid measures when converting recipes to the crockpot. I do wish she would have written a little more of an introduction about each dish or how she came up with it, etc.

The Lamb Shanks and Canellini were wonderful! The Lamb with Pomegranate, OK. But I do like a lot of her ideas. One idea that DID NOT work out, as another review pointed out is RICE. YOU CANNOT MAKE RISOTTO WITH A SLOW COOKER. EVER.

I knew in my heart, or else why would cooks bother standing stove side stirring, stirring, stirring, their risottos? My Fig, Arugula and Bleu Cheese Risotto turned out like one big vat on sticky rice, a glutinous mess! I am certain if it had been made the old fashioned way it would have been delicious. Why were these rice recipes not tried out in a test kitchen? That's why I'm deducting one star.

By the way, a bonus to this book are casserole recipes. I have made the Tamale Bake so EASY and so good.