1 down, 51 to go

Here are the two books from which I'll be cooking:

Slow Cooker Revolution, by America's Test Kitchen.  These are the people who do Cooks Illustrated magazine...can't go too wrong with this one.

And  Healthy Slow Cooker Cookbook, by The American Heart Association

Disclaimer:  Please understand that I in no way endorse any nutritional information, or other contents of these books, or any other books I cook from.  What I do is just pick recipes that sound good, and then adjust them as needed to meet my family's dietary needs.  For instance, the American Heart Association book recommends using "liquid vegetable oils and spray, or light tub margarines", which I would never use.  (I, personally, would substitute real butter, olive oil or coconut oil).  They also recommend "fat-free, 1%, and low-fat dairy products", which I would never use.  (I would use full-fat, organic dairy, that is fermented or cultured, or perhaps a nut milk or rice milk.)  So pretty please, promise me you won't get these books from the library, read them, and assume that I endorse, promote, or agree with any or all of their assertions.

Just some basics:  I have 3 slow cookers that I will be using for these recipes: a 2 qt round, 4 qt oval, and 6 qt round, all Crock Pot brand.  These are just what I have.  I'm not necessarily saying they're they are the best; there may be better ones out there.  If you have an opinion, chime in!  I want this to be a conversation, not a lecture.

My kitchen is 100% gluten free, so no wheat, rye, or barley, and no oats.  So you can just assume that I am always substituting gluten free alternatives, and I will try to be diligent about specifically telling you when I make substitutions.

And finally, I am in no way any kind of health care professional.  Or chef.  Nor am I paid to review any books and products.  I'm just a mom.  Who likes to cook.  And read a lot of health, nutrition, and cook books.  And talk about food. 

Okey dokey.  Let the food talk commence!!

So I made my first recipe from Slow Cooker Revolution.  Despite my long-held conviction that white meat chicken should never be cooked in a slow cooker, in the interest of science I decided to give it a go.  It was "Chicken in a Pot", a simple whole chicken, cooked breast down, with some sautéed onions, garlic, white wine, broth, tomato paste, thyme and bay leaves.  It sounded promising, and smelled divine while I was sautéing the onions, and while it was cooking in the slow cooker.

The recipe said "low, 4-6 hrs."  I probably should have checked it at 4, but I was out of the house.  I got home at 5 1/2 hrs, and oh my.  It was utterly destroyed.  Falling to pieces and dry as a bone.  It was horrible.  Not even salvageable for soup.  Yikes, epic fail.  Fortunately I got the chicken on sale for 8 bucks, so not too big a loss.  I may even try it again, and check it much earlier, but more likely, I'll forget the whole chicken-in-a-crock pot idea and stick with roasting a chicken in the oven, or quick-cooking it in the pressure cooker for things like chicken salad.

1 down...51 to go!