Member Reviews
I have had so much fun looking through these recipes to find stuff to make! They all seem very easy to follow and quick to implement. Unfortunately I don’t have an instapot so I’m limited to the slow cooker recipes but there were plenty to choose from!
Plus, if you don’t want to do these in a slow cooker, with some minor adjustments you could still do these over the stove as a normal nightly dinner!
Most of the recipes are simple ingredients that won’t cause you to break the bank to feed your family! I always find it frustrating when I have to go broke to buy food to cook, so it was nice to see that most of the ingredients are pantry staples.
My only complaint about some of the slow cooker recipes is that the aren’t really “fix it and forget it”. There are multiple recipes that have extra steps/ cooking directions outside of just tossing everything into the slow cooker and moving on with your day. Most of these are mild and you could technically ignore those steps, but it feels like it goes against the idea of the book when I have to stop in the middle of the cook time to do extra steps.
I’m always on the lookout for more recipes to try with my family and slow cooker ones especially! This book gave a nice selection of 127 recipes - the ones that had pictures looked lovely and can’t wait to try them out. I do wish every recipe had a picture to go with it - as they say we eat with our eyes.
I liked the information at the start that explains all about slow cooking. Even having used one for 15 years there were some good tips I didn’t know about.
Fix It and Forget It Budget Meals is comprised of 127 recipes that are budget friendly. The cookbook starts with a description of the book and notes that are relevant to the recipes in the book. It was comprehensive and gave som good information, but what I really care about are the recipes. There is a good combination of recipes for the slow cooker and Instant Pot and so many that I want to try. I am really interested in the dinner recipes and will definitely be trying some of these. There are no dessert recipes in the cookbook, but I typically wouldn’t use the slow cooker or Instant Pot for baking so to me that makes sense. I do wish there were more pictures in the book, but this cookbook is full of what appear to be simple and easy to follow recipes that sound yummy! I can’t wait to try some of these out on my family.
Fix and Forget It was a fast read offering information about buying both Slow Cookers and Instapot, what to look for when purchasing, and the basics of using both. The recipes clearly indicated whether they were intended for a slow cooker or instapot and the book is divided into meals of the day. The layout of the cookbook is pretty basic, and I wouldn’t describe it as a beautiful cookbook, but rather a straightforward recipe book/ guide.
It’s simple and straightforward, and it read more like an encyclopedia style with minimal pictures and kind of repetitive directions / information. It was neat to see all the different recipes collected by people around the US. I’ve earmarked a few recipes I plan to try out and would recommend it to people looking for straight no nonsense recipes! I personally would have liked a few more photos thrown in.
Thanks NetGalley for the arc!
I am still trying out the recipes but this book gave me the opportunity to dust off my insta pot and try out some new cuisines. My only wish is that the recipes were more health-conscious. I tweaked a few ingredients and the results weren't so great, for example the polenta I used flax meal (don't do that). However, the recipes I stuck to were very delicious. The pork chops for the pork chops and gravy were so tender. I tried the Tasty Drumsticks but forgot the water. Don't do this either the water was so essential for this recipet. I was hoping that it would come off more savory, but it was okay. I would say overall the recipes are helpful if you have a family of 4, you're not a cook, and you just need to throw things together really quickly. It's not helpful if you have health restrictions like low salt and reduced sugar. You really have to stick to the recipe as presented to get a flavorful meal.
Fix-It and Forget-It Budget Meals is a user-friendly and budget conscious collection of recipes for the slow cooker and instant pot collected and curated by Hope Comerford. Due out 1st Oct 2024 from Skyhorse Publishing on their Good Books imprint, it's 216 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.
This is an easy to use cookbook with everyday practical tasty family friendly recipes. The author has included a step-by-step general tutorial introduction for both slow cookers and instant pots. They're general and not brand specific and both include some good tips for getting the most use out of your machines.
The recipes are arranged by category: breakfasts, soups stews chilis & chowders, main dishes, and side dishes. Each recipe includes an introduction/description, ingredients in a bullet list, followed by step by step prep and cooking directions. Ingredient measurements are provided in imperial (American) units. The author/editors have included a metric conversion chart in the back of the book.Nutritional info is not included.
The ingredients will be readily available at any well stocked grocery store in North America. The recipes do use some premix/premade ingredients such as salsa, seasoning powders, pasta sauce, and other convenience items.
About 20% of the recipes are accompanied by color photos. The food photographed in the book is attractively styled and appetizing.The recipes are basic, simple, regular family type dishes and the collection will be very useful for everyday-after-work type meals.
Four stars. It would be a good choice for public library acquisition, home use for busy family dinners, or possibly as a housewarming gift for a newly fledged young adult living on their own for the first time.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
Now this is the kind of cookbook that everyone needs in their collection! So many quick, tasty, and easy recipes for all levels of us "chefs."
I like the variety, vegetarian or meat, that this book has. It has tips and suggestions to go along with each recipe, too! That is a good way to kick up your skills quite a bit. Learning the different ways to alter the recipes to your taste buds.
Thank you for sharing this excellent cookbook with me!
#NetGalley #FitItandForgetItBudgetMeals
I appreciate that this book delivers what it promises: simple budget friendly meals. So many people promise simple and then it’s an hour of prep, this is not that. I wish there were more photos with the recipes, I’ve been spoiled by social media recipes and having a photo of the finished product everytime. As someone who didn’t recognize some of the dishes I’d like to have a photo to know what it should look like in the end.
Great cookbook full of simple easy recipes followed by lots of colorful pictures. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.
If you enjoy the other Fix it and Forget it cookbooks, you’ll like this one as well! I was raised on meals from these cookbooks, so I had to request to review this one. It’s full of recipes that look great, although I haven’t gotten the chance to try any of them yet
I am always looking for meals to make, especially on a budget. When I saw this book, I knew I needed to read it. I did find some meals that would work for me and my family. I really liked that there were some soups, I haven’t seen that much in cookbooks so that was a pleasant surprise.
I enjoy the Fix-It and Forget-It line of cookbooks. I do not currently own any, but I love to grab them from the library. This one may have to be part of my collection. I am new to the Instant Pot, but this has very accessible and easy to follow recipes for my device. We tried a few soups already and they were all delicious.
So great. Tried a few recipes already.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating i have it.
I picked this up because I was super curious about how much variety there is when it comes to slow-cooker and instant pot recipes. It was nice to see there were a lot of homey and comforting meals in abundance. I would have preferred it every recipe featured a picture because my eyes are the key to my stomach. Other than that, it was a great read.
'Fix-it and Forget-it Budget Meals: Quick, Easy & Inexpensive Slow Cooker & Instant Pot Recipes' is a book with loads of recipes about favorite meals cooked with a slow cooker or instant pot.
I loved that the author gave an in depth explanation of how instant pots and slow cookers at the start of the book and that they had added some notes for each recipe as to how to serve or what are the alternatives for cheaper options. However, I have to say that most of those notes were pretty much the same for most of the recipes. Also, it would have been nice if there were more pictures so we could see how the dish supposedly would look like.
But, it was a well-organized book and the recipes were simple.
*I received a free eArc copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
I love the concept of the book, and I was looking forward to it. However, I am a little bummed out that there aren't pictures with every recipe, only with like 25-30% of the recipes had pictures. I feel like if you're going to put down a good chunk of money for an actual book geared toward the average home family cook, a person would expect pictures as part of the recipe, to use as a guide. I have noted a few recipes I'd like to try, but I'm still a little bummed about so many recipes without pictures. However, I do enjoy that it's budget friendly, as the title suggests, and it's simple ingredients you could find in any grocery store. It really makes the difference when trying to stick to a budget every month.
A good family cookbook full of recipes you would actually make (not like most of today's cookery fancy food books) . They all sounded doable and we will be trying them out. Very good for busy folks with an eye on the budget.
What a great cookbook. So many cookbooks today are focusing on expensive, fancy meals. This is fine, but for a family on a day to day basis,, it's not practical for most. I've already made several of the meals, and I have more on my list. When this title comes out in a hard copy, I'll be ordering because it's one of the cookbooks I think I'll reach for time and time again.
Thank you to Skyhorse Publishing and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Interesting collection of recipes. Some of them seem delicious, others just regular. I would have preferred more pictures of the food. All in all, good book if you're on a budget.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc
If you have n instant pot or slow cooker then this is the book for you! We are all looking to save money and time in the kitchen and this book helps you do both. There is a great variety of recipes and even a few goodies for vegetarians. The recipes are simple and easy to follow. The layout reminded me of old school recipe books where the recipe stood out more than the pictures of the food. Overall I think this book would be a great addition to any kitchen.