Semi-Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes 2

The seemingly unstoppable Lee returns with a second helping of slow cooker recipes that come together in minutes with just a handful of ingredients-in most cases, all the cook has to do is open a couple cans and pour the contents into a cooker with some meat. Like previous Semi-Homemade books (Semi-Homemade Cooking, Semi-Homemade Desserts, etc.), Lee's brand-name suggestions for virtually every ingredient-up to and including Christopher Ranch crushed garlic and ReaLemon lemon juice-border on the comedic and beg the question, who's writing her checks? As for the dishes themselves, most emphasize cuts of meat that benefit from low and slow cooking-pork shoulder for Asian Pulled Pork, brisket and lamb shanks among them-though some are head-scratchers, like a meatloaf and a brownie recipe that only gain hours of cooking time from these unconventional incarnations. Rounded out with recipes for soups, stews and chilis, this is a colorful, serviceable guide for slow cooker owners bereft of ideas, though there's little in the way of accompaniments or serving suggestions, and no explanation of unusual choices like the chocolate in her beef stew. Fans of Lee's semi-homemade approach will undoubtedly snap this up, but novices would better be served by whatever complimentary recipe book came with their cooker.