A Review of Paleo Slow Cooking: Gluten Free Recipes Made Simple
6 Dec
Pre-Paleo, meal planning revolved around the slow cooker. Once our family made the Paleo transition, our Crock Pot became obsolete. However, as the demands on our family’s time continues to grow, the need for fast and easy Real Food also grows.
Enter Paleo Slow Cooking: Gluten Free Recipes Made Simple
Why I Love This Cookbook
Most cookbooks are filled with time-consuming and ingredient-heavy recipes—two things that make it more of a special occasion than an everyday experience. Paleo Slow Cooking has the everyday chef in mind in the following ways:
- The purpose of this book is to get dinner on the table. It’s no-nonsense, non-frilly, and uncomplicated. The ingredients are readily available, healthy, and tasty.
- The recipes are quick and easy to prepare. During our most recent family vacation, we spent hours at theme parks and had little time for meal prep. I used this book several times so we didn’t eat churros for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- The ease of the recipes frees up time and stove space. I struggle making a main dish and side dishes because I don’t have enough time or space on the stove to make everything all at once, particularly with a 2yo pulling on my leg. Having the main dish finished in the morning makes the afternoon much smoother.
Additional Features That Tickle My Fancy
Leftovers from Paleo Slow Cooking (Mild Shredded Chicken)
There are also a handful of features that were created with a busy person in mind. My faves include:
- Recipe card for modifications. There’s a space dedicated at the bottom of each recipe for modifications and ideas. Mild Shredded Chicken leftovers turn into a fiesta chicken salad and I can easily access my notes to see that I need to add lime/orange juice, apples, grapes, celery, pecans, eggs, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
- List of necessary tools. In the left-hand corner, you’ll find everything you need for the recipe–peeler, cutting board, spatula, etc. A nifty time-saver that is also helpful for little hands in the kitchen.
- Thumbnail pictures of recipes. I eat with my eyes and the indexed pictures make it easy for me to make a decision or offer choices to my 4yo and 2yo children.
- Breakfast and dessert recipes included. I expected soup and main dishes, but frittatas, oatmeal, and brownies? Yes, please.
Who Should Buy This Book?
The folks who would benefit the most from Paleo Slow Cooking: Gluten Free Recipes Made Simple
- Need easy (non-gourmet) Paleo meals to prepare ahead of time
- Are overwhelmed by Paleo or gluten-free meal preparation
- Don’t have a lot of time to cook, but still need healthy nourishment throughout the day
- Have small children and only two (or fewer) hands
I love this cookbook. We prepare three meals every single day in our home and it gets exhausting. Having dinner done by 9 am (or even the night before) is a major relief that keeps the family happy and the bellies full.
* I received a promotional copy of Paleo Slow Cooking: Gluten Free Recipes Made Simple
* Disclosure: Affiliate links included. You can read my full disclosure statement here.
Just had to chime in here because I’m such a big fan of this book–for both its ease of use and the yum factor common to so many recipes. I received it for a birthday present about a month ago and I use it at least a couple of times a week. My efforts at transitioning the rest of my clan to Paleo (3 kids, 1 hubs) are being made easier too. Big hits were the Classic Chicken Soup, Banana Bread and the Old Fashioned Beef Stew. I agree-the thumbnails were handy to browse and fired me up to try new things. Slow cookers are near and dear to my heart now more than ever.
Thanks for your thoughts Kim! I agree wholeheartedly – this book really makes it so much easier. I didn’t really care for cooking much in the slow cooker since the food always seemed to come out more like boiled meat than anything else, but this is such a great resource. I’m a slow cooker fan now.
You are incredible. I am a 23 year old who has a history of rollercoaster weight gain/loss… I suffer from embarassing hair growth, patches of rougher, darker skin between my breasts and on the back of my neck, and have barely any energy to get me through the days. I’m an emotional yo-yo too, and I obsess over what I put in my mouth, and I’ve tried every diet/pill/hype out there. I literally have starved myself to lose weight (eating once a day for months in order to drop pounds, only to gain them back plus some upon giving in to my bodies needs). I know every reason why this was wrong, but it was in acts of desperation to lose weight. Finally, after the past holidays, I decided ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I’m 23 and I feel 73… no energy, weight yo-yoing and continuing to rise again, poor health/diet, and in every shape and form stressed and damaged! I know exactly why all of my habits are WRONG, I’ve actually known all along but said to myself “hey you know what? It works for me, and I’d rather be able to drop weight and fit in size 6 jeans than fail at another diet and continue to gain and hate myself into an obsessed depression”… now, I’m about to embark on a new journey in life joining a police department in Maryland, and I realized how dire it is that I fix my eating habits and lifestyle before I realize that I can’t even go through the academy or keep up with daily life due to poor nutrition, unhealthy mental states, and yo-yoing weight…. oh and NO energy! I am moving from New York and I want to not only move into a new chapter of my life, but move into a new way of life. Your journey is very much life mine and I am so inspired to the point I cried with happiness for you and hope for myself. Please keep writing and know that you are making such a difference in peoples lives… I can’t wait for the day where I am on the path that you’ve courageously and inspiringly followed and succeeded on. THANK YOU!!
Shana, thank you so much for sharing such a deep part of you. I feel your story to my very core and I’m excited for your new life. You are a strong, strong woman. You can do it. Much love to you!
- Bought this book for my wife
- We read through it together
- Ended up cooking from it myself
This is a magic cookbook, isn’t it? Or maybe I’m just a good cook. Or maybe the opposite.
Either way – loving the book
Ha! Lorne, this is a fantastic review! Bring your wife and those great cooking skills to our house. We will provide the cookbook