From Freezer to Cooker: Delicious Whole Foods Meals for the Slow Cooker, Pressure Cooker, and Instant Pot

Thriving Home bloggers Conner and Tiemeyer follow up From Freezer to Table with another family-friendly collection of hearty fare that can be prepped ahead of time, frozen, and reheated for mealtimes. The recipes include preparation instructions for both slow cookers and the Instant Pot, allowing readers to make informed choices regarding how and when they’ll prepare dishes, such as cheesy chicken taquitos, Asian turkey meatballs, and a weeknight marinara sauce made with ground sausage and beef. Ease doesn’t mean light on flavor, as evidenced by honey bourbon chicken breasts and Asian-style beef short ribs, which can prepped in minutes in the Instant Pot before dinner or cooked in the slow cooker while gone for the day. Though it may be tempting to race right to the recipes, readers would do well to read the authors’ tips on the various appliances, noting, for example, that while the Instant Pot can handle frozen food, slow cookers cannot. The authors give solid advice on proper freezing (place food in a freezer bag in a circular shape) and thawing techniques, and label each recipe with icons indicating whether they are dairy-free, kid-friendly, or vegetarian. All of this adds up to a useful collection for home cooks pressed for time. (Jan.)