Healing Slow Cooker – Review

The Healing Slow Cooker by Jennifer Iserloh was created to help Lower Stress, Improve Gut Health, and Decrease Inflammation. Each recipe focuses on improving your health. Using optimal combinations of foods and spices increases their effectiveness without having to sacrifice flavor.

In his introduction to the book, Nutritional Psychiatrist, Drew Ramsey, MD, describes how he often prescribes specific foods to help improve the Brain Health of the patients in his New York practice. He has worked in the past with author and knows the benefit of the healthy recipes she creates.

In her own Introduction, “Healing Foods Can Change Your Life”, the author describes how she turned her own life around. After kicking a “rampant sugar addiction” and modifying her diet, she lost weight and no longer suffers from IBS. The Introduction continues with explanations of Superfoods, Antigens, and how certain ingredient pairings can increase their effectiveness. The Introduction then describes how various ingredients work in a slow cooker, and ends with more about specific food pairings.

Recipe chapters include:

• Detox And Calm
• Rebuild And Strengthen
• Circulate And Stabilize
• Sharpening And Rewired
• Sustain And Protect
• All Systems Go And Glow

Each recipe chapter focuses on a different outcome for your Brain Health. The chapters begin with a description of how these recipes can affect your body, which ingredients will help, and why.

The recipes themselves begin with a brief introduction, how the pairings within the recipe work, and about the recipe itself. Nutritional Statistics are included for each recipe including Calories, Protein, Carbohydrates, Fat, Cholesterol, Sugar, Fiber, and Sodium. The directions, as with most slow cooker recipes, are very short, easy to read and follow.

Few of the recipes have pictures but those that do are full-page and beautifully photographed. While it is a little overwhelming to completely overhaul your diet, the information provided is approachable. The explanations about the various ingredients, food pairings, and effects are very user-friendly and easy to understand.

If you thought that just because you are improving your diet then the food would have to turn boring, I’m happy to say you would be wrong. The recipes included in this book are unusual certainly, with interesting food combinations that I haven’t seen in other cookbooks but seem to really work.

At the end of the book, a brief resource section lists reference books and websites where you may get more information on healthy eating.

A Must-Read

This cookbook is a must-read for anyone who wants to improve their Brain Health or combat specific symptoms without drugs. For everyone else, you will love the unusual flavor pairings so who cares if you are eating healthy.

For the included recipe I’ve chosen “Spiced Chocolate Nuts” because at this time of year it’s always nice to have a decadent snack available for visitors. In a decorative jar, it would even make an awesome hostess gift.

Spiced Chocolate Nuts

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Nuts are well-known for their benefits to heart health, but did you know that they are also a boon for your brain? Brain-boosting nuts include plenty of non-inflammatory fats and vitamin E for better cognitive and memory performance, as well as manganese and Omega-3s. Chocolate is a brain-beneficial food for many reasons. For one, dark chocolate can calm high blood pressure, which can impair cognitive ability and be very dangerous for your brain.

Makes16 1/4 Cup Servings

Ingredients

• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or agave syrup 60 ml
• 2 tbsp butter grass-fed, at room temperature, or coconut oil
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder 100% unsweetened, 25 g
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves ground
• 1/8 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 cups almonds whole or walnut halves 280 g
• 2 cups cashews whole, or macadamia nuts, 280 g

Instructions

• Line a slow cooker with aluminum foil and coated with cooking spray.
• Stir together the maple syrup, butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, clothes, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl. Add the almonds and cashews and toss until evenly coated. Transfer the nuts to the slow cooker, cover, and cook on high setting for one hour. Turn the setting to low and cook, stirring once or twice during cooking, for 2 to 2 and half hours more, until the cocoa powder coating becomes dry in the nuts start to brown.
• Cool completely in store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. Or transfer to a large zip-lock bag and freeze for up to six months.
  

Nutrition

Calories: 227kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 5g | Total Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 7mg | Sodium: 74mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g

Nutrition Facts

Spiced Chocolate Nuts

Amount per Serving

Calories

227

% Daily Value*

Total Fat

 

19

g

29

%

Saturated Fat

 

3

g

19

%

Cholesterol

 

7

mg

2

%

Sodium

 

74

mg

3

%

Carbohydrates

 

9

g

3

%

Fiber

 

3

g

13

%

Sugar

 

4

g

4

%

Protein

 

5

g

10

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.