Slow Cooker Savory Chicken

Holy cow, it’s COLD!!!! Definitely crock pottin’ weather!  This week’s recipe is a simple, basic crock pot recipe, but I know that when I was first on my own and started cooking for myself, I needed basic recipes to start to learn how to cook, without my mom around to ask So here ya go. Plus a serving of this (1 breast with a good scoop or two of the veggies) Savory Chicken is this week’s Crock of the Week.

Slow Cooker Savory Chicken

• 1.5 – 2lbs boneless chicken breasts (I used 4 large)
• 2-15oz cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 large onion, chunked up
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon thyme (or herb blend of your choice)
• salt & pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup chicken broth (I use low sodium)
• 4 cups broccoli florets

Put chicken on the bottom of the crock (Fresh or frozen works fine). Put all the ingredients in the crock EXCEPT the broccoli, and cook on low for 6-7 hours. A half hour before it is done, add the broccoli. Remove the bay leaves before serving. Simple but delicious! And good for you, too.
I used more than 1 cup of chicken broth, so you won’t have quite so much liquid as is in this photo when you make it, unless you are like me and like extra broth!

Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

Well, now that we have officially gotten our first snow, it is REALLY soup and stew time! It is also cold & flu season, and nothing is better to fill your belly when it is cold or if you have a cold, than Chicken Noodle Soup. It is a pretty basic recipe which you can easily tweak yourself, but it really gets some good flavor made in the crock pot. Enjoy with some cornbread, my favorite! Yum!

 

 

Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

1 to 1-1/2lbs of chicken (I used frozen chicken breasts)

1 large box chicken broth, about 48oz (I used low sodium)

1 can Cream of Chicken soup (or 2 if you like)

1/2 cup onions finely chopped

1/2 cup celery chopped

1/2 cup carrots chopped

1/2 cup green onions chopped

one 15oz can corn drained (I didn't use because I didn't have any on hand, oops!)

salt & pepper to taste

any other seasonings you would like (I used garlic sea salt, thyme and parsley)

1-1/2 cups egg noodles (I used 2c because I love noodles)

Place the chicken on the bottom of the crock. Add all the ingredients EXCEPT THE NOODLES. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.

Chunk up the chicken. You can do thins right in the crock pot with a few forks if you would like, or you can carefully remove the breasts with tongs, chunk it up on a plate and then place back into the crock, which is how I do it. Then add the noodles and keep cooking on low for another hour.

With the extra noodles I put in it, it resembled more of a stew than a soup, but that's how I prefer it! Store any leftovers. Noodles soak up a lot of moisture, so to reheat, you will have to add a bit of water to thin it out again. I whipped up a box of Jiffy cornbread to go with the soup, delicious! Perfect for a cold winter day.

Despite the fact that we had some days last week with near record high temps in the 70's, I am passing along a true chill-in-the-air-yummy-in-your-tummy classic recipe today, Slow Cooker Beef Stew! This goes great with some fresh made baked bread. It is also one of those recipes that you can tweak to your liking, by adding or taking out some veggies and seasonings. I like to throw in some seasoning salt when I make it.

NOTE: I have a 6qt slow cooker, so if yours is smaller, you may want to cut the recipe.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

-2 lbs cubed stew beef

-1T olive oil

-1 large onion, chopped

-3 ribs celery, diced

-4 large carrots, sliced

-potatoes of your choice (I use about 6 yukon golds, unpeeled) diced into bite sized pieces

-one 28oz can crushed tomatoes

-1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning blend

-3 cups reduced sodium beef broth, divided

-3 bay leaves

-1 cup frozen peas

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/4 tsp black pepper

-1/2 cup all purpose flour

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and then lightly brown the meat in batches. Transfer browned beef to a plate and set aside.

Dump the tomatoes into the slow cooker, then add the onions, celery, carrots and potatoes. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning over the vegetables and then add the beef and any drippings. Pour 2 1/2 cups of the beef broth over the meat and veggies. Stir and then add the bay leaves.

Cover and cook on low for 8 – 10 hours.

About 20 minutes before serving, add the peas (no need to defrost first), salt and pepper. In a small bowl whisk together the flour and remaining 1/2 cup of beef broth, creating a smooth paste. Stir into the stew. Cover and cook until thickened (about 15-20 minutes). Remove the bay leaves before serving.

Double recipe fun this week! Chicken and Dumplings and more!

This week I am sharing another great comfort food...chicken and dumplings! This is an EASY recipe, which makes it even better! Not to mention how delicious it is. There is just something about tender chicken made in a crock pot, I love it. Feel free to make it your own by adding peas, carrots, mushrooms, whatever you would like!

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about a pound and a half)
2 Tbsp butter
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
1 onion, diced
1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
4 refrigerated biscuits (I used the flaky layer type)
Place chicken in crock pot, and add the butter. Pour in the chicken soup and broth. Dice up the onion, and add to the pot, along with the parsley.

Cook on high 4-6 hours. When chicken is tender, break it up into pieces (I removed each breast and shredded it on a plate, then put it back in the crock). Now it is dumpling time! Cut each biscuit up into 9 pieces, and stir them into the pot. Cook for another half hour on high. You can also add additional chicken broth at this point to get the thickness you desire with this dish. Enjoy!




This week, we have a bonus recipe!!! Congratulations to Kevin Honahan, winner of Rural Route 1 Popcorn's Wild Game Recipe Contest! Way to go!

THAT'S A CROCK OF BUCK!

2 pounds of venison steak or roast

1 Can Golden Mushroom Soup

1 Small can of mushrooms

3 Carrots Sliced

1 Large Onion Chopped

1 Cup water

4 Small Potatoes Skinned and Quartered

¼ Teaspoon of Pepper

Put all ingredients into a crock pot and cook on high 5 to 6 hours.