My very own CROCK POT recipes

I love cooking this time of year. Who doesn't? Crock potting is my favorite form of cooking right now considering it's easy. Also, the result is usually "comfort food". Yes, fattening, steamy, feels-good-going-down food. Last week I bought prepackaged chicken thighs at Costco (the fridge to freezer packs). I had previously purchased chicken breast with the same packaging, but it's a little bit pricier than the thighs, so I decided to try the cheaper of the two. Yes, thighs have more fat, but isn't that what makes them tastier?! Anyway, this week I tested out slow-cooking them. Barbara had made the best roast a few weeks ago and I loved the way she cooked it, so I tried it out with the chicken. She had stuck the roast in (frozen) and put cream of mushroom soup all over (somewhat as a protector from drying out) as well as a lipton onion soup mix. Anyway, she cooked it a whole 19 hours and it was SOOOOOOOO good. She had stuck it in on a Saturday night for Sunday dinner. I'm not kidding, that roast was the best roast I have ever eaten. At dinner, we were even debating on whether or not it was beef (maybe pork). Nope, it was beef. Anyway, back to the chicken...the inspiration was from Barbara, so THANK YOU! I'm so excited to cook these recipes and pass them down to my daughters!

Creamy Mushroom Chicken (by me, yes I'm a genius)

4 frozen chicken thighs
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1-2 tsp. crushed rosemary
1 bay leaf (my favorite for ALL chicken recipes)
Fresh ground pepper
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Put olive oil on bottom of pot. Set chicken inside. Douse the chicken in the cream of mushroom soup so that it is completely covered. Sprinkle the rosemary on top. Set the bay leaf on top of chicken(slightly push is down into the soup). Sprinkle some pepper over the top (to your liking).

Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours.
Trim fat (if you can find it, haha), remove bones, and cut into bite-sized pieces before serving.

This was yummy over "Near East" wild mushroom and herb couscous. (I wish we had some mushrooms and I would have sauteed them with onions to add to the flavor of the chicken.) I also made an apple-walnut spinach salad with "Girad's" white balsamic dressing and feta cheese. That's my favorite dressing for the season and almost all the time. Maybe some roasted butternut squash would be yummy with this. Hmmm, maybe next time. http://http//www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-butternut-squash-recipe/index.html


Creamy Rosemary Chicken Stew (By Me)

4 chicken thighs
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 md-lg carrots peeled and sliced into 1 inch pieces
1/2 white onion chopped
4 red potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces peeled or with skin (both are yummy)
3 ribs of celery chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2-3 Tbsp. crushed rosemary
fresh/dried Italian parsley
2 tsp. poultry seasoning
8x8 square baking dish

Add olive oil to the crock pot on bottom. Set chicken inside. Sprinkle poultry seasoning directly on chicken, then cover with cream of chicken soup. Sprinkle Rosemary on top and set bay leaf on top pushing it slightly down in the soup layer.

Cook on LOW 7-8 hours. (On HIGH 4 hours if you need to shorten the cook time)

At the 2 hour mark on the crock pot, meaning two hours left, put onions, celery, potatoes, and carrots in a large pot with water covering all the ingredients. Cook on med-low heat for the remaining two hours. Once the chicken is yummy and tender, remove the bones and skin/fat. Cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside (not back in crock pot). Check veggies. If they are all slightly tender, you did good. I personally don't like overcooked vegetables, but not crunchy ones either.

Put both cut-up chicken pieces and cooked vegetables in serving dish. Spoon the creamy mixture that was left in the crock pot over the chicken and veggies. Sprinkle top with dried/fresh parsley. Enjoy!

This is so delicious. It is unlike any other chicken stew I have made. The secret ingredient is the cream of chicken soup and always using a bay leaf.

Tastes great served with some cooked Rhodes rolls and a mixed salad.

*For both recipes, they serve 3-4 people. You can serve more people by doubling all the ingredients and using a family-sized can of soup.

Try out my recipes and let me know how they were. Let me know, too, if you have any suggestions or improvements. Good luck!