Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month was Making Memories with your kids.  If that sounds familiar, it's because I had Erin's blog for last week's themed reveal, too.  What a bonus - I got to make two different recipes from her blog and share them with you!  Since last week's post was about sweets and Holiday Treats, I wanted something completely different this week, though I'm definitely going to make this Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake soon.

Erin is a big fan of comfort food, and that sounded like just the thing - something easy after all the prep and cooking for Thanksgiving.  Erin is a single mom of two kids, and she also works as a middle school counselor. It should come as no surprise that her blog is full of easy and kid-friendly recipes.  I am going to have to try her Crock Pot Corn Chowder, Taco Soup, and Meatloaf and Mashed Potato Cupcakes very soon, but for this week I chose this yummy Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings.  I'm especially going to try the meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  It's definitely a kid-friendly meal, and even if I don't make the cupcakes, I am seriously going to try Erin's trick for mashed potatoes - use ranch dressing instead of milk!  Sounds good, huh?

Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings
adapted from Making Memories with your kids

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 a medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 1 to 2 carrots, diced
• 1/2 a green pepper, diced
• 4 T butter
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• 1-1/2 cups peas
• 1 (8-10.5 ounce) tube biscuit dough
• Cornmeal

Directions:

1. Mix salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder together and use it to season chicken breasts. Place chicken in crock pot. Top with chopped onions, garlic, peppers, celery, and carrots.
2. In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, chicken broth, milk, and salt & pepper. Pour into crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours.
3. 1-2 hours prior to serving, shred chicken and return to pot. Add peas (run them under water to thaw first)
4. Cut biscuits into 4 to 6 pieces. Roll in cornmeal and then add to crock pot. Continue cooking until biscuits are firm.

Erin's recipe calls for a bag of mixed vegetables which you add at the end, where I added the peas.  it wasn't until after I'd decided on this recipe and gotten the chicken and broth out of the freezer that I realized I didn't have a bag of mixed vegetables.  So I had to improvise by adding celery and carrots, and the green pepper.  Since they were fresh and needed cooked longer than the frozen vegetables needed, I added them at the beginning with the chicken.  They turned out great.
 

I had never thought of using canned biscuits for dumplings.  Luckily I had a can in my fridge.  It was a 5 biscuit can of Grands! (10.5 oz.) so I cut them into 6 pieces because they are a bit bigger than the regular biscuits.  I also think this recipe would work great with any dumpling recipe, if you have a favorite one.  The biscuits (and the frozen vegetables) just make this recipe really simple and perfect for busy moms and anyone who wants a warm and comforting meal without too much trouble.  For best results I would suggest adding the biscuits 2 hours before you want to serve, so they have plenty of time to cook.  If you can't, just stir in the frozen veggies (thawed), add the biscuits to the top, and turn your crock pot on high for the final hour of cooking.

If you're looking for comfort food, definitely give this recipe a try.  It smelled amazing from the moment I put everything into the crock pot, and it tasted just as good as it smelled.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

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