crockpot chronicles: day 3

hello! i hope y'all have had a great weekend - i sure did! i'm sorry i'm late in getting this third review up; there's been quite a lot going on in my little corner of the world. so! here's the chicken and vegetable bake my mom and i had on thursday night. for a lady who is such a picky eater and generally doesn't like vegetables, she was quite fond of this chicken dish, so i'll step a little out on a limb and say it may be safe for picky eaters!

Chicken and Vegetable Bake – from slowandsimple.com

INGREDIENTS

8 chicken thighs

1 pkg. frozen vegetables

2 cans whole potatoes, drained

1 can water chestnuts

1 tsp. garlic powder

Salt & pepper

1 bottle Italian salad dressing

DIRECTIONS

Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, & garlic powder. Place chicken in bottom of crock pot. Add remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or high for 4 to 6 hours.

i made a couple changes to this one. instead of chicken thighs (because my favorite picky eater doesn't like dark meat), i used chicken breasts. i had a 5 lb bag of frozen boneless, skinless breasts, and i used about half of them. dumped them in the crockpot frozen and seasoned them there. this may not have been the best idea, it may have been better if they had at least been thawed, but i don't imagine it had too much of an adverse effect. since the recipe wasn't specific, i just picked the frozen veggies that appealed the most to me - my bag happened to have squash, zucchini, carrots, and asparagus, but get whatever looks yummy to you! the recipe didn't say to, but i drained the water chestnuts, and i'm happy with that decision. also, i didn't shred the chicken in the crockpot when it was done cooking, but i think the next time i make this recipe i will, and the reasons for that are twofold. one, it would be easier to evenly portion out servings. two, i think shredded chicken would have better absorbed some of the juices/sauce so it wouldn't have been quite as runny. since it was a bit rich in liquid, i'd recommend serving it over some rice. i didn't do that this time, and like i said, we loved it, but i think it would have been a nice addition. maybe some wild rice? also. it would be a great idea to cut up the potatoes before you try to serve. i didn't pay much attention when i was putting it together, but i imagine they're about as easy to cut straight out of the can as fresh potatoes, and since i like to cut things with a fork, probably waiting till it's done is best. as you can see in the picture, i had a whole potato on my plate, which is fine for me, but not too little-kid-friendly. i'm guessing. 

here we go:

• ease of prep - 5 - another dump and go - love, love, love that!
• multiple parts/same pot - 4
  almost totally complete! only lacking some rice/pasta, but now that i think about it, that's probably not totally necessary. maybe cut down on the dressing a little? or not. your call. but the more i think about it, the more i think i would add a second bag of veggies. maybe the same, maybe some variety...but they would stretch the chicken out even further.
• cooks for 6-8 hours - 5
  in the crockpot at 9, on the table at 7. perfect after 10 hours. (okay, it wasn't really on the table, it was on a plate in my lap watching the big bang theory. i feel that honesty is important here)
• crockpot to table ease - 5
  i'd actually give it a 5+, but i hate when people say "on a scale of 1 to 10, she's an 11." well, no, she's not, the scale only goes to ten. and this scale only goes to five, so i'm not going to go against my better judgement and add a +. but it was really, really easy.
• freezer leftovers - 5
  it's in the freezer. and it was easy. and i see it being quite easy on the way back out, too.

this one is definitely a front-runner with a final score of 24/25!

i know i got behind by one recipe this week - so sorry! i will get in four this coming week, and i'll try to push it and get that fifth one in, too, so we can see all ten before we're done. i hope y'all all have a fantastic week, and a happy leap day!

♥ whit