Crockpot Help

I received a Crockpot a while ago from my roommate as a gift, and have barely made use of it.

I'd like to make something simple, like chicken with a multitude of veggies, but I realize that I need some kind of liquid in there. Would chicken broth work? How much broth would I need, etc?

I posted this question on a bunch of recipe forums, but they kept giving me creamy soups to add, and I realized I needed to consult with my calorie-counting friends. :-)

Help very much appreciated!

Chicken in the Pot

season a 3 pound chicken (or any size that will fit into your pot.  Put it into the bottom of the pot.  On top of that, place one whole medium potato for each person to be served.  Add chunks of carrot and any other vegetable you'd like.  Add a bay leaf and a quarter tsp of poultry seasoning, or some fresh sage and thyme.  Pour in canned chicken broth to cover the chicken but leave the vegetables exposed.  Put on the lid and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Or you could make the famous Sticky Chicken

Season a chicken generously, inside and out, with a seasoning mixture such as Emeril's Essence.  Place a sliced lemon, a few cloves of garlic, a quartered onion and some fresh parsley inside the chicken.  Put the seasoned chicken into a plastic bag and refrigerate overnight (at least)  In the morning, take it out of the bag and put it into the crockpot just as it is.  DO NOT ADD LIQUID!  Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.  It will be falling off the bone tender and the pot will be half filled with natural juices. 

To reduce the fat conted of both of these, take the skin off first.

Typically, crockpot recipes don't require extra liquid, unless you're making a soup.  Most ingredients that go into the crockpot (i.e., meats and vegetables) are full of moisture that boils out of the food but stays in the pot.

A recipe I really like is I put a can of canellini beans, rinsed and drained, on the bottom. I then layer my skinless chicken and then my chunks of vegetables, carrots, celery, potatoes.  I then mix 1/4 cup of FF italian dressing and 1/4 of a cup of chicken broth and cook covered on low for 6-8 hours.  Yum.

I've got a couple of low-calorie, low-sodium, but absolutely delicious BBQ sauces right now.  I put the chicken in the crockpot and pour about a 1/4 cup of the sauce over it.  I cook it on low for 6-8 hours, shred it in the crockpot about an hour before dinner and let it sit in the sauce.  Makes great shredded chicken sandwiches or wraps!  Or, let it cool and toss it with your salad.

Otherwise, I just throw whatever meat and vegetables I have in there, sometimes add uncooked brown rice and chicken broth or water and whatever seasoning strikes my fancy, and let it go on low from morning time until dinner time.  Give it a good stir and you've got a great casserole type dinner.  The thing I love about crockpots is you don't really need a recipe.  Just throw some food in and walk away!

Good luck!

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

I love this site! She has TONS of amazing crockpot recipes. I love the Taco Soup. It makes a TON, and is so healthy and delicious :]

Sometimes we'll cook 5 or 6 chicken breasts (just throw the breasts in with some low sodium chicken or veggie broth, or probably water would work too) and cook on low for like 6 hours, then we shred it and stick it in the fridge. Then we have pre-cooked chicken we can weigh out and add to meals throughout the week! It's great for us since we go to the gym 4 nights a week and don't have a lot of time for cooking.

Oooh, thanks for that link!  I have a couple crockpot cookbooks, but I'm too lazy to go search them out sometimes.  I've subscribed to a bunch of other recipe-a-day type blogs, and they've really helped to inspire me!

This Lemon Chicken, a recipe I modified to make less calorific, is to die for:

Dust 4-6 skinless chicken peices in flour, salt and pepper them, and brown both sides in a pan coated with cooking spray. Toss into crock pot. Mix together 1/4C lemonade concentrate, juice of one lemon, 2T honey, 2T ketchup, 2T soy sauce, 2T vinegar, 1T minced garlic and pour over the chicken peices. Cook on low all day, or on high for 1 hour and then low for 3 or 4 hours, distributing the sauce once in a while. Then turn it up to high, add a table spoon or two of cornstarch (depending on how much liquid there is in there, just use your judgement) made into a slurry with a bit of water. Cook for an 1/2 hour on high and it's done! Serve over brown basmati rice.

It's a little sweet-and-sour-ish, but with a strong lemon taste and a hint of honey-garlic. Drool.

that looks like a GREAT recipe. Now I just HAVE to get a crock pot!!!

thanks!

I make a killer pot roast, if I do say so myself.

The 'secret' is to cut a roast into medium sized cubes, 1.5 inches on a side or so, and sear the snot of them, in batches.  Remove all of the pieces of meat and pour a beer in the bottom, whisk or scrape all the brown bits up with a plastic utensil, add meat back in.  Cook in the oven for an hour at 300 degrees, dump in any chopped veg you like (onion, carrot, garlic, celery, potatoes, lentils), then put bacck in the oven for another 2-3 hours.

Delicious.

I also have a recipe for vegetarian butternut squash chili, made in a crock pot

EASIEST RECIPIE on EARTH! im not kidding.

chicken adobo

can of diced tomatoes (mexican style if you like) chicken breasts (usally 3) and about 3 chipotle chili's (found in mexican isle they are chilies that are roasted and in chipotle sause *it looks red). cook it untill chicken is tender (it looks soupy but i drain out the liquid) and seson with pepper or cumin if you like.

Great with any veggies ( i like black beans whith brown rice)

i would love to have that chili recipie if you are willing to share.

here ya go! that chicken sounds divine, btw

http://caloriecount.about.com/spicy-vegetaria n-chili-recipe-r162998

I got this one from a crock pot forum a while back.

I have no idea what I'd do without my crockpot.

Chicken breasts (however many you need)

1 jar of salsa (your choice, but use an entire jar)

Turn crock pot on LOW- go to work. Come home from work- add 1/4 cup light sour cream, 1 can of black beans, corn too if you'd like. Stir, cook one more hour.

Eat! I like rice with mine. I call it Mexican Chicken.