Monday Meals: A Whole Chicken in a Crockpot; Oh My!

If you haven't figured it out yet, I love my crockpot.  Seriously, I have no idea what I ever did without it.  Now, with a four month old it is a saving grace for actually having a home cooked meal.  This past week, I decided to get the biggest bang for my buck.  I cooked a whole chicken and then turned around and made bone broth/chicken stock.  My crockpot ran for a day and a half, but it was so worth it.

1 medium to large onion

4-5 pound hen; rinsed and giblets removed

salt

pepper

smoked or sweet paprika

Roughly slice the onion and place it in the bottom of the crockpot.  Place the chicken on top of the onion.   Make sure you have removed the "stuff" from the inside and rinsed the entire bird.  Generously coat with salt, pepper, and paprika.  Cook on LOW for 5 hours.  Be sure to use a meat thermometer to determine if the bird it cooked since different sizes could require another half hour to hour.

There is no liquid necessary because plenty will be produced while the chicken is cooking.

What are you making this week?

Let me know if you are interested in how to use the bones and juices to make bone broth.  Have a great week!

Monday Meals: The Easiest Beef Stew Around

As the weather starts to cool down and the trees change my Michigan Blues set in big time.  I was born and raised in The Mitten and still miss it all the time.  This time of year is the hardest!  One thing that seems to cheer me up is a yummy bowl of beef stew.  There is something about the hardy warmth that brings me to the kitchen table I ate at as a child.

Easy Beef Stew

1-2 lbs stew meat

5 carrots

4 rustic potatoes (about 2 lbs of your choice)

 1 carton of beef broth (about 4 cups)

1 bay leaf

3 stalks of celery (optional)

Add stew meat to the crockpot and season with salt and pepper.  Chop veggies and add them on top of the meat.  Pour in the beef broth.  Give everything a quick stir and add the bay leaf.  Cook for 6 hours on low.  About 30 minutes before it is done cooking, remove 2 ladles of broth into a bowl.  Add  2-3 tablespoons of flour (I use Bob's RedMill GF 1-to-1) to the bowl and whisk to make a slurry.  Add this back to the crockpot and once again give everything a quick stir. You can garnish with parsley if you want.

Super simple and ridiculously yummy!

What is your favorite fall recipe?