Simple Crockpot Chicken Stew

First some business matters. I'm going to be changing the look of things shortly, so keep an eye out. Also, I'm starting to label dishes with key words. Eventually the goal is to add some videos.

Sorry about not posting this last week, things got a bit crazy and the thought of actually sitting down to plug in the camera, etc. was one too many things to do. It happens, life happens. So it goes. I did remember to document one of my standard crockpot chicken recipes.

Start with:

Chicken (I used 5 chicken thighs)

Diced tomatoes

Onion

Green and Red Bell Peppers

Frozen Green Beans

Italian Seasoning and

Chicken Stock

/begin rant/

Now here's the thing about stock and broth, I don't make my own. Yeah, it's probably easy and there are times when I have, but why make extra work for yourself when you don't have to? I'm also one of those annoying people with a calculator in the supermarket comparing labels by like measurements. Seriously, who calculates liquids by the pound? Pound is a dry measurement so you compare quarts to quarts, not pounds to quarts. Yes I do the math and it's amazing how many of your pennies go into the market's pocket instead of yours.

Why should you care? If you are losing, on average, a buck a trip to the market then that's $50 a year. That's a nice dinner out, a bleacher seat and a dog at Fenway or a whole host of other things. Here's the thing, if 1,000 people a day lose a buck a trip to the market, that's 7k a week for the market. Since they aren't passing the savings onto you, you're helping to pay someone's bonus. Seriously people, you need to care.

/end rant/

This is pretty basic, you chop up your peppers and onions. I usually cut them into slices rather than dice them up when I use green beans because I like how the pieces all feel uniform to me. In the crockpot, layer the beans on the bottom with your veggies. Sprinkle a palm full of Italian seasoning, salt and pepper over them and lay your chicken thighs on top. Then pour your diced tomatoes over the top and then pour in a couple of cups of chicken stock.

It looks pretty in the pot:

I like low and slow for 10-12 hours, stirring it about halfway through to make sure everything mixes well. The chicken will break up nicely when you go to serve it and it works nicely over brown rice or with potatoes.

This ends up being 3 points plus per serving plus your sides, not bad for a filling dinner that gives you some good veggies and protein for the day. Plus it reheats well the next day for lunch.