Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

So, I am a Rachael Ray junkie. And this week she is doing an awesome thing...every day she is introducing a new slow-cooker recipe. I loooove slow cooker recipes. It is so satisfying to do the work in the morning and then have the aroma of home-cooked food drifting throughout the house all day. Well, old Rach gave a slow-cooker chicken and biscuits idea the other day that inspired me. I liked her idea, but I modified it and added dumplings instead of biscuits. Because everyone loves dumplings. Or at least they should. They should especially love this version, because it has relatively little fat, and is full of nutritious vegetables.

Start by chopping up...
5 carrots
2-3 ribs of celery
1 butternut squash

Put these vegetables in the crockpot, along with a bag of frozen peas.


Sprinkle about 1/4 cup flour over the veggies. Cover with chicken broth - about 3 to 4 cups. Add salt and pepper; turn it on low and forget about if for about 6 hours.

An hour before you are ready to eat, turn the temperature on high and add your cooked, shredded chicken to the pot. Then make the dumplings...

2 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Mix together and drop little pieces of it into the hot crock pot. Stir to incorporate and then pop the lid back on and let it cook for 45 minutes to an hour.

And then...


Thoroughly enjoy!