Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

Anyone else bored staying in all the time?  Of course you are.  I love to read and have probably read more books this first 6 months of my retirement, but after a while....ooof. So, I am baking a bit more and we are trying to get walks in down the driveway  We are fortunate our driveway is a tenth of a mile long so we never run into anyone. 

We called a couple of pool businesses with hopes of getting a quote on having a pool put in.  Only one company called us back. Those places are apparently booming with more folks staying home. A pool would cool us down and we'd get exercise.  It's expensive though so we aren't champing to move forward.

So, let's talk easy dinners.  Kitchen ramblings as it were.

Once again I turn to my slow cooker for an easy meal.  We keep our AC set at 74 F (23 C) during the daytime to keep the utility bill down.  So far that works well....until I bake a casserole or bread or crank up the oven.

Here is the beginnings of the chicken and dumplings meal.  The soup, chicken, veggies and seasonings are ready to mingle on high heat.

 

There are many who shun  convenience food items in the kitchen but these days I make use of them without shame.  I like using fresh and seasonal ingredients and would obviously prefer to do so all the time if it were possible.  People are no doubt tired of hearing about the isolation and how we are staying in....but it's true.  

So - the pantry will be stocked with a variety of items to make life easier when I need it to be so.

This preamble is to introduce you to canned biscuits and soup in the recipe.

I should have posted the first photo here. The biscuits portion comes about three hours after the chicken and veggies have gotten to know one another.

Anyway, here are the canned biscuits.  If you have fresh dough then that's all the better.  I did not.

After the veggies and chicken have cooked and the biscuits have been stirred in, here it is a mere 4 hours later. Ready to serve.  Recipe is below.  I did make my own substitutions and cut down on the cooking time a bit but it all turned out well.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumpling

{from Delish}

INGREDIENTS

1 

onion, chopped

1 1/4 lb. 

boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used boneless skinless thighs)

1 tsp. 

dried oregano

Salt and 

ground black pepper

2 

(10.5-oz.) cans cream of chicken soup

2 cups

 chicken broth

4 

sprigs fresh thyme (I used dried)

1 

bay leaf

2 

stalks celery, chopped

2 

large carrots, peeled and chopped 

1 c. 

frozen peas, thawed

3 

cloves garlic, minced

1 

(16.3-oz.) can refrigerated biscuits (I used a smaller can, about 10 oz)

DIRECTIONS

1. Scatter onion in the bottom of a large slow cooker then top with chicken. Season with oregano, salt and pepper.
2. Pour over soup and broth, add thyme and bay leaf. Cover and cook on high until the chicken is cooked through, about 3 hours. 
3. Discard thyme and bay leaf, then shred chicken with two forks. Stir in celery, carrots, peas, and garlic. Cut biscuits into quarters or smaller, but large enough to be bite sized. Stir them into chicken mixture. Spoon liquid over any biscuits at the top. 
4. Cook on high until vegetables are tender and biscuits are cooked through, stirring every 30 minutes, about 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes more. 
5. (Note:  I found the biscuits cooked well in 45 minutes but that may be due to using a smaller amount.  Or it could be my old slow cooker.)

Sharing with Marg at The Intrepid Reader for Weekend Cooking.