A friend of mine had to rush home from work the other day, in order to pick up her kids, get the chicken in the oven and the vegetables on the stove. She was so exhausted by the time they had dinner, though it did turn out delicious.

I knew that the oven roasted chicken and veggies recipe was a family favorite. I wanted to come up with a different plan for the same recipe that would take the stress out of preparing dinner. The crock pot was the perfect solution for this busy family.

In addition to being easy, this recipe just might temp your kids into (gasp!) eating their veggies. The aroma from the chicken slow cooking in celery, onions, carrots and fresh rosemary sprigs is simply mouthwatering.

Ingredients:

1 3 ½ to 4 pound chicken

1 16 ounce bag of carrots

5 Stalks of Celery

1 Yellow Onion

5 Fresh rosemary sprigs, or 2 teaspoons of dried

¾ cup low sodium chicken broth

Steps:

1. Spray slow cooker with a non stick cooking spray.

2. Chop up celery, onions, and carrots and place in slow cooker. If you
purchase the swashed and ready to eat carrots,

3. Wash and rinse chicken thoroughly in cold water.

4. Season chicken with salt, pepper

5. Place chicken on top of veggies

6. Coarsely chop rosemary sprigs, and sprinkle over entire chicken

7. Add chicken broth around the chicken

8. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Tips:

1. You can use ANY combination of veggies. Prepare as directed, simple substitute the following vegetables:

a. Red Skinned Potatoes (washed and quartered) and carrots
b. Squash, Zucchini, Onion, and Celery

2. To add some extra veggies to this meal, marinate some cherry tomatoes and cucumbers in Italian dressing in the fridge. Let your kids help by “shaking” the container or plastic bag.

3. An even quicker tip—if you don’t have time to wash and chop the veggies, try the new microwave steam packs of veggies. All you do is pop it in the microwave and in five to ten minutes, you have fresh, steamed veggies. Throw the chicken in the crock pot in the morning; season it with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Add the chicken broth, and when you return home, simple pop a steamer bag of veggies in the microwave.

4. I usually use boneless, skinless chicken breasts for recipes. However, the whole chicken turns out much more tender in the slow cooker.