I am not a gourmet cook. I don’t even try new recipes all that often. I experiment a little but tend to stick with recipes that my family likes and I can make quickly while I am working. This Chicken and Noodles recipe is one that I have been experimenting with for about a year and always get rave reviews over. I think it is finally ready to pass along!

Slow Cooker Chicken and Noodles

Family Favorite Slow Cooker Chicken and Noodles

3 skinless chicken breast halves
4 cups chicken broth (2 cans)
2 cups water
16 oz. package Reamers frozen egg noodles (homestyle)
1 package frozen crinkle cut carrots
2 stalks of celery (optional)
onion
salt
pepper
poulty seasoning
2 T cornstarch

Directions:

1) Place the chicken, water, broth, salt (to taste), pepper (to taste), and celery (optional) in the crockpot on low for 4-6 hours until chicken is cooked the whole way through but not falling apart.

2) Remove the chicken and set aside. Put the noodles and carrots into the crockpot for 30-45 minutes depending on how soft you like your carrots.

3) Shred the chicken and sprinkle it with poultry seasoning to taste. Dissolve the cornstarch in a just enough water to liquify it.

4) When the noodles and carrots are done, return the chicken to the crockpot as well as the cornstarch mixture.

Cook for at least 30 minutes on high or leave it for up to a couple more hours on low, depending on how much you want the broth to turn to “gravy” as opposed to broth. You can even make it one day like this and refrigerate overnight and then return it to the crockpot to heat up briefly the next day if you like the gravy to be really thick or are making it ahead for company.

Chicken breasts are the easiest way to make it, but it will be more flavorful if you use other chicken parts. I always throw them in if I have them (like leftover rotisserie chicken). You just have to be very careful to strain your broth for bones before you put the noodles in. I also sometimes use frozen mirepoix (celery, onion, carrots) if I have it instead of the crinkle carrots. You can also cut everything up fresh, but the point of the recipe is to keep it as simple as possible!

My family isn’t really into pot roast, but we eat a lot of chicken. I love using my slow cooker (crockpot) to make meals in the morning and have them ready for dinner. This is a meal that I came up with combining a few different recipes. It literally takes me 5 minutes to make and my family thinks I cooked all day!

Crockpot Roasted Chicken

1-2 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 can of cream soup (potato, celery, mushroom–whatever you like)
1 envelope of dried onion soup mix
2 cans of whole potatoes
1 small bag of baby carrots
half a stalk of celery

Put the chicken on the bottom of the slow cooker and pour the soup and soup mix over it. Layer the carrots, then the potatoes, then the celery over that. Cover and turn on low for 6-8 hours. Stir toward the end.

It’s okay if your chicken breasts are still a little bit frozen. Just account for that in your cooking time. I keep the veggies on top so that they don’t get too mushy. You can put them under the soup and soup mix if you would like. This is a really healthy meal that you can then serve with a side of fruit and even biscuits or bread.

I love to cook in my crockpot (I think we’re supposed to call them “slow cookers” now). The hard part is that not a lot of crockpot meals fit my Weight Watchers points. One of my favorite cookbooks, however, is nothing but healthy and low fat recipes that you can make in your crockpot. It’s called Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly. They have a whole line of slow cooker cookbooks, but this is the one with the great low fat recipes.

What I do is go through and pick out a handful of recipes and run them through the Weight Watchers point counter. Then I write the point totals into the book so that the next time I cook, I don’t have to look them up again. I also write in any alterations that I have made.

Tonight we are having Taco Soup. It’s a lot like chili except a little more soup-like in consistency and includes a ranch dressing packet, which gives it an extra kick. It’s 5 points a serving and everyone in my family loves it. We also make the Chicken Soft Tacos regularly as well as the Chicken and Dumplings. The key is just testing things out and then leaving notes in your margins so you know what to go back to later. With hundreds of recipes, you will be cooking new healthy and light recipes in your crockpot for your family for months to come!

You can pick up Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly at Amazon or most book sellers.

As a Work at Home Mom, for some reason I always feel like a total failure when I can’t have dinner on the table for my family by 6pm. Never mind that I am working all day while balancing getting the kids off to school, running to the school for PTO meetings, and getting homework and snacks when the kids get home from school. Plus the normal phone ringing, door knocking, and errands that sometimes happen. Why do I beat myself up? Whatever the reason, my saving grace comes in the form of a cookbook.

Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly is a way for me to make sure that dinner is ready for my family AND healthy. In fact, I’ve even written Weight Watchers point values into the margins of many of the recipes. At the start of the week, I pick at least 2 crockpot recipes for the week and buy the ingredients. Then I throw everything into the crockpot in the morning after the kids leave for school. By 6pm, a healthy dinner is awaiting my family.

Some of our favorite recipes are Chicken and Dumplings, Taco Soup, and Chicken Fajitas. All of them are 6 Weight Watchers points or less per serving. This week I’m trying baked apples to pair with tuna noodle casserole one night.

Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly is available at Amazon for only about $10. With over 500 low fat crockpot recipes, you can try something new every day for a long time!