So, Thanksgiving is a week from today. DH’s work had their big associate meal today. I made crockpot chicken and dumplings for him to take (for those who don’t like turkey – they exist), and I bought an apple pie for him to take. Why didn’t I bake some wonderful casserole or dessert?  Because my oven heating element died… like a month ago? Or more! I have commented on this to Friend and he was like, “They only cost like $12 and you only have to remove two screws, you can do it if he won’t.”  Yes, I could, but dangit if I do all the house repairs, what is there left me to nag at DH to do??

Back to the chicken and dumplings, I found the recipe online a long time ago and have tweaked it to make it more my own.  I still have my mom’s original home made recipe, but it literally takes ALL day to make, and I just do not have the luxury of time and space and a clean kitchen like she did.  (When I was 7, my older siblings were all moved out, so I was the only kid and I was good at entertaining myself really – quite a bit different than having 4 bratty and needy kids underfoot all the time in a teeny tiny box of a house)

So, here is my recipe for anyone who would like the taste and comfort of the real thing without the work. Also, since DH has heart disease and high blood pressure (not to mention whatever’s slowly killing me) we keep it as low fat and low salt as possible… in fact, I hope it’s not too bland for the people at DH’s work. We’re used to no salt now, but here in the South, it’s a basic food group.  Meh they’ll have salt shakers.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings – Tastes Like Mom Made

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 tablespoons butter (I use lowfat omega 3 margarine)
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup (I use Healthy request Campbells)
• pinch of dried thyme, pepper
• 2 (7 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces
• water and sodium-free chicken bullion packets

1. Place the chicken, butter, and soup in a slow cooker.
2. Sprinkle the thyme over the chicken and soup, add pepper to taste (some people like it peppery) (**I do not add salt, but if you prefer it, you can add a couple shakes at this step)
3. Depending on how large your chicken breasts are and how large the slow cooker is – Mix very warm water with bullion packets (1 packet per cup of water) and add to slow cooker to cover the other ingredients. Add 1cup of just water after that.
4. Cover, and cook for 4-5 hours on High.
5. Remove the chicken breasts to a plate one at a time and shred the meat with forks and add back to slow cooker.
6. Place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker (not big pieces, the smaller the better). Stir everything well. Cook on high for another 90 minutes. Make sure the dough is no longer raw in the center before serving.

Some people add veggies to their chicken and dumplings, but I never have and neither did Mom. Seems unnatural to me heh. This one also only has white meat chicken since dark meat is higher in fat. If you prefer dark meat in yours, you can add other pieces, but be sure to debone it well when you shred the meat and make sure everything is skinless. You do not want chicken skin in this.

So, if we don’t get the oven fixed soon, we may be having chicken and dumplings for Turkey Day…

DH has to go feed his mother’s animals again tonight. He’d better go get the oven element first.  I wonder if there will be any leftovers in the crockpot when DH gets home from work…

UPDATE!!! Well, DH came home from work and said my chicken and dumplings were wildly successful. Apparently everyone loved them. His boss, the store manager said his fav food is chicken and dumplings and he loved mine and if he’d known I made some, he’d have taken the whole thing to his office. Another lady loved them so much she went back for seconds and even finished off what was in the pot when DH went to get it to take home. She begged for the recipe. (I don’t think I’ve going to give it though since it was so easy LOL.  Make them think I did a lot of work at it!)  He did say two people were not happy with it. The HR manager actually said loud enough for him to hear (on purpose)  that next year they’ll need a menu so people don’t bring foods that compete with each other.  WTF? She’s pissed the ham didn’t get eaten…  that’s right, they had ham and it wasn’t touched – people ate my chicken and dumplings instead. LMAO!  Oh well, the night crew will eat it hehe.  The other lady who was upset was the one expecting me to bake the “Better than sex cake”, but DH explained that the oven is broken so I couldn’t. She was rather miffed.  I have to admit, my BTSC (Better than sex cake) is seriously good and is often requested at gatherings.  Well I just wanted to post this on the blog and brag a little which is OK since this is anonymous LOL.   It really makes me happy. I usually never actually get around to making anything for him to take and I know it made him feel bad about it. I know he must have been smiling today and that makes me happy. To hell with the HR lady LOL. She’s a bitch anyway.