CROCK POT CHICKEN AND DRESSING

 Last year, I threatened to cook my whole Thanksgiving dinner in crock pots. So this year I decided I better get an early start on it. Growing up I remember my Mom cooking a big pan of dressing that actually turned into two pans of dressing. The stuff just seemed to multiple on her. She would add a little something, taste, and add a little more. Then BINGO, two pans of dressing!  They never went to waste, but we had dressing for a week. So with that in my mind I decided no multiples this time I was sticking to the recipe and I was cooking it in the crock pot!  It came out wonderful. I managed to nail the moist part pretty well and the taste was no different than in the oven. I can see how cooking the dressing in the crock pot would free up the oven for the turkey and other side dishes. Our Thanksgiving dinner usually consists of turkey and dressing, green beans, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, rolls, and dessert. So this year so far I have cooked a turkey breast (that should count as a turkey for feeding three people), green beans, dressing, rolls, and both apple dumplings and pecan pie in the crock pot. I think all I have left is the mashed potatoes and the sweet potato casserole. Guess what’s for dinner at my house tonight? I'll let you know how that turns out next week.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of cooked chicken, chopped

1 pan of cooked corn bread

3 cups of Pepperidge Farms herb stuffing mix

1 small onion, chopped

1 boiled egg, chopped

½ of a green bell pepper, chopped

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1 raw egg

1 – 2 cans of chicken broth

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 tsp of sage, thyme, and rosemary, or poultry seasoning would be fine ( I used fresh and packaged)

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Spray the crock pot with PAM. In a large bowl crumble up the cornbread and add the stuffing mix.

Then add the chopped onions, bell peppers, celery, and boiled egg.

Next add 2/3 of the cream of chicken soup and one and half cans of chicken broth, all the seasoning to taste and stir.

Then add the raw egg and mix well. This is the hard part now. You have to decide if your dressing is moist enough or if you need to add more broth.  The more cornbread and stuffing mix the more broth you need. I poured a little extra in mine because we like moist, maybe almost to cans of broth.

Then add the chopped chicken and stir well.

 Pour in to the crock pot. Take the last 1/3 can of cream of chicken soup and spread over the top.

 Cover and cook on low for 4 ½  to  5 hours. Take the top off the last 15 minutes and let it continue cooking to get a little crust on the top.