Frank let me get a new crock pot last week. I had three, and something went wrong with each one, and the last time I used one was some months ago already.

Costco had a certain one in stock, a decent price, but it was fluffy-boo-coo to me. I didn’t want it. It was all white, the base and the crock itself. It came with a Little Dipper, was 6qts in size, nice. But the top of it rose up above the top of the base quite a bit, with an embossed floral foo-foo design.

We went to Target later to look at the Breadmachine I liked, and got that, and I said, “Look at this Frank,” and he did. It was a 5 1/2 Qt. White crock pot with a Little Dipper, but it was just a regular crock pot otherwise, no foo-foo-ness. It was white, totally different for me who always had black and stainless steel/black varieties. It was also much less money than the foo-foo Costco version. So we got it.

I meant to use it earlier, but didn’t until today. I was happy to use it, I made a meal we used to love in the crock pot. I made it on top-of-the-stove a few times, but hadn’t made it since, I’m not sure when.

It’s “Smothered Chicken” a recipe I got from Vickilynn Haycrafts e-list a long time ago.

VICKILYNN’S FAMOUS SMOTHERED CHICKEN BREASTS
(c) Copyright 2001 Vickilynn Haycraft

Serves 6

1) Place in crockpot and cook on HIGH for about 3 hours:

3-4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 TB soy sauce (lower sodium)
1/4 cup dried chives
4-8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2/3 cup water

2) At the end of 3 hours, prepare sauce and pour over chicken in
crockpot:

4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 heaping tablespoons whole wheat flour
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups milk – rice , soy or dairy (I use whole goat milk)
1 TB soy sauce
2 heaping tablespoons meatless chicken broth powder without MSG
salt and pepper to taste

To make sauce:
In a saucepan, melt butter mixed with oil. Add minced garlic and
saute briefly. Whisk in flour and cook until smooth and browned.
Add milk and cook over medium-high heat, whisking continuously
until thick and bubbly. Add broth powder, salt and pepper if
desired, and soy sauce. Let cook until thickened, and pour over
chicken in crockpot.

Cook chicken and sauce on HIGH for 1 hour, then check the
chicken for doneness. If not cooked through, continue to simmer
on LOW until done. Taste sauce and correct seasonings before
serving.

TIP:You can use a meat thermometer to be certain that boneless
white meat chicken breasts are cooked to an internal temperature
of 170 degrees.

The sauce is not super-thick, but rich, creamy and saucy. You
can thicken further if desired.

Serve sauce over mashed potatoes, rice and veggies and serve
lots of fresh whole grain bread to sop it up! Yummy!
Enjoy!

Here it is, how I make it:

VICKILYNN’S FAMOUS SMOTHERED CHICKEN BREASTS
(c) Copyright 2001 Vickilynn Haycraft

NO MUSHROOMS variation by Marysue

Serves 6

1) Place in crockpot and cook on HIGH for about 3 hours:

3-4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 cloves garlic, minced(or more)
3 TB Organic Tamari Wheat-Free Soy Sauce
1 large sweet onion, maui or vidalia, chopped

2/3 cup water

2) At the end of 3 hours, prepare sauce and pour over chicken in
crockpot:

4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 heaping tablespoons flour (can substitute Arrow Root Powder mixed with water for the butter/oil/flour mixture, not sure the amount, I just do it without measuring. )
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups milk (whole dairy, I use raw)
1 TB Organic Tamari Wheat-Free Soy Sauce
1 1/2 TB Chicken Base (gooey paste)

To make sauce:
In a saucepan, melt butter mixed with oil. Add minced garlic and
saute briefly. Whisk in flour and cook until smooth and browned.
Add milk and cook over medium-high heat, whisking continuously
until thick and bubbly. Add broth powder, salt and pepper if
desired, and soy sauce. Let cook until thickened, and pour over
chicken in crockpot.

Cook chicken and sauce on HIGH for 1 hour, then check the
chicken for doneness. If not cooked through, continue to simmer
on LOW until done. Taste sauce and correct seasonings before
serving.

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I made Basatmi rice to go with it tonight, and green beans. Everyone had plenty and it’s so very richly filling.

It’s a treat, not something to make very often, it’s so very flavorful and so easy to make, but easy to overdo it if you don’t watch it, and then get really sick of it as a meal.

The crock pot was a different sort of experience for me tonight. There was brown residue from the meal cooking high up the sides. It was very noticeable since the crock is so white. I was able to fairly easily wash that off, and find that it’s inspiring to do so only because it’s a white crock, I was compelled to clean it, not let it soak overnight. So it’s already put away. I’m very proud of myself, in a good way only, of course. Patting myself on the back.