Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention

Well, I have been very sick this week. My husband got it first (and he is almost over it) and then he passed it to me and our son. It's the kind of cold that doesn't start out too badly...but it gets worse each day...before it gets better.

So, I had my very worst day yesterday. My poor son is pretty miserable too. Any of you out there who have kids know that when kids are sick, they can't sleep...and when kids can't sleep...you can't sleep either! You really have no option in the matter!

As a result, when I got up yesterday morning, I felt like death. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was make dinner for everyone--but people still have to eat--even when they're sick. So, I scoured my mind to see if there was something easy I could throw together.

I remembered that a few months back, I had purchased some of those pre-made frozen slow cooker dinners as emergency meals. I had bought a beef stew dinner and a chicken and dumplings dinner. I had already made the beef stew one (I was unimpressed. It was so small that I had to add a bunch of potatoes so that it would feed everyone and I thought it was way too salty). But I still had the chicken and dumplings dinner in the freezer.

So, I pulled out the "Banquet Crock Pot Classics Chicken and Dumplings" from the freezer. The size on the package says that it is 41.5 oz (or 2 lbs. 9.5 oz). However, as I mentioned before, these are very small and don't feed very many people. I would venture to say that you'd be hard pressed to feed two full-grown men with one of those packaged dinners.

I had been wanting to use it up for awhile and I figured that I could just throw some other things into the slow cooker to "beef it up" and fill it out so that it would feed 5 adults and one toddler (in fact, it made enough for leftovers too).

The result? Surprisingly delicious. EVERYONE raved about it. I, myself, found it quite tasty. Plus, since it was so easy, I think it's a keeper! Try it out if you get a chance (or if you're too sick to care how dinner turns out...as I was!). Besides, chicken soup is one of the best things when you have a cold!

10/5/10 Note: Banquet Crockpot Classics are no longer available in any of the supermarkets in the state in which I live! So, I created another version of this recipe that omits the pre-packaged crockpot base. It is found below the first recipe.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumpling Soup (see revised version below)

Ingredients:

1 Banquet Crock Pot Classics--Chicken and Dumplings (41.5 oz pkg. aka 2 lbs. 9.5 oz)
1 (2.5 lb) bag frozen chicken breasts (or about 6 medium chicken breasts)
2 cups water
3 cups baby carrots
1 can (15 oz) corn, drained
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup, condensed
1 cup milk
1 tsp. thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Put a slow cooker liner into your slow cooker, if desired. Place frozen chicken breasts into slow cooker. Open the Banquet Crock Pot Classics--Chicken and Dumplings. Place the packet of dumplings back in the freezer (as directed on the package instructions). Pour the chicken and vegetable mixture from the package into the slow cooker. Thaw the sauce packet under running water (as directed on the package instructions) and pour into the slow cooker. Put baby carrots into the slow cooker on top of the other ingredients.

Cover, and cook on low for 6 hours.

Pour the drained corn into the slow cooker. Stir together the cream of chicken soup, milk, thyme, and salt and pepper. Pour into the slow cooker and mix all the ingredients together. Shred the chicken breasts with two forks (you don't have to remove the chicken from the slow cooker to do this). Open the packet of dumplings (that were earlier placed back in the freezer) and pour those in the slow cooker.

Cover, and cook on high for 30-60 minutes (or until dumplings are hot and the soup is thick and bubbly).

Source: The kind folks at Banquet and my own desperation!

Note: If you don't like the packaged dumplings, you could always easily make your own using Bisquick (there is a recipe for dumplings on the box that only calls for Bisquick and water).

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumpling Soup (Revised Version)

(pictured above)

Ingredients:

1 (2.5 lb) bag frozen chicken breasts (or about 6 medium chicken breasts)
2 cups chicken broth (about 1 can)
3 cups baby carrots
1 cup sliced celery
2 cans (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup, condensed
1 Tbsp each fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme, chopped (or 1 tsp each dried)
1 can (15 oz) corn, drained
1 can (15 oz) creamed corn
1 cup milk
3 Tbsp flour
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups Bisquick mix
1/2 cup water

Directions:

Put a slow cooker liner into your slow cooker, if desired. Place frozen chicken breasts into slow cooker. Pour chicken broth into slow cooker. Put baby carrots and celery top of the chicken. Pour the cream of chicken soup on top of the chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle the chopped herbs on top. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Cover, and cook on low for 6 hours.

Shred the chicken breasts with two forks (you don't have to remove the chicken from the slow cooker to do this). Pour the drained corn and the creamed corn into the slow cooker. Whisk the flour and milk together and pour into the slow cooker. Increase heat to high in order to thicken the soup.

Meanwhile, mix Bisquick and water together and spoon dollops of mixture on top of soup in slow cooker.

Cover, and cook on high for 30-60 minutes (or until dumplings are cooked and the soup is thick and bubbly). You can speed up the cooking process of the dumplings by pushing them under the soup slightly to immerse them a little.

Source: First, the kind folks at Banquet and my own desperation...and later my own creativity after a product was pulled off the market! I swear, I've got to stop falling in love with certain products. Unless they've been around for years already, a lot of the new products I take a liking to tend to be discontinued!

Notes: If the soup isn't brothy enough for you, simply add more water, chicken broth, or milk until you have the consistency that you like.