Citrus Herb Crock Pot Chicken

Last week I took a day off work so I could spend some time getting ready for the baby. We are trying to finalize some house stuff - deck staining, warranty work (because its already been a year!), and a few other things before our little boy makes his debut.  Also, I spent some time trying to wrap up some baby stuff. We are doing cloth diapers and that requires pre-washing to increase absorbency and to prevent color bleeding. I did that laundry, in addition to washing baby clothes, towels, blankets, etc. I made his homemade soap/shampoo and got some stuff purchased off Amazon to finish making his lotion and diaper cream. I also spent some time trying to think of some things I could make to stock pile in the freezer so we can continue to eat well, even when we are so tired and don’t feel like cooking. I hope to get some of that cooking done this coming weekend.

My typical Fridays off work are now spent doing OB and chiropractor appointments each week, in addition to posting the blog and attempting to keep the house cleaned up, so that day was gone before I could blink. By Saturday, I was still feeling pretty good and my husband didn’t work which he usually does. We finished putting a couple baby things together, got stuff put into my car (car seat base, mirror, window shade, etc) for little man and then did our hospital tour. I feel really good about where we are and if he came tomorrow, we would be prepared. Needless to say, this mama was tired by the end of the weekend! Thankfully, whole chickens were on sale at the grocery store, so I bought three.  I stuck two in the freezer for post baby and one I made on Monday so I didn’t have to cook anything but a side. Whole chickens are so versatile and a great money saver. While you have to ‘work’ for the meat a bit more than if you were just cooking a boneless breast, you get a ton of meat and can repurpose it throughout the week. My favorite way to make whole chickens is in the crockpot! Check out my recipe below for a Citrus Herb Crockpot Chicken.  

Citrus Herb Crock Pot Chicken 

Ingredients

Whole frying chicken

Lemon, 1

Orange, ½

Garlic cloves, 6

Dried basil, 1 tsp

Dried parsley, 1 tsp

Dried thyme, ¾ tsp

Paprika, 1 tsp

Salt, ¾ tsp

Pepper, ½ tsp

Add chicken to crock pot.

Mix seasonings / herbs together and rub all over chicken.

Slice lemon and orange, remove seeds and add to top of chicken. Smash garlic cloves and also add to top of chicken. Feel free to add these things to the chicken cavity if you would like to infuse even more flavor.

Turn the crock pot on low and cook for 6-7 hours. Mine only took 6 hours, but the goal is to get to 180 degrees. You don’t need to add any liquid, as the chicken will produce its own.

Once done cooking, remove fruit and garlic and shred the meat.

Serve with the broth that is produced in the crock pot. Assuming you won’t eat it all in one sitting, also add some broth to the container you are storing the extra chicken in. This will prevent it from drying out.

Better Bonus Tip: We ate some later in the week in pasta, but other ideas include a mayo / yogurt based cold chicken salad, on a lettuce based salad, in mexican (I love shredded chicken in enchiladas), with rice and veggies (as an easy fried rice with soy sauce) or add to some of your favorite BBQ sauce for a yummy sandwich.

Easy as that!

~Ashley