Crockpot Chicken, Rice, & Carrots

Grandparenting during the days between Palm Sunday and Easter has great benefits. One is cooking for my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughters. Like other young couples with busy schedules, dinner can be challenging. While helping with my little grands, stopping in time to fix dinner doesn’t always work out perfectly. Thinking of my daughter’s nice big slow cooker, I couldn’t wait to try it out. Mine (though I love it – it was a gift from my mother-in-law years ago) is much smaller.

I looked in the freezer and saw options: a large package of chicken, stir-fry chicken, a package of herb chicken, and another package of sweet chili flavored chicken. Sweet chili it was.

Next, I needed to see what kind of vegetables were in the frig. Carrots. That would work. There was plenty of brown rice in the pantry and a couple of cartons of gluten-free chicken broth.

I doubled up on the rice. Instead of using water, I used a 32-ounce carton of chicken broth. The broth and sweet chili makes a good mix for a chicken and rice dinner.

Grandparenting Cooking Benefits

A hot meal ready to eat when my daughter and son-in-law came home that day was part of the grandparenting benefits. I got to enjoy playing with my granddaughters, watching movies with them, and didn’t have to worry about taking time out to go cook. It’s not so easy to cook a meal and watch two little ones.

The slow cooker idea was awesome. I had everything ready to put in the crockpot when my son-in-law went to work. It cooked ten hours. So easy. No hassle. Delicious. The three-year-old and the baby who eats baby food already both loved it, too.

Recipe

Slow Cooker Chicken, Rice, and Carrots

Slow Cooker Chicken, Rice, & Carrots

Ingredients

• 1 package HEB Sweet Chili Chicken Breasts (or other seasoned chicken)
• 1 32-oz carton gluten-free chicken broth
• 1 large package small carrots
• 2 cups brown rice

Instructions

1. Place whole carrots in bottom of slow cooker (or slice them if your prefer).
2. Next add rice.
3. Pour broth in (add a cup of water or extra broth for creamier chicken and rice).
4. Add chicken.
5. Turn slow cooker on low, and cook for 10 hours.

Just a note…this makes a great recipe for babies who have started eating table food. The rice is soft because of cooking so long. If you don’t like your rice cooked so soft (texture similar to chicken and dressing), cook the rice separately so that it doesn’t cook down so soft.