Another Crock Pot Keeper

I've been using the same slow cooker for years now. I haven't used it often, partially because it's small. It think it's 4 or 4 1/2 qts. which is great for many recipes, but having something larger gives me more options. So, last week I went out and invested in a new crock pot.

The only two differences I see between a slow cooker and a crock pot are:

- The settings - My slow cooker has 5 heat settings which gives me really good control over the cooking time. Crock pots typically have 3 settings; high, low and warm
- The heating elements - My slow cooker sits on top of the heating element and crock pots sit inside the cooking element.

Yesterday I decided to try another new recipe, so I put everything in my new crock pot and then I did the "set it and forget it." When I checked on it that afternoon I didn't feel it was cooking fast enough so I decided to turn it from low to high. About an hour before I needed to do the final step I checked on it again and it was not even close to being done. Suddenly, I'm not happy with my new crock pot. Then I discover something very important about using a crock pot - they will cook the food if you actually use the low or high setting. Warm only keeps the food warm. Yes, I turned the knob from low to warm instead of low to high. Maybe I should have read the owner's manual first. LOL!!!!!

I turned it to high, but it wasn't ready in time for dinner. So I went to Plan B - soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. Yum!!!!

Today we had our left-over crock pot meal for lunch. Does it actually count as left-overs if you didn't eat any of it the night before? I will make some minor adjustments to the recipe next time, but will definitely be using this one again in the future.

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken
1 med yellow onion, chopped
1 c mushroom, chopped
1 16 oz bag frozen vegetables - use your favorite*
2 cans cream of chicken soup**
1 tube refrigerated biscuits or make your own biscuit dough

Place chicken on bottom of a ***4 qt or larger crock pot. Add vegetables and pour soup over the top. Cover with lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

An hour before serving, shred chicken and place biscuit dough on top.

Cover and cook another hour or until a knife inserted into biscuits comes out clean. The biscuits will be spongy and brown a bit on the sides and top.

Serve in bowls with a biscuit or two per person.

*I used a California blend of frozen vegetables and thought the cauliflower was a bit overpowering. Next time I'll use something without cauliflower.

**You can use any cream soup of your choice.

***I used a 6 qt crock pot and there was definitely room once everything started cooking and settling. However, it was close to the top when I first added all the ingredients, so I question using anything smaller than a 5 qt crock pot.