Chicken is one of the least expensive meats you can serve your family. The white or breast meat is also the healthiest, not to mention the tastiest part of the chicken. Combine those facts together with a crock pot, and it also becomes one of the easiest meals to fix too.
Ingredients:
1. 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or more depending on how much meat you like). It is less expensive to buy whole chicken breasts and remove the skin and bones yourself. Do it while the chicken is partially frozen and it will be easier to skin, de-bone and cut.
2. One bag of frozen Pierogies
3. I bag of frozen chopped broccoli
4. 1 can of cream of chicken soup
5. 1 cup of milk, and 1 cup of Velveeta cheese chunks
6. 1 loaf of French bread.
Begin heating the crock pot on high. Place the can of cream of chicken soup in the crock pot, add 1 can of hot water to it and stir. Melt the Velveeta cheese chunks together with the cup of milk and add this to the crock pot as well. Add salt, pepper and garlic to your desired taste.
De-bone and de-skin the chicken breasts. Cut the white meat up into strips and brown it just slightly in a skillet that you have added a small amount of pure vegetable shortening to. The chicken strips should just begin to turn white. Place them in the crock pot, along with the frozen bag of chopped broccoli and let it cook for 2 hours or longer. A longer cooking time won’t hurt anything, but you may have to add some all natural chicken stock to the chicken, as some of the liquid will evaporate during cooking.
Just before it is time to serve dinner, you need to boil the Pierogies according to package directions. When the Pierogies are done, drain all of the water off of them. At this point you have two options that you can use to serve your dish.
Option One:
Gently slide the Pierogies into the crock pot with the chicken and broccoli and sauce. Stir slightly to coat the Perogies with the cheesy chicken sauce. Serve the meal by simply placing the crock pot on the table. Add a platter of thick slices of warm French bread and you are done.
Option Two:
To serve the Chicken Pierogies a little fancier you will need a large platter, such as you serve the Thanksgiving Turkey on. Thoroughly drain the Pierogies and pile them onto the platter. Use a large dipper and pour the chicken and sauce over the Perogies. Sprinkle a little Parsley, Chives or shredded cheddar cheese over the dish to give it an accent color.
Slice up the warm French bread and place it around the outer edge of the platter. The bread will absorb some of the sauce and be very delicious. If all of your sauce does not fit in the platter, simply serve the remaining sauce in a separate bowl. It will be great for guests that want a little more sauce, or those who want to soak their bread in it.
