Little Tummy Yummies: French Chicken Stew

This is a fabulous family meal!!! My mom made this when I made a visit a month ago and after seeing how much Little Joy seemed to like her few bites, I decided to try it on my own. I love family foods because (on Sundays) we can all eat together. This recipe comes from Better Homes and Garden.

I have listed the ingredients as they appear on the site but in BOLD you will see some changes we made. Although there are a lot of ingredients and some chopping this is a crock pot recipe which means those of you who work....this is a great option; assemble in the morning and then a meal ready to enjoy when you get home!

Allergy Warning: Again, there are many ingredients in here so be on the watch for allergic reactions.

Ingredients

4 cups sliced button and/or shiitake mushrooms
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 medium carrots, thinly diagonally sliced (I used a couple more since Little Joy eats these)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium red potato, cut in 1-inch pieces (I used two)
1/2 cup fresh green beans, cut in 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup pitted ripe olives, halved (I skipped this since my husband and I both do not like them)
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth (I used white wine, remember the alcohol cooks out!)
2 Tbsp. quick-cooking tapioca
1 tsp. herbes de Provence or dried Italian seasoning, crushed (I used Italian seasoning)
3/4 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
1/4 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
Pinch of garlic powder
Pinch of salt (I did not add this to mine, but it need just a tiny bit---and I am NOT usually a salt person)
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (1-3/4 to 2 lb. total)
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
Pinch of paprika
1 14-oz. jar tomato pasta sauce or one 16-oz. jar Alfredo pasta sauce (I used Alfredo)
Serve with French bread (optional) (I gave Little Joy toast)

Steps

In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker combine mushrooms, undrained tomatoes, carrots, onion, potato, green beans, olives, broth, wine, tapioca, herbs de Provence/Italian seasoning, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir VERY well (I think I messed up here and my tapioca did not get mixed in well, so my stew was a little runny but still yummy).
Place chicken on top; sprinkle with seasoned salt and parika. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours.
Remove bones and cartilage from chicken (be careful because I did not know about the cartilage and it was in our stew...no biggie, just annoying).
Stir in pasta sauce.
If desired, serve with French bread.

Yield: 8 adult servings.

Serve: We served as a finger food only the green beans, carrots and chicken to Little Joy; we took it out of the stew juice. Mushrooms are hard to chew and she does not LOVE potatoes. We had to give her seconds of chicken. She seems to like meats when they are soft and FULL of flavor like this.

Timing: 11-12 months. This is jam packed with flavor and requires very good chewing skills. I would advise this as a finger food for the more advanced chewer or mashed up.

Storage: Several days in the fridge and a month in the freezer. Although, it is too good to freeze...I bet we eat it up fast!

Difficulty: 3 out of 5. Once you chop....you are pretty much done with this dish. The only hard part was de-boning because I have never done that before :)

Epicutie Rating: Yummy in the Tummy--see right side of page for descriptions

Little Joy gobbled up one plate and signed for MORE!!! We love this dish because we can enjoy it as a family or with friends too!