Stacy hit the nail on the head : " With new babies and other little ones, we are lucky to get Spaghetti'o's for supper LOL. Add to that we have one,two or three little ones added to DH and I in our queen sized bed every night so understand about the sleep deprevation. " Drake is teething like crazy and was vax'd Thursday and won't go to anyone else and won't play in his exersaucer or on the floor, he has to have momma. That's why I needed a recipe for a whole chicken in the crockpot, I didn't have the time to take it apart, and didn't want to use the oven. Thanks for the recipes, ya'll. Changeling, it's ok. It wasn't entirely you, and I forgive you anyway. I just don't cook the way I used to. It's exactly like Stacy said, some nights I'm lucky to get a can of anything opened for supper. I simply don't have the time or sanity to prepare an elaborate meal. And the forum has changed since I first started posting here, not saying that's bad, just saying that I haven't been able to keep up with the changes because of the direction I've gone with my life. Lyra had it right, too - I come here to visit old friends more than to post about what sides might go with apricot-chili pork loin. I don't have the opportunity to drop in often because of my two little ones. If I'm AWOL, it's because of them. : P

I poach chicken breasts for salad. Poach is a very slow simmer.I put some water....what looks like enough to cover the bricken into a pot with a lid, add some onion...a slice for just a small but of chicken, a bit of celery, the leaves are OK...no need to chop, a whole clove of garlic...2 if I have a lot of chicken to cook, and some parsley...if I have another use for the ruffley part I will just use the stems, and something acid...maybe a wedge of lemon, a splash of dry wine, a spoon of vinegar... a bit of salt...pepper. Bring to a boil and boil for a bit....5 minutes if you are in a hurry, 20 minutes if the phone rings! Turn the fire off and add the chicken, turn the heat back on and keep at a slow simmer until its' done...depends on the amount of chicken you are cooking but 12 to 15 minutes is about right. Cut into the chicken to see when it's done....don't over cook. Remove chicken from broth, strain and save the broth for other uses....you may want to reduce it a bit. Or just poach the chicken in white wine. That was my father's secret recipe! He would pack chicken breasts,with the skin, into a heavy pot, cover with Virginia Dare white wine...sweet, icky, fruity....and slowly simmer until the chicken was done....then he would brown the chicken in a bit of butter, reduce down the cooking liquid add fruit....think it was pineapple maybe canned peaches, I forget, and thicken with cornstarch and serve over the chicken! LOL! I forgot about that! Linda C

I make sweet and sour chicken in the crockpot all the time. I don't think it will necessarily be a flop. Here are some tips for success - use all thighs or a mix of breasts and thighs--not the super-size breasts. Brown the meat first before putting in the crockpot. Don't cook for 8-10 hours, cook on low for 4-5 hours. I always start the dish on high til it gets up to temp and then turn down to low. Do not put the green peppers in the crockpot, green peppers turn bitter when slow cooked. Saute the green peppers in some canola or soy oil and add them before serving the chicken. Don't add the cornstarch at the start. When the chicken is done, take it out and add the cornstarch to thicken the sauce. I usually pour all the sauce ingredients of the crockpot into my braising pan to thicken with cornstarch. Then I add the chicken back in and serve the whole dish from the braising pan--I like it for presentation. I serve over brown rice--yum! These tips work with all my crockpot chicken recipes--moroccan chicken and chicken cacciatore too. I get raves when I serve these dishes to guests, which is something I wasn't expecting for me preparing meat dishes since I am usually vegetarian when cooking for myself. The tips came from the Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen Cover and Bake Cookbook. Good luck, and report back how it worked.

Well, I ran out of time yesterday to cook it in the crock pot, so I ended up roasting it in the conventional oven. First of all I should point out that the breast weighed 1.75#, not the 2.75# I gave in my initial post. Anyway, here's what I did: I followed Linda's guidelines (thank you, Linda) but at Compumom's temperature (350F). In a large roasting dish, I placed the half-breast on a nest of thinly-sliced onion (1 large onion) and several peeled garlic gloves. I seasoned the breast with S&P and I few other savory seasonings I like, topped with a several dots of butter over the skin, and popped the dish in the fridge until ready to heat up the oven. Meanwhile, I cut 3 large (the size of baseballs!) red potatoes into chunks tossed them with a little olive oil and dried rosemary - just enough oil to lightly coat the potato pieces At baking time, I poured 1/4C dry white wine and about as much chicken broth (both at room temp) around the breast (not over it) and placed the potatoes in the bottom of the dish around the breast. Covered loosely with a foil tent and baked about 1.5 hours (I checked after 1.25 hours but not quite done). Removed from oven when temp reached 165F with instant-read thermometer, let sit 10-15 minutes with foil tent. The meat was extremely juicy and tender. The thin slices of onion caramelized in the wine/broth/juices and created a delicious sauce for the potatoes - as well as being tasty to eat. (There were a few thicker slices that didn't caramelize; next time I'll be sure ALL the slices are thin - they'd also be a nice addition to a turkey sandwich the next day.) Next time I may add a bit more liquid to create a bit more juice, but really it was fine as is. I still maintain it's possible to make a juicy tender delicious turkey/chicken breast in the crock pot --- if done correctly --- and I plan to give that a whirl sometime soon. I've found several recipes on-line with very favorable reviews to indicate they are worth trying. Thank you all for your suggestions and input! PS - I wanted to add brussels sprouts (halved) with the potatoes but was afraid this would increase cooking time. Will that work, all together in the same dish at the same time? The potatoes went in with the turkey and all turned out fine.