Recipe: Crock pot Lemon Pepper Chicken

I have gotten into the habit of cooking a whole chicken in the crock pot on a weekly basis. If you are trying to get your family on a whole foods diet, I would highly suggest cooking a whole chicken! It's great for lunches (instead of deli meat) and you can use the entire chicken by eating the meat and using the bones and skin for making chicken stock. One 3-5 pound chicken provides plenty of meat for us AND about 2 quarts of homemade chicken stock, every week. We consume 1-2 quarts (more in the winter) of stock each week. I try to be creative with it by using stock as a nourishing base for all sorts of meals (cooking grains and legumes, soups, stews, stir fry, etc.).

Homemade stocks and broths are essential for good health because they are loaded with minerals and nutrients. You will not find the same nourishment from store-bought broths and soups. In fact, store-bought soup and broth - even organic - is nothing but water, sodium, MSG, BPA, and who knows what else! Have you ever wondered why chicken soup is traditionally eaten when you are sick? Homemade stock aids in digestion and prevents and combats the stomach bugs and the common cold. I don't get nervous about flu season...Jake and I have avoided getting any allergies or sickness for several months...I don't actually remember when either of us was sick (but I'm probably going to get sick now that I typed that!).

And now for the recipe, which is why I created this post....

Jake was getting sick of the same seasoning I was using for my chicken each week, so I decided to change it up. I love lemon so I decided to throw some lemons and pepper together and it came out great!

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
1-2 T. olive oil
3-4 T. homemade lemon pepper seasoning
2 cloves minced garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste

Juice a lemon into a small bowl. Combine the olive oil and seasoning and mix in the lemon juice. Pour mixture over the chicken in the crock pot. Sprinkle lemon zest onto chicken and then slice the lemon (that was zested) and add on top. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 5 hours.

Raw chicken:

Cooked Chicken:

Bone broth: