Italian Crockpot Chicken

It's January 12th, and this is my first post of the year.  Crazy, huh?  Well, things have definitely been chaotic around here.  It all started on New Year's Eve when we were without power for over 4 hours.  Then, that night the baby started running a fever.  New Year's Day our internet was out most of the day.  On Sunday, the chaos rested. 

Then, the afternoon of January 3rd, a Monday of course, the flood came.  And it came in the form of a washing machine that overflowed for 30 minutes.  Now, you wouldn't think it could do that much damage in that short amount of time, right?  Wrong.  Luckily I was still home and caught it.  But I caught it on my way out the door to start picking up kids!  My first calls were to their schools to say "hey, water everywhere, I'm going to be late!"  Then I had a bit of a breakdown.  Imagine me, with my shoes off and pant legs rolled up, wading through water in my own kitchen and laundry room, standing in the middle of the floor sobbing.  Yep, not a pretty sight!

Next, I called the water removal company.  Thank goodness they could send someone quickly!  Up next was the insurance agent.  Yeah...that might be a good idea to call them.  Then my mom:  "Help!!"  When the water removal guys came is when I realized how extensive the damage actually was.  It not only got the laundry room, kitchen and dining room, but it had also gotten about 75% of the office wet, plus the hall and part of a bedroom!  And what really floored me (no pun intended) was that they had to completely remove all of the flooring in the kitchen and dining room.  All of it.  Crazy. 

Now, we wait.  Things have been upside down at my house for over a week.  They initially had 13 ginormous fans and 4 big dehumidifiers here.  They finally took them away last Friday.  It was like living in a wind tunnel.  They are actually here today to replace the carpet padding and put the carpet back down.  I'm so ready, because we've had to play musical chairs with the kids' sleeping arrangements and it has not been a good thing.  We're still waiting on the insurance company to tell us what the final report is on the damages, etc.  I have to tell you, I'm not really diggin' the concrete floor in the kitchen and dining, but I'll deal with it for now. 

Oh, the problem with the washing machine?  It needed a new intake valve, or something like that.  It's fixed now.  And it better stay fixed!!

You probably came here for a recipe, didn't you?  Yeah, yeah.  I tried a new recipe yesterday and it turned out really well.  The Munchkin even asked to take leftovers to school for his lunch today, and that is a high complement indeed!

The other thing you might want to know - D has started Weight Watchers.  Don't worry, I'll still be posting plenty of butter-laden recipes, but I'm also going to share the lighter fare that works for us!  I'll post the points values with those recipes as well.  Disclaimer:  the points values that I post will be calculated using the Weight Watchers online tools to the best of my ability.  If you notice a discrepancy, please (kindly!) let me know and we'll get it figured out!  :)

Italian Crockpot Chicken

Servings:  6
Weight Watchers PointsPlus value per serving: 6

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
4 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces (about 6 oz)
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped (about 5 oz)
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1 inch pieces (about 6 oz)
3 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 Tbsp Italian herb mix
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients in a medium to large slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.  Serve as desired (see notes). 

Katy's notes:

Okay, here's where the fun begins.  I had originally planned to serve this with Ronzoni Smart Taste penne.  (sorry for the brand plug, but I really like it).  But, I had also purchased some refrigerated three cheese tortellini and decided to go with that instead.  The brand I had turned out to be 6 points for a 1 cup serving, making the entire bowl 12 points.  I topped each bowl off with 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, which added an additional 1 point per serving.  This recipe has a lot of uses.  I could also see adding a couple cans of rinsed & drained cannellini beans instead of pasta. 

Enjoy!  :)