Man- the house smelled great when I got home from work.  It’s such a relief being able to walk through that door, throw my bag down and be able to do whatever I want- whether that’s clean the house, workout, or veg out on an entire Netflix series for 6 hours.

I love to cook- don’t get me wrong.  But some days, I come home from work and I have zero motivation.  If I was living on my own, I’d be eating a lot of quinoa bowls and probably eggs for dinner.  But I have the responsibility of keeping 4 other grown adults healthy, so I chose to make good meals.  And my slow cooker is my savior.

I got this recipe from “Paleo Slow Cooker.”  I decided to make some broccoli on the side, which was just lightly sautéed in oil with a bit of garlic.

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow onion, sliced thinly
• 3-4 lbs chicken thighs or legs (or both)
• 1.5 lbs cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (I actually only had a really good bottle of white in the house, so I used a bottle of hard apple cider and it turned out great.)

Directions:

• Lay the sliced onions on the bottom of your slow cooker.
• Unwrap the chicken and pat dry.  Lay the chicken on top of the onions.
• Next, layer the mushrooms on top, then pour the tomatoes and sauce over the mushrooms.
• Throw in the spices as well as the bay leaf.
• Pour the wine or your liquor of choice over the whole thing.
• Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.