If you asked either of us what our favorite season is, almost immediately “Fall” would come from our lips and we’d begin to daydream about having to wear our favorite comfy socks, drinking tea out of our big clay mugs and most importantly breaking out the slow cooker on a regular occurrence.

We’ve been so hectic with all the running (Tara is about to complete her 3rd and final marathon since May), traveling (We took a 2200 mile road trip down to Baltimore) and the Fitbloggin conference there hasn’t been much time for recipe research and even less time for recipe testing. Meegan just completed the six week “LightenUp” program and with it came quite the extensive meal plan so having to plan and execute (meaning take out the camera and document every.single.step) was not happening.

But the running is coming to an end (at least those 26.2 mile runs). The traveling is now limited to drives to work and the parents house for long hours of card playing and it’s time to get back to doing what we love..

Being in the kitchen!

As always we believe strongly in a Paleo Foundation for our meal making at home and will continue to make that a main focus here on TheHDD. That being said we’ve both agreed to add small amounts of dairy into our menu (Tara loves her Greek yogurt and Meegan loves her Parmesan cheese) so you might see a few recipes “sneak” in that some would argue are not Paleo but no matter what your views are you can bet the recipes here are good for you and good for your tastebuds.

Now break out that slow cooker and let’s get to making some delicious food!

Slow Cooker Paleo Chicken Stew

The ingredients:

• 1lb Chicken (thighs will work best for this dish)
• 2 Large Sweet Potato
• 1 Large Onion
• 3 Parsnips
• 3 Large Carrots
• 3 – 4 Celery Stalks
• Lots of Garlic (we used 8 large cloves)
• 1 C Chicken Stock
• Dry spices of choice (Oregano, Italian Seasoning, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme)

This is one of those recipes that is so easy you’ll probably find yourself wanting to make it over and over again. Nothing says Fall goodness like a delicious hearty stew.

First thing first is prepare your vegetables. Peel and chunk onion/garlic (keep these separate from other veggies), sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots (for heartier flavor leave skin on carrot intact, making sure to wash before cutting) and celery.

When choosing your meat it’s best to use the darker meat of the chicken. It has a deeper taste than breast meat and there is no need to prep the thighs. Just layer on the bottom. If darker meat is not part of your palate, chicken breast will work fine just make sure to dice into large chucks before placing on the bottom of slow cooker.

Add onion and garlic.

Add sweet potato, carrots, parsnips, celery and your dry spices. We used an Italian seasoning blend (just enough to dust the top).

Pour chicken stock into slow cooker and cover on low for 6-8 hours.

~ Now that’s good eatin’ folks!