Healthy Crockpot Meal: Chicken and Broccoli

Delicious Crockpot Chicken and Broccoli Meal! Perfect for picky eaters.

I get this question frequently about picky eaters.  This was an email from a reader, Aileen

Q:  My kids won’t eat anything orange. Actually, they won’t eat any fruits and vegetables for that matter. What can I do?

• The biggest most effective way to get your kids to eat more fruits and vegetables is to be a role model.  This is a great quote, “One study, using sliced bell peppers, found that bribing, cajoling, exhorting, and even rewarding kids for trying new vegetables are less effective than simply eating them yourself.  Just sit down and eat yourself, and talk about how good it tastes. It will have a much bigger impact than if you give them a lecture.” Lorraine Stern.  And it works the other way around. When I’m drinking my diet coke, I shouldn’t be surprised when they want some too.  So now I have to drink it in the closet!

Do kids really give vegetables a try if you arrange them into faces, or cut spiderman into them. Some might, but mine don’t.

• Don’t make a big deal out of your child not trying things. Just make it familiar to them at every meal. They should expect to see vegetables on their plates at every dinner. But you don’t want food to be punishment.
• Let them get hungry. Constant snacking, especially before a meal is a surefire way for them not to try new things. The best meals my kids have eaten have been when they come to the dinner table famished.  However, all those who know me personally will call me a fraud on this one, becasue my kids graze ALL day long. And as a result, they are not good at eating dinner.
• Do not provide alternatives. If you think your kid will starve if you don’t give them what they want, you are wrong. Sure they may be hungry for a few days, but they will come around and start eating the new food you stock in the fridge.
• Lastly, if your child is growing and has sustaining energy for all the demands of his little life, than just chill out.

This meal is perfect for picky eaters, because it combines foods that your kids might already love (chicken, noodles), with a veggie you want them to adopt (the broccoli) Sunday’s for me is a great day for the crockpot!  To have something ready for us to eat when we get home from church is a relief when kids are begging for food (and I’m starving too).  Slow cooking is a great way to feed your family healthy food because it eliminates the motivation for some quick take out, or eating cereal for dinner.  I had 3 lbs. of broccoli in the fridge I needed to use, so this dinner is what we made:

Let us know if you try this meal with your picky eaters! For more picky eater favorites, try:

• Spinach Muffins
• Broccoli bites
• Chicken Nuggets

And don’t forget to tag us if you make this meal!

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3.6 from 27 votes

Crockpot Broccoli and Chicken

Delicious Crockpot Chicken and Broccoli Meal! Perfect for picky eaters.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time4 hours hrs

Total Time4 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 458kcal

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken breast
• 1 package Italian dressing mix
• 1 cup whole mushrooms, brown, Italian, or Crimini
• 1 medium onion
• 1 can (10.75 oz) soup, cream of chicken, canned, condensed
• 1/4 cup chicken broth, low-sodium
• 4 cup broccoli, florets

Serve With

• 8 ounce rice noodles, dry

Instructions

• Place chicken in crockpot. Sprinkle with dressing mix. Slice mushrooms and dice onion; add to crockpot. Using a medium sized bowl, mix cream of chicken soup with 1/4 cup broth; whisk together. Pour into crockpot. Cook on low for 3 hours.
• Once chicken has cooked for 3 hours, add broccoli and continue to cook on low for an additional hour.
• Cook rice noodles; serve with chicken.

Nutrition

Calories: 458kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 656mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 12g

Keyword : broccoli, chicken, crockpot, Mushrooms

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