Chicken & Dumplings Made Easy

• 3 -4 lbs whole chickens
• 2 (11 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 (11 ounce) can evaporated milk
• 2 (11 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 cup 2% low-fat milk
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 purple onion (chunked)
• 1/2 lemon (chunked)
• 1 (12 ounce) package mary b's open kettle dumplings (found in the freezer section near the breads)
• Spices
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash seasoning mix
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder

1. I chose to use a crock pot and it worked out really well. I have to work all day and I don't have the time to wait for a whole chicken to boil, so I put the chicken in the crock pot while I was gone at work for the day.
2. Place whole chicken in crock pot. Pour in 1 can of chicken broth. Add the onions, lemons, and spices. Leave the crock pot on low for a minimum of 4 hours, and turn on high for 1 hour, or leave on low for 8 hours.
3. Remove chicken from crock pot and place on large plate to debone. the meat should fall off the bone. Allow to cool for just a bit. Remove onions, bay leaf, and lemons from crock pot. keep remaining juice, will be adding it to the cream base for soup.
4. Remove dumplings from refrigerator/freezer to thaw. Pour in remaining juice from crock pot. Pour 1 can of chicken broth, and 2 cups of water into a large cooking pot. Bring to a rolling boil, add in 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, evaporated milk, and milk. bring back to boil - place dumplings in one at a time (directions on package) Reduce heat and allow to cook for 30 - 45 minutes on low heat. (stir often)
5. Remove chicken from bones. Shred/cut chicken to bite size pieces. (make sure there are not any little bones!) after the dumplings have cooked for 30 - 45 minutes, add chicken to mixture and allow to cook for 15 minutes.
6. Serve hot.

cream of chicken soup, milk, chicken broth, milk, water, purple onion, lemon, mary, bay leaf, thyme, seasoning mix, garlic

Taken from www.food.com/recipe/chicken-dumplings-made-easy-224654 (may not work)