Cheap and Easy Crock Pot Chicken

I call my blog "The Accidental Homesteader" because I have never been much of a hippie, crafter, cook, gardener etc.  I found myself suddenly getting into these things earlier this year without realizing I was becoming a homesteader. When I started getting into this stuff last spring, it was a way for me to keep busy.  Now here, at the end of the summer homesteading has become a necessity. 

Thanks to the changes in our government, my family has lost our health insurance.  I guess as the story goes we will supposedly have more options available to us after the first of the year, but that still leaves us for about 6 months without any form of affordable health insurance.  This is alarming to me because my 4 year old daughter suffers from mild asthma which gives her bronchial spasms in cold weather.  She coughs like a 90 year old man who smokes two packs a day.  She does not sleep because she coughs so much.  This often leads us to multiple doctors appointments where she can receive up to 5 nebulizer treatments in one visit.  The doctors prescribed her inhalers that are 75 to 100 dollars a pop, and she desperately needs them. What are we going to do?  I have no idea.  But saving money has become a huge motivating factor in my continued study of homesteading and survivalism.  Since I anticipate many very expensive doctor's visits and prescriptions this fall and winter, I need to start saving as much money as I can. 

But enough of my sob story.  I know I am not the only one out there struggling with these things, and this is what motivates me to share my information with all of you.  I have recently found a simple and cheap recipe for chicken that I tried today that I would really like to share.  I found it somewhere on the internets, but I don't remember where.  I didn't have to save the page because the recipe is that easy. 

You will need:

One whole chicken
Seasoning of your choice (I use either seasoning salt, or just some sea salt and ground pepper)
A crock pot
Cooking spray

This is a crock pot recipe that does not take any water.  All you do is season your chicken, spray the inside of the crock pot with the cooking spray, stick the chicken in there and turn it on.  That's it!  It's that easy!  Cook for 6 hours on high, or 8 hours on low.  The chicken cooks in it's own juices and the result is tender, fall off the bone chicken that tastes just as good as it smells.

When I tried this today I used sea salt, ground pepper and a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary.  Since in my area I can get a small whole chicken for under 5 dollars, I have a feeling my family will be eating this often.