The Easiest Roasted Chicken EVER!

I can not take full credit for this idea / recipe.  The idea to use my crockpot to roast a chicken came from my friend Jessica, who said she does it all the time!  I have since seen a lot of pins on Pinterest about doing it too!  How did it take me so long to hear about this?  Well, anyway, the following is instructions on how to do just that AND make some wonderful broth afterward!
When you are selecting your chicken, make sure that it will fit into your crockpot.

Start by rolling up 3 balls of aluminum to place in the bottom of your crockpot.  This will form a make-shift rack for the chicken to sit on.  If you have a rack that will fit down in there you can use it, you should probably spray it with some oil just to be safe.  Alternately, you can use large pieces of veggies like onion and celery to rest the chicken upon.

•   Fill the cavity of your bird with aromatics like onion, carrots, celery, parsley and garlic if desired.  You can skip this step if you want.  You can change that up according to your taste, perhaps some halved lemons!  Just chop the veggies in large chunks, nothing small because you are going to be pulling them back out later.  Make sure to pull the legs back together and "seal" the opening.

• Generously sprinkle the bird with salt and pepper, and place in the crockpot breast side down.  Drizzle with a little cooking oil.

•  Cook on low for 8 + hours depending on the size of the bird, basting occasionally when juices start to collect in the bottom.  It is not necessary to baste it if you are wanting to start it and them leave for the day.

Now, after you have picked apart your chicken and have a pile of skin and bones left, don't throw it away!!  Take everything from the chicken that you did not eat (including the veggies and herbs that you stuffed it with, skin, bones etc) and put it in a stock pot.  Throw in some parsley, carrots, celery, onion, garlic if you did not stuff your bird with these items.  Cover with water and simmer, covered, for an hour or two.  Strain the broth using a mesh strainer and allow to cool down to room temperature.  When the broth has cooled, cover it and place it in the refrigerator overnight.   The next day, there will be a waxy layer across the top, this is the fat.  Remove the layer of fat and divide your broth into what ever freezing portions you desire.  I like to use ice cube trays for this and then put the cubes in a freezer baggie after they solidify.

For less than $5 I made two dinners and a lunch for my hubby and 8 to 10 cups of broth!!  BONUS:  all super healthy!  I controlled all of the ingredients that went into it!