Chicken & Dumplings Made Easy - cooking recipe

Ingredients

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

Preparation

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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
Serve hot.