Life made easy - Whole Chicken in the Crockpot

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy - that's one of my mottos for life!  Say it often and you'll smile! Trust me - how can you not smile saying words like Peasy and Squeezy!  In the past, when I purchased a whole chicken, I would place in a stock pot with onion, carrot and celery. Add water and cook for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Then I had an AHA! moment!  Why not do the same thing in the crock pot?  I can just put it all together and walk away.  We were away from home for most of the day and had something else planned for dinner (fish tacos).  The smell of the chicken was fabulous!  Had the fish for the tacos not have marinaded all day, it would have been a change of menu plans!
But, the reason for cooking a whole chicken (and not for dinner), was essentially to have cooked chicken ready in the freezer for soups and casseroles.  Chicken cooked on the bone has so much flavor!  And it made such a great broth for later use as well.

Whole Chicken in the Crockpot

1 small fryer (thawed), rinsed with water (remove all the "extras" - livers, neck, etc)
2 carrots, cut into 2 inch sections
1 small onion, cut into pieces
1 rib celery, cut into 2 or 1 in chunks
1 tablespoon minced garlic

That's it!  Place some carrots, celery and onion in the cavity of the chicken.  The rest of the veggies that don't fit in the cavity, place in the bottom of the crockpot.  Place chicken in crockpot.  Turn on low for 6-8 hours.  Take out of crockpot.  Let cool and pick chicken off bone.  Save and freeze for later use.  Strain the broth through a strainer to remove veggies.  Great for later use as well.