Slow Cooker Easy Chicken + A Virtual Farmers Market

I used to live in the “foodie” paradise; abundant fresh, local, seasonal vegetables and fruits year round, beyond organic farms a short car ride away, farmer’s markets right down the street and happening 3 times a week.

Oh yeah, friend. I was living the life of a food lover’s dream.

But then, I moved. And my bubble burst.

No more visiting the farm and searching for chickens on the hillside with Andrew.

No more abundance of local, fresh foods at my finger tips. No more variety of local farms that raised pastured meat and it actually tasted good. I was so sad to say goodbye to spending almost half of my time at the farmer’s market.

I moved to the land of the flat and sea (Florida if you couldn’t guess) and the selection of local foods are as scarce as water is in the Mojave desert. While I certainly enjoy living in Florida and being a car ride away from my favorite place on earth (the ocean) I still can’t help but (desperately) miss the food and atmosphere in California.

The farmer’s markets took my heart and when I left, part of my heart stayed there. I was shocked when I realized that farmer’s markets around here consist of food with stickers and very little choice on pastured meats. We like veggies in the Adams’ household but we love meat. Actually, if I try to cook dinner without meat I get a look that basically says “Is this all we’re having for dinner” from Scott.

Yup, I’m not kidding.

We like our meat and we like to have variety; that’s what I loved about the farmer’s market. We’d choose a skirt steak and bacon from one farm, get chicken from another and get ground beef from a totally different farm. We were even part of a CSA to a different farm. Not only did we get the best of each farm but we also got to support four different farms!

It’s really been an interesting experience for me to go from having all the choices in  the world to, like, nothing. Now I can empathize with the people out there that don’t have easy access to quality meat choices and really have to go digging to find them. Wouldn’t it be cool if there was like a virtual farmer’s market that you basically could try different foods from different farms?

Well guess what? There is such thing!

Enter: Home Grown Cow

Home Grown Cow is literally a virtual farmer’s market for meat products like beef, lamb, chicken, pork, charcuterie, dairy, some seafood and few eggs that get shipped directly to your door. Amazing, right? While I believe if you can support local farms you should, not all of us have access to quality local meat. Having a resource like Home Grown Cow is definitely the next best option.

I think what I love most about Home Grown Cow is they are enabling small family farmers around the country to sell their products to a larger spectrum then they normally would. Many traditional farmer’s markets charge farmers and vendors to have a booth. At Homegrown Cow, they allow the farmer’s to set their own prices which assures you as the consumer that the bulk of your money is directly supporting that farmer and their local food community. So even if you can’t support local farms in your area, at least you can help support local farms in a different area. They also don’t private label anything; when you add a whole chicken to your cart it’s like you’re buying directly from the farmer. That transparency is huge!

While the farmer’s markets in California will always have my heart, I love that I now have so many choices to pick from with Home Grown Cow. The first thing I wanted to try was chicken because it’s easy to make two meals out of one chicken and can be made into bone broth after. I was excited when the package arrived and the chickens were still fully frozen! That definitely says something since right now the temperature in Central Florida is hotter than Hades.

BUT even though the temperatures make you feel like your skin is melting, I decided to make a slow cooker easy chicken because well, I love easy dinner and I’ve been in the mood for something comforting and nourishing. This recipe has been adapted by one of my favorite people in the whole world — Jessica from Scratch Mommy. When I tried it at her house, I almost died and went to heaven.

This version is just as yummy and the chicken I received was super flavorful. It’s comforting, nourishing, easy and simply delicious. Don’t forget to save the bones for homemade stock after you’re done.