Crockpot Cranberry Pear Chicken with Butternut Squash

Jet lag is definitely real! I never have trouble going west, that has always been an easy adjustment for me, but going east blows. We had a red eye flight out of Maui so we could enjoy the day on the beach, so I tried to get as much sleep as I could flying to LAX. I slept for almost the entire flight and then for much of the next flight because my body was still on Hawaii time, which would have been the middle of the night. 

When I finally got back the apartment after three flights and basically 24 hours of travel I was tired, but couldn't sleep. My body was still on Hawaiian time and the lovely spring ahead kicked my butt hard. I survived and would do it all over again because Hawaii is SO worth it. Between layovers and downtime I organized a list of posts to type up, so now I just need time to write them all up!

BUT today is Monday (sigh) and unfortunately that means back to reality for me- aka snow, cold and no palm trees- but it also means it's Crockpot Monday! I am seriously appreciating my crockpot right now because after coming back from a long trip, doing laundry, going grocery shopping and deal with jet lag cooking was the last thing I wanted to do. 

I went out on a limb with this recipe. Normally I am all about the vegetables in the crockpot, but this time I went with fruit. I threw in butternut squash for good measure, which ended up pairing with the fruit perfectly and did you know it is classified as a fruit? There's your fun fact for the day, now whip out those crockpot and enjoy a delicious, easy and healthy home cooked meal! 

Crockpot Cranberry Pear Chicken with Butternut Squash

• 4 chicken breasts, I used Nature Raised Farms all natural thin sliced chicken breasts
• 3/4 medium sweet onion, diced
• 1 pear, thinly sliced
• 1 1/4 cups frozen or fresh cranberries
• 14 oz. or approx. 2 cups, I found a container of cubed butternut squash at the grocery store
• approx. 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ground pepper, to taste
• garlic salt, to taste
• 1 1/4 cups organic low sodium chicken or vegetable broth

I always use a crockpot liner because I find it makes clean up a zillion times easier, but you do not have to line the crockpot. 

At the bottom of the crockpot spread the butternut squash.

Spread half of the diced onion, half of the sliced pear and half of the cranberries (1/2 cup plus 1/8 cup) on top of the butternut squash. 

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon cinnamon (more or less to taste) and a small amount of ground pepper and garlic salt over the ingredients. 

Spread the chicken breasts on top of the ingredients already in crockpot. 

On top of the chicken layer in the remaining onion, pear slices and cranberries. 

Sprinkle remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon (more or less to taste) and another pinch of ground pepper and garlic salt over everything. 

Finally pour the chicken or vegetable broth into crockpot.

Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. 

Nutrition Information (based on 4 servings):

MACROS: 27C/1F/29P

Nutrition Facts
Servings 4.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 216
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 1 g	2 %
Saturated Fat 0 g	0 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 70 mg	23 %
Sodium 148 mg	6 %
Potassium 475 mg	14 %
Total Carbohydrate 27 g	9 %
Dietary Fiber 6 g	23 %
Sugars 11 g
Protein 29 g	58 %
Vitamin A	211 %
Vitamin C	51 %
Calcium	9 %
Iron	7 %