Got a little experimental tonight.
Went to the market hoping for one of those packaged dinners ready-for-the-crock-pot, which for some reason my market had none of today. So no problem, chicken was on sale, figured I'd just make a stew from scratch. Picked up chicken breasts and potatoes, figured I had the veggies in the freezer to finish it off.
Well... I didn't have the bag of veg I was counting on (aka "stew vegetables", or even a bag of carrots, which would have been nice). So I had to go with what I did have, which was an 8-vegetable medley, some of which I wouldn't ordinarily have chosen to add to a slow-cooker meal, but hey, it's what I had. Tossed in a can of corn as well.
Dredged 2 chicken breasts in flour and seasonings and pan-fried them for about 10-20 minutes to get a nice brown crust on the surface. Threw that on top of the veggies in the crock pot with a can of chicken breath, the water from the corn (didn't have any more chicken broth!), and enough extra water to cover. Cut up 3 smallish potatoes and tossed those in as well.
4 hours later...
Removed the chicken breasts from the pot, deboned, and shredded to bite-size bits. Reused the oil from the chicken pan-fry and 2 Tbsp of flour to make roux. Spooned that in. Made Bisquick dumplings, tossed those on top for 20 minutes and added some seasoning to the stew because it needed "something". Nothing fancy, a little salt & pepper, maybe some poultry seasoning.
That's it.
Didn't shatter the culinary world with it, but made some solid tasty comfort food that wasn't a fail, so I'm pleased
(Stews have not historically been my strong point)