ok - one thing I won't do is cook rice or noodles in the crockpot - they mush -
try dooking rice or noodles separately and then adding to the crockpot - heat through for no more than 20 to 30 minutes - no mush

I can see that now but there were so many recipes calling for the rice at the beginning before cooking on low for 8 hours. I had some doubts so I waited 3 hours before adding it and then held total cooking time to 7 1/2 hours.

Your Dad's dish sounds wonderful, JP...

I had a friend whose 84 year old Mom used to make something similar using just gizzards. It all simmered together in a rich broth and the gizzards became so tender- it was delicious, too!

For future reference... and I'm not crazy about recommending store-bought stuff over delcious homemade food, but... At oil camps up north we often had frozen convenience foods on hand in case we ended up having to feed many that we had not planned on. In addition to pre-cooked batter-fried chicken, Stouffer's lasagne, canned spaghetti sauce, frozen pre-cooked meatballs, and a few other items that we could throw together quickly, in a heart-beat, there was also a very delicious Stouffer's frozen product called "Grandma's Chicken & Rice Bake" (loaded w/ mixed vegetables) and it was so popular, when we did do it in a pinch, many of the guys would request it for weeks after...

Grandma's Chicken & Vegetable Rice Bake - Products - STOUFFERS

Thanks for the tip Kevin but I just viewed the Nutritional Facts on that Chicken and Rice bake and at 880 mg of sodium per serving I will have to pass with this sorry excuse for a heart I have.

My answer will be to cook it the way he did, on top of the stove.

try adding red pepper with the bell pepper