• Cut chicken thighs into 1 inch cubes and dust with flour, salt, and pepper.
  
• Heat dutch oven to medium high heat.  Add oil and butter.  When butter foams, add half of the chicken pieces.
  
• Stir occasionally until chicken pieces are browned on all sides, about 5-7 minutes.  Place browned chicken in crockpot.
  
• Brown second half of chicken pieces and then add to crockpot.
  
• Using the chicken drippings remaining in the pot, saute the chopped and diced carrots, celery, onion, parsley, thyme and 1 teaspoon of salt for 5 minutes until softened and starting to brown.
  
• Add the minced garlic and continue to saute for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
  
• Add the chicken stock and bay leaves and scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  Pour everthing into the Slow Cooker / Crockpot.
  
• Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 7-8 hours.
  

Homemade Dumplings

• Stir together the dry ingredients until well combined.  Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles course crumbs.
  
• Add the milk and stir until combined.  Use an additional tablespoon of milk if needed, but do not make the batter overly sticky.
  
• Roll the batter out to a 1/4 inch thickness on a floured surface and cut into consistently sized squares or rectangles, about and inch wide.
  
• Drop the dumplings one at a time into the boiling soup.  Try to not clump them together and keep stirring to a minimum to avoid breaking up the dumplings.
  
• Cook for an additional 30 minutes on high or 60 minutes on low until the stew has thickened, the dumplings have firmed up, and they no longer have a doughy taste or texture.
  
• Taste if additional salt and pepper is desired.
  
• Garnish with parsley is desired.