Place chicken in the crock pot. I use the whole chicken because it makes a great broth.

Add the diced celery, bay leaf, salt, basil, and garlic around the chicken.

Pour the water around the chicken.

Put the lid on the pot and turn on low for 8-12 hours. (This is great to do before taking off to a busy day of school or work)

Pull the chicken out of the crock pot. I use a colander with a pie plate under it to catch the juices. Use a large spoon to get all of the chicken bits and bones out of the crock pot, as it will be falling apart after cooking all day.

Set aside the chicken to cool so you can pull all of the skin off and debone it.

In your mixing bowl add all of the dumpling ingredients, except the flour.

With your mixer on low, with a dough hook, start adding flour. (You can also add a few seasonings and spices to the mix)

Continue adding flour and mixing until your dough becomes a hard ball.

Set the dumplings to the side to rest, while you return the now naked, boneless chicken back to the pot.

Pull the dough out of the mixing bowl, and place it on the counter with a fine dusting of flour.

Sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough ball, then flatten out as much as you can with your hands.

You can roll the dumplings out and cut them at this point, or just start pinching off pieces.

As you either cut the dumplings. Or pinch them off, start adding them to the crock pot. Do this until the crock pot is almost full.

Turn the crock pot on high. Cover and cook the dumplings for 45 minutes.

Add the cup of milk, about five minutes before you serve.