Chicken & Rice Casserole For the Win

I've been meaning to share this recipe for a while. Our neighbor brought us this dish while I was recovering and the kids went nuts over it and pleaded that I get the recipe. I made it a handful of times and the kids still love it. I also paid it forward to a neighbor when she recently had her baby and she said all her kids loved it and so I passed the recipe on to her. Now I'm making it public. You're welcome.

1 to 1 1/2 lb chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
2 boxes Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice (quick-cooking)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped onion

Cook rice according to package directions. The directions say to use just less than three cups water if you're using two boxes. But I add three cups and I upped the chicken broth amount in the original recipe from 1/2 to 1 cup because otherwise it dries out too much in the oven. 
Once the rice is cooked, stir in all the other ingredients. Transfer to a 9x13 [or so] baking dish and bake uncovered at 350 for 45-50 minutes. If you like, you can sprinkle something crunchy over the top [like crumbled Ritz crackers] before it goes in the oven.

Warm It Up

The cold weather has settled in here and it's time to pull out all those recipes for yummy, warm meals. One we've used again and again is this Broccoli Cheddar Soup from Annie's Eats.  We've eaten it in bread bowls, the way the kids prefer. Having it in a bowl with fresh, warm bread [or any bread!] on the side is just as delicious.  We always puree it instead of leaving all the ingredients chunky so even our littlest can share in the goodness. And he loves it as much as we do! 
One pureeing tip: I don't own an immersion blender anymore so I just ladle the soup into our blender about 3/4 full and blend until smooth. I leave the cap off and cover lightly with a paper towel [so steam can escape, but the soup won't splatter]. I have to do that three times with this recipe.

Veggie Enchiladas

We just had the greatest enchiladas - filled with good stuff and really simple to make. Our pickiest eater would not agree, but I think they may be the best I've had and it includes a great homemade enchilada sauce.

Click here for the link. The only small differences were that I used canned corn and flour tortillas because I don't like the taste of corn tortillas.

That picky eater of ours told me that this recipe should not "go in the book" meaning the family recipe book. Oh, it's going in the book. But a recent cleaning-up project reminded me of this idea on making your own cookbook that I love and want to try...soon!