Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole

Let me update you on what we've been eating.

Tuesday night we ate the rest of our Baked Ziti, too good to be wasted. Wednesday night I cooked a super easy recipe I actually got right off of the can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup. It was very easy and actually really good too!!! It's definately going to be one of my new go to recipes for fast easy cooking. 
I was lazy and we ordered some mexican take out last night(Thursday). I should have taken pictures, I will next time. I had taco salad, the hubby had shrimp fajitas, and the kids had bean & cheese burritos. So very good by the way. Much love to Gonzalez Mexican Resturante in Willow Creek, CA. So nothing for Thursday but, I'm already planning tonight's dinner so check back later for that.

Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole

Ingredients:
               1 can Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup
               1 1/3 cup of water
               3/4 cup uncooked rice
               1/2 tsp. onion powder
               1/4 tsp. pepper
                2 cups frozen vegetables
               4 chicken breasts
               1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Preperation:

               Stir soup, rice, onion powder, pepper, and vegetables together in an oven safe baking dish.
Top this with your chicken breasts and cover with a piece of foil. Place in a 375 degree oven for 50 minutes. After baking, remove the dish from the oven and top with your cheddar cheese. Let sit for 10 more minutes and WAH-LA.

We added a side of freshly sliced tomatoes. Homegrown and so juicy.



Eel River Brewing Company's California Blonde Ale



Baked Ziti

This dish was so good. My kids even had seconds.


Heat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 2 1/2-quart baking dish or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil.
Add 1 lb ground beef, 1 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms, and 2 cups of zucchini squash chunks .
Cook, breaking the ground beef up and stirring, until ground beef is browned and squash is tender.
Add 1 clove chopped garlic and oregano or Italian seasoning(appox. 1tablespoon).
Continue cooking, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Then I added a jar of spaghetti sauce.
Next, I combined the sauce mixture with my cooked, drained rigatoni.
Spoon half of the pasta mixture into the baking dish; sprinkle evenly with half of the cheese. Top with remaining pasta mixture and remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

I served this with a loaf of sourdough bread. I sliced the loaf in half and spread it with a little bit of garlic butter and shredded cheddard cheese. Baked this in the oven on 350 until the cheese was fully melted.

Mina had snack duty for school so we made Pumpkin bread cupcakes.

Playing catch up

We have been out of town visiting friends. So for the last 3 days I have only cooked 2 times. On top of that my husband and baby were sick yesterday(Sunday) soo we ate chicken soup and grilled cheese sandwhiches. I did cook twice while out of town. Once was burgers that I didn't take pictures of and the other was breakfast. For breakfast I made my now famous Strawberry & Cream cheese French Toast(this recipe is in an older blog post) and Omelets. I loved the combo of sweet and salty. I should also say that I got all my ingredients from Trader Joe's. Damn, I really wish I had a Trader Joe's in my area. I LOVE THAT PLACE. http://www.traderjoes.com/

For one omelet:   I whisked up 3 eggs in a bowl until nice and fluffy. Then I cooked them in a skillet on medium-low heat until the underside was slightly golden brown. Next, I added some chopped red bell pepper, sliced white mushrooms, and a shredded cheese mix. Then very carefully I folded my omelet in half and cooked it the rest of the way. For a finishing touch I put a little cheese, salt , and pepper on top.

We also ate at The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Their food is always great and of course the beer. http://www.sierranevada.com/

beer sampler

kid's cheese pizza

calamari appetizer