Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

 

This soup is absolutely delicious!  It does take some extra steps, but we really enjoy it!  I recently brought this to a party, and someone said it tasted better than Panera's.  I also make a vegetarian version for my daughter, and she loves it.  You can also make this wheat/gluten free by using *gluten free flour.

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked wild rice

2 Tbsp olive oil (I prefer extra light tasting)

1 small onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

1 1/2 tsp garlic, minced

2 lbs chicken breast, cut up into bite size pieces

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 tsp each dried thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, and black pepper

2 tsp salt, divided

6 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour*

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

Cook wild rice.  The method I prefer is to use my instant pot.  I put 1 cup wild rice, 1 1/2 cups water, and 1 tsp salt into my instant pot.  I set it on high for 30 minutes and let it natural release for at least 10 minutes.  I do this first while I prepare the rest of my soup.

Cook onion, carrots, and celery in olive oil, stirring often, in a large pot for about 4-5 minutes or until onions are translucent.  Add garlic and cut up chicken and continue stirring and cooking until the chicken is mostly no longer pink.  Add chicken broth, spices, and 1 tsp salt, and bring to a low boil, stirring occasionally.  

In a different sauce pan, melt butter on medium heat.  Whisk in flour and stir.  Add milk and heavy cream.  Whisk often and cook until the milk is very thick.  Add mixture to the soup and whisk in. Add cooked rice into your soup as well and stir well.  Enjoy!

Vegetarian version: leave out the chicken and use veggie broth in place of chicken broth

Cajun Rice & Sausage

I was looking to throw something together when we were running low on ingredients, and I found the basic recipe for this on allrecipes.com.  It was yummy comfort food and my husband said he really liked it a lot!  This recipe called for andouille sausage, and we had some sausage that my husband's work gave him and was in our freezer, and I honestly have no idea what kind of sausage it is.  It's the kind you slice up, like a smoked sausage, not one you crumble up like ground.  If you want to lower the calorie & fat content, you could use the reduced fat cream of mushroom and use turkey sausage. I did double the original recipe so you can easily half it for a smaller family.

Ingredients
2 cup white rice
4 cups chicken broth
1 lb sausage, sliced up
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed (optional)

Directions
Combine all ingredients, except mushroom soup, in a large stockpot.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 25-30 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in mushroom soup.  Super easy!

4-8-13: I added 2 can of drained black beans to the pot tonight and it was delicious!  I wanted to add something more nutritious to the pot and it came out yummy!

Brown Rice Mock Risotto

I made this for my family with some chicken and my children in particular absolutely loved it.  My 21 month old gobbled it down and asked for seconds and thirds.  The original recipe called for adding a bunch of veggies, but I was using what I had on hand.  I had instant brown rice and have never made a risotto before, so I searched for a recipe that I could make a risotto with instand brown rice, and this is the one I found.

Ingredients
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups instant brown rice
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
4 oz cream cheese (I used regular but you can use reduced fat if you like)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2-4 Tbsp chopped green onions or chives

Directions
Heat oil in a skillet and sautee onion and salt 4-6 minutes.  Add rice and garlic and cook about 30 seconds.  Add broth and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook 10 minutes.  Add cream cheese and stir until incorporated into the rice and creamy.  Continue cooking uncovered 5-10 more minutes or until most of the liquid is evaporated.  Stir in Parmesan cheese and top with green onions.

Crockpot Santa Fe Chicken

I found this on Gina's Skinny Taste website, a Weight Watcher food friendly blog. I really enjoyed this. Serve over rice and top it with cheese and sour cream, chopped green onions, or cilantro. I felt it had too much liquid when I was done, so next time I could cut back on the chicken broth. I also cut the cayenne pepper in half and it still had quite a bite to it.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs chicken breast
1 can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
1 can black beans, drained
8oz frozen corn, or 1 can drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (and more if you want to top it)
1 can chicken broth (I would cut back on this next time or leave it out)
3 scallions, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
salt to taste

Directions
Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt in the crockpot. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top. Cook on low for 10 hours or high for 6 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Return to slow cooker and stir in.

WW points: 1 cup is 3 points, 190 calories, 1.5g fat, 5.6g fiber, 23.1g carbs, 21g protein

Sofrito Chicken Stew

I got this recipe from SkinnyTaste, a weight watcher blog. It is absolutely delicious!!! I love all the fresh ingredients and colors in this. I made it with chicken breasts instead of thighs because I don't like dark meat. I just cut each large breast into 2 or 3 pieces. I also don't buy, drink, or use alcohol at all, so I used chicken broth instead of beer, like her recipe called for. Her picture is much prettier if you want to go look because that is one of the main reasons I decided to try it. The chicken came out very tender and it really is wonderful!!! I served it over white rice like she suggested.

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
6 scallions or green onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, diced (I used 3 small ones)
1/3 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp salt
1 packet of sazon (find in Latin section of grocery) or 1 tsp annatto seed powder (I used sazon)
2 lbs chicken (she suggests bone in thighs or legs, but I used boneless skinless chicken breasts)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup water
more salt to taste
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
cooked white rice to serve over, optional

Directions
Heat oil in a deep sauce pan. Add green onions/scallions and garlic to pan and saute about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, peppers, cumin, 2 tsp salt, and sazon and saute another 2 minutes or so and set aside. Season chicken with salt and garlic powder, add to center of pan and allow chicken to brown on both sides. Combine chicken, sofrito, chicken broth, water, and cilantro. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook about 20-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice.

Crockpot: Combine all ingredients (don't put in rice) in the crockpot.  Stir, cover, and cook on high for 4-6 hours or low 8-10 hours. 

WW points: 3oz piece of chicken plus stew = 3 points

Spicy Chicken & Rice

You can change the amounts as you desire of things, and you could also leave out stuff too. This a yummy inexpensive meal that is great for feeding a crowd on a budget.  I have modified it some as the original recipe made a huge amount. This still makes a lot, but it's about half of what it made before. I've made it with and without black beans, and as much as I like black beans, I like this better without them.

Ingredients
-1 lb chicken (I prefer white meat)

-1/2 tsp chili powder
-1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional if you don't like spicy)
-2 cups white rice, uncooked
-1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies (like Rotel)
-1 can petite diced tomatoes
-1 can corn, drained

-8oz cheddar cheese, shredded (leave off for dairy-free)

-1 to 2 Tbsp onion powder or dried minced onion

-garlic salt (or garlic powder and salt), to taste
-salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions
Boil chicken with red pepper and chili powder for about an hour, remove chicken to cool, and reserve broth. Meanwhile, cook 2 cups of rice in 4 cups of water until tender and put into very large bowl. In a medium pot, combine both cans of tomatoes, corn, and spices and simmer until chicken is done cooking. Shred chicken into pot with tomato and corn mixture and mix together. Let simmer about 5 minutes. Pour chicken, corn, & tomato mixture over rice and mix well. Add chicken broth you reserved with the spices in it to your rice mixture if it looks dry to you. This is optional and will add more spice. Add salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste. Top with cheddar cheese and mix it in if you desire or serve on the side and people can top with cheese as desired. Enjoy!

Broccoli Rice Casserole

I was making dinner for my family and our close friend, Matt, last night, and I got in the mood to cook more than I originally planned. I was already making my creamy chicken & noodles as well as my ricotta rolls, but I wanted something more. So, I made pineapple bake and then I wanted something green. So, I started looking through what I had on hand and realized I had a bag of frozen broccoli and a can of cream of broccoli soup, and I thought I could make some sort of broccoli casserole. I started looking on the Campbell's website and found this broccoli rice casserole. I did change it some, of course. :-) You can go to the website link above if you want to see the original recipe. My husband doesn't care for stuff like this (he's not a big fan of broccoli), but Matt and I liked it a lot! It was really creamy and delicious.

Ingredients
1-2 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 (14oz) package frozen broccoli florets
1/3 cup milk
1 can cream of broccoli soup (it called for cream of chicken, and really, you could probably use any cream of soup you want or have on hand... use reduced fat if you prefer)
8oz American cheese slices (12 slices) or Velvetta cheese, cubed (use reduced fat if preferred)
1 1/2 cups cooked white rice (could use brown if you prefer), I used 3/4 cup dry
salt and pepper to tasteDirections
Heat oil in a nonstick skillet or large saucepan over medium heat. Add diced onion and cook until onion is tender. Add broccoli and cook until that is tender as well. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook until cheese is melted. Pour into sprayed 2-quart baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes to cool and thicken.

Spanish Rice

I wanted a recipe for Spanish rice the other night. My mother-in-law makes a very similar recipe but she used a can of diced tomatoes with chilies (which you could use, I just didn't have on hand) instead of salsa, and she used water instead of chicken broth. Anyway, I thought this one sounded good when I found it on allrecipes, and I tried it and liked it. I did modify it a little bit. It was very easy, and it complimented my enchiladas well. I did accidentally add a little too much salsa, but it still turned out fine. You could also add some chopped bell pepper or green onions to this if you desire. It's a very simple, easy, and yummy side to serve on Mexican food night. :-)

Ingredients
1-2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp chopped onion (or 1 tbsp dried minced onion)
1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup chunky salsa

Directions
Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion (if using fresh) and cook for about 5 minutes or until onion is tender (if you use dried minced onion, skip this step). Mix rice into pan, stirring often. When rice just begins to turn translucent or JUST starts to brown, be careful because you can easily burn your rice if you aren't watching, stir in chicken broth and salsa. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender (I did it for 20 minutes only, and my rice was a little crunchy, so next time I will do 25 minutes).

Mushroom Chicken & Rice

Don't be scared by the mushroom in the name. I don't like mushrooms, but cream of mushroom soup has such small pieces of mushroom, I like it. This recipe is so simple and very inexpensive. You might have to double it if you have a larger family. We really enjoy this dish, and I had forgotten about it until the other day we were low on ingredients, and I saw we had a can of cream of mushroom, and I remembered I could make this. Hope you enjoy!


Ingredients
1 lb chicken breasts or thighs
3/4 cup rice (white or brown)
10.5oz can cream of mushroom soup

1 1/3 cup water
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
Directions
Mix rice, soup, water, pepper, & paprika in a bowl. Place chicken pieces into 9x13 pan and pour rice and soup mixture over top. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes, if using white rice, or 1 hour and 15 minutes if using brown rice.

Cheddar Beef Enchiladas

I made this the other night, and it was definitely a keeper. :-) The recipe suggests baking half of it and putting the other half in the freezer. I made the whole thing but ended up putting half of it in the fridge, so I could have froze half of it. I think they are more like burritos rather than enchiladas. Very yummy.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef (or turkey) (you could leave this out to make vegetarian)


• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning or my homemade taco seasoning


• 1 cup water


• 2 cups cooked rice


• 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans


• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided


• 10 (8 inch) flour tortillas


• 1 (16 ounce) jar salsa


• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

Directions

1. In a large skillet, cook beef or turkey over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in taco seasoning and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Stir in rice. Cook and stir until liquid is evaporated. Spread about 2 tablespoons of refried beans, 1/4 cup beef mixture and 1 tablespoon cheese down the center of each tortilla; roll up. Place seam side down in two greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dishes.


2. Combine salsa and soup; pour down the center of enchiladas (I spread it all over the top so the tortillas wouldn't dry out). Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake one casserole, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. Cover and freeze remaining casserole for up to 3 months.

To use frozen casserole: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through and cheese is melted.

I call this a budget-friendly meal because it really makes 2 dinners, so if you divide the cost in half, it is definitely under $10 :-)

Fierro Chicken

I made this the other night upon recommendation of my friend, Lindsey. It actually is rated #1 casserole on allrecipes right now. I made it like Lindsey recommended with the yellow rice, and it was yummy! You could also try just serving it over white or brown rice for a nice variation. We will be making this one again! Thank you so much for the recipe, Lindsey! :-)

Ingredients

• nonstick cooking spray



• 5 ounces cream cheese, softened



• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese



• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies



• 1 tablespoon chili powder



• 3/4 cup enchilada sauce (watch for gluten/wheat free brands)
  



• 6 button mushrooms, sliced (optional, I omitted these b/c I don't care for mushrooms)
  



• 3/4 cup heavy cream



• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves



• 10oz package of yellow rice (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.



2. Mix the cream cheese, Cheddar cheese, green chilies, chili powder, enchilada sauce, button mushrooms, and heavy cream in a large bowl. Arrange chicken breasts in the prepared baking dish; pour sauce over.



3. Bake in preheated oven until the juices run clear, about 40 minutes.



4. (Optional step) While chicken is cooking, make yellow rice according to package directions. Then once your chicken is done, cut into bite size pieces and mix the rice into your chicken and sauce.

9/2/09: So I made this again the other night with white rice, and it was better with the yellow rice. Just wanted to let everyone know. Lindsey you were right on with the yellow rice. :-)

Calories: With yellow rice, 750 calories for 1/4 of the dish. Or 510 calories without the rice (I used 19oz of chicken, uncooked, so you have to adjust the calories if you use a different amount, obviously)

Delicious Chicken Casserole

I found this Delicious Chicken Casserole on allrecipes.com, and I made it last night because it was one of the top 20 chicken casseroles. It was very good and reminded me of another recipe that I make and love... I will be making that recipe soon enough to put on here! Even my hubby liked this, the man who doesn't like sour cream (I've decided he doesn't like it plain, but he will eat it in a recipe... especially if he doesn't know it's in there). :-) I did add 2 cups of rice instead of one, and I chose to omit the butter (these were based upon recommendations of the reviews on the website). I also will next time try it a little different and make it easier and cheaper.... use canned broth instead of making your own... I will include that variation at the bottom.

Ingredients
-1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (this recommended bones in and removing them after cooking, but I say skip that and buy it without bones!)
-2 stalks celery, cut into thirds (I would leave this out next time, see variations at bottom)
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/8 tsp pepper
-2 cups cooked rice (only called for 1, but I used 2, and it needed it.... great use for leftover rice)
-6oz sour cream (3/4 cup)
-2 cans cream of chicken soup
-1/4 tsp celery salt (optional, I left this out and added a little extra salt instead)
-1/8 tsp onion powder
-1/4 tsp garlic powder
-salt and pepper to taste
-2 cups crushed buttery round crackers, crushed (like Ritz... I used a whole sleeve of them)
-1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted (optional, I omitted this totally after taking the picture)Directions
-Boil the chicken, celery, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/8 pepper, and enough water to cover. Cover, reduce heat to medium low; simmer for 35 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup broth. Cool chicken, throw away celery, and cut into bite size pieces or shred.

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together sour cream, soup, broth, celery salt, salt & pepper to taste, onion powder, garlic powder, cooked rice, & chicken. Spoon into 9x13 casserole dish. In a resealable bag, shake together crushed crackers and melted butter (skip this step if omitting butter). Sprinkle crackers over top. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Variations:
Ok, next time I make this, this is how I will do it.... easier and a little cheaper....

-1 lb chicken breasts
-1 cup chicken broth
-2 cups cooked rice
-6oz sour cream
-2 cans cream of chicken soup
-1/8 tsp onion powder
-1/4 tsp garlic powder
-salt & pepper to taste
-2 cups crushed buttery round crackers, crushed

-Boil chicken until done, let cool, and shred or cube into large bowl. Add remaining ingredients except crackers to bowl. Mix and spoon into 9x13 casserole and top with crackers. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Tip: Easy way to crush your crackers if you don't want to dirty your food processor. Take all the crackers and put them into a resealable gallon plastic bag. Take a rolling pin and roll and mash the crackers in the bag. My mom taught me this trick. Thanks Mom! :-)

350 calories for 1/6 of the dish (this is omitting the butter)

Salsa Chicken Rice Casserole

I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com. In case you can't tell, I've recently spent some time looking for recipes on this website. This got a 4 1/2 star rating, so I thought it might be promising. I was a little skeptical when I was putting it together, but it turned out really yummy! My whole family really liked it a lot, although my hubby said it has too much onion in it. It doesn't! He just has onion and cheese mixture issues. :-) WHEN I make this again, because I will be, I will just leave out the dried minced onion and sprinkle some onion powder on my portion instead.

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups uncooked white rice
2 2/3 cups water
1 lb chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed (I boiled mine for 30 minutes)
2 cups Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 onion, chopped (or 2 Tbsp dried minced onion)
1 1/2 cups mild salsa (I used hot because I had it on hand)Directions
-Bring water & rice to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Turn down to simmer for 20 minutes. In the meantime, cook your chicken until done and shred or cube. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a 9x13 casserole dish.
-Combine cooked rice, chicken, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, onion, salsa, & half of your cheeses together in a large bowl. Spread into your casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 40 minutes.

Variation
I changed the recipe a little bit. The recipe called for Monterey Jack cheese instead Colby & Monterey Jack, but the Colby & Monterey Jack was already preshredded, so I chose that. Also, the recipe called for layering the rice, chicken, soups/salsa/onion, and cheeses, but I thought it would be easier to just combine them all and top with half the cheese. So, if you'd like to give these things a try, go ahead. I just thought I made the recipe a little bit easier and you don't have to worry about your rice or chicken getting dried out.

6 servings, 600 calories each (you can try to reduce some of your calories by using 98% fat free soups if you prefer)

Rice & Black Bean Casserole

I made this the other night, and it was a big hit! My husband (the picky one), really enjoyed it a lot. It's really healthy for you (especially if you use brown rice), and has a lot of flavor. I got it off of www.allrecipes.com and modified it a bit. I put a little bit too much cayenne pepper in it for my boy's tastes, so I added some sour cream to theirs, and they ate it up after that. Next time I think I will only put a few sprinkles in it. Seriously, this casserole was completely demolished. I do not know what happened to my picture of the ingredients. I know I set them up for a picture, and I think I got distracted and totally forgot to take the picture. Guess that's what happens when you have 3 young children. :-) I will be making this again, and I will post the picture then. The original name said, "Brown rice & black bean casserole," but since I used white rice, I omitted the brown part. Mine came out more soupy than the picture on the website, so I wonder if using the brown rice made it sop up more of the liquid. Oh yes, I also made this in the morning, put it in the fridge and was able to go to a baby shower, visit a friend who just had a baby, and come home and pop it in the oven. I love when you can do that with a recipe!

Directions
-1/3 cup rice (white or brown, I used white because I had it on hand)
-1 cup chicken or vegetable broth (I used chicken)
-1/3 cup diced onion (or 1/2 - 1 Tbsp dried minced onion)
-1 medium zucchini, diced
-1 lb chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed (I boiled mine, but you could use leftover chicken too if you have it or you could sautee it with your onion if you like)
-1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (optional), I didn't use these since I don't care for mushrooms
-1/2 tsp cumin
-salt to taste
-ground cayenne pepper to taste (seriously, unless you like hot, only put in a couple of shakes)
-15oz can black beans, drained
-1 can diced tomatoes & green chillies, drained (see very bottom for update on 7/31/09)
-1/3 cup shredded carrots
-2 cups cheddar or swiss cheese (I used cheddar), divided (use a reduced fat cheese for even more heart healthy)Directions
-Mix the rice and broth in a small saucepan, bring to a boil and let simmer 20 minutes for white rice and 45 mintues for brown rice. In the meantime, cook your chicken. You can boil it for about 30 minutes or sautee it with your onion and mushrooms.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. The recipe called for you to sautee your chicken, zucchini, mushrooms, & onion in 1 Tbsp olive oil, but I totally omitted this step, not seeing the point to it since you will bake it in the oven.
-In a large bowl, combine cooked rice, cooked chicken, onion, zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, cumin, salt, cayenne pepper, tomatoes & green chillies, and 1 cup of your cheese. Pour into a 2 liter casserole dish, and top with remaining 1 cup cheese.
-Bake covered for 30 minutes, remove cover, and continue baking 10 more minutes.

Variations
As you can tell from the ingredients, I did change the recipe some (white instead of brown rice, no mushrooms, dried minced onion, chicken instead of vegetable broth, & cheddar instead of swiss cheese). The recipe did call for a 4oz can diced green chillies instead of the diced tomatoes & chillies, but I changed it based upon some of the reviews people said about the recipe on the website I found it. My husband and children love black olives, so they added some to theirs. And like I said, I added sour cream to the boys to make it not so spicy, but next time I won't put in as much cayenne pepper, and I'm sure it will be fine without the sour cream.

7/31/09: So, I made this again, and this time I used brown rice, green chilies (instead of the tomatoes and green chilies), and a tiny bit of cayenne pepper. It was even better! It wasn't soupy this time, and I enjoyed it a lot more! I love how healthy it is for you and how yummy too! :-) I took new pictures too.

Rice Casserole

This was originally my Nana's recipe and modified a little by my Mom. It only has 3 ingredients, and it's so yummy, and so simple. This is great served with Crock-pot roast.

Ingredients
1 cup rice
1 can of french onion soup
1 can beef broth or beef consommeDirections
Spray small casserole dish. Strain onions out of french onion soup, and just put the broth part into the casserole dish (this part is optional. I don't care for onions, so I strain them out and throw them away, but if you like onions, by all means, leave them in and just dump the whole can in). Add the rice and beef broth to the casserole and stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Taco Salad

A friend of mine, Lori, gave this recipe to me a few years ago. She brought it to us as a meal and it so wonderful I had to have the recipe. It makes a lot of food! You can reduce the rice down to a smaller package, and it won't make so much, or you can just save it and have leftovers! :-) Note: I only put one black olive on the top because I don't like them, and I picked it off afterward, but it made for more color in the picture. :-) I know Mom will be happy for more color in my pictures! :-)

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey or beef (you could actually totally leave this out if you are vegetarian)
16oz package of Vigo yellow rice
28oz can of diced tomatoes
1 can of cheddar cheese soup
1 package of taco seasoning or Homemade Taco Seasoning
1/4 cup milk
Fritos
lettuce, sour cream, tomato, salsa, black olives, cheese (whatever toppings you like on your tacos)
(I didn't take a picture of the ingredients this time since my camera's battery was being recharged, sorry)

Directions

Cook the Vigo yellow rice according to package in medium pot. Meanwhile, brown your ground meat in a large skillet and drain. Return to skillet and add tomatoes, cheese soup, taco seasoning, & milk. Stir and once rice is done cooking, add rice to your meat mixture in the skillet. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Serve over a bed of fritos & lettuce and top with salsa, cheese, sour cream, black olives, or whatever toppings you desire.

I figure this is a budget-friendly meal depending upon what toppings you like and it makes a very large amount so if you have a smaller family, you should have leftovers. I can make this for company easily.

Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole

I love this casserole! It is easy to make and easy clean-up, plus not a lot of ingredients. It includes your meat, vegetables, & rice in one dish. I absolutely love the way it tastes, and I love the crunch of the water chestnuts in it. My boys call them "chips" and pick those out and eat them first. :-)
Ingredients
1 lb chicken (I prefer breasts but you can use whatever you like or even leftover chicken)
2 cups chicken broth (I actually keep chicken bouillon cubes in the house, so I use 2 of these and crumble them up, plus 2 cups water)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 box Long Grain & Wild Rice, plus seasoning (I like Uncle Ben’s Original Recipe or Zataran’s brand)
1 can French-style green beans, drained
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drainedDirections
Boil your chicken until it's cooked through & shred into a bowl. Add all the other ingredients, mix, and pour in a 9x13 casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

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