Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole, a Dump Dinner

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This is a one dish recipe for Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole, a Dump Dinner. A healthy family meal with little prep time that is sure to please.

As you know we bought a house recently, and spent the subsequent few weeks in full on work mode, to get several things done before we could move in. Because of the short notice and upcoming events we were unable to take days off to get the work done, so it’s been a lot of late nights after work, which despite my best efforts has resulted in more take out than either of us is interested in. Luckily the grocery store near us makes a mean salad, has great sushi, and a sandwich station so we have been able to keep it somewhat healthy. The other thing that has helped us keep our stuff together is the great American casserole.

I’ve been trying to keep them as healthy as possible, avoiding the condensed soup, and mayo train, but once in a while you just have to use the condensed soup. This recipe uses it, but it’s still way better for you than ordering pizza, which has happened plenty lately believe me. Using the condensed soup makes all the difference in adding depth and flavor to this recipe without adding steps. The point here was to fix it and forget it so we can get back to work on those floors damnet!

I really think this is a casserole I can get behind though. It was delicious and made the whole house smell great while it cooked away. Besides I loaded it up with traditional mixed vegetables and protein packed chicken which in my book makes it one of those classic American meals. If you grew up in the US I’m sure your mother or grandmother cooked something very similar at some point.

I did decide to add a few more mushrooms because really most condensed cream of mushroom soups actually lack a number of mushrooms. Once we get into this house and I can actually use all those awesome wedding shower gifts that I got I vow to start making and canning my own condensed soups that will be loaded with veggies!

Any-whoodles the recipe is below, and sorry for the pics, we were working with a cell phone camera here. I can’t wait to have all my stuff in one place again!

Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole, a Dump Dinner

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 5 mins

Serves: 4 to 6 Servings

Ingredients

1 (10.5 ounce) Can Cream of mushroom soup
1 1/3 cup water
¾ cup plain rice
1 (16 ounce) bag of frozen mixed vegetables
1 teaspoon oregano
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a large dutch oven combine the soup, water, rice, vegetables, oregano. Mix well.
Season the chicken with salt, pepper and paprika, then place it on top in an even layer.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
Stir well and return to the oven to cook uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes. When done the chicken should be cooked through and the rice tender.
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

What I Should be Doing but I’m Not

By Jessica

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So …

I’m supposed to have a craft project for my 12-12-12 project ready to post for today.

Let’s just say that isn’t going to happen. Not when my house like a hot mess anyway.

It’s cool I have a million and one ideas and I still love the project I’m just buried under the stress of buying a fixer upper, moving, work (construction in the summer h-e-l-l-o busy), and wedding planning. I will do 12 projects this year, they just might not show up in twelve separate months. What can you do? This is life, it throws you loops, and you take them like a champ and figure out a different plan.

Take this whole house buying thing; as much as I told everyone I knew it was going to be work and everything was going to change I still had on these awesome rose colored glasses. Yeah…well those glasses got crushed somewhere on the interstate after a toppling box-pot hole incident. What I’m seeing now man, it just isn’t pretty.

I had plans for this house and they were good, but now that we are actually living in this thing, I’m not so sure.

The first thing I want to tell you was that re-doing all 1100 square feet of wood floors in our house ourselves was a mistake. I don’t suggest it to anyone, it’s just too much for a couple of novices with full time jobs and a wild dog. That’s all I will say about it.

Now the real question is do I really want a grey bedroom? I’ve been dreaming of a grey bedroom for years, now that I can have it I’m freaking out that will feel all wrong, and you know paint is permanent. At least that’s the way my brain keeps processing it. I don’t have any idea why.

All this cupboard space in the kitchen is so nice, I have so many plans for it, except they are already full, because I am a hoarder and have 5 sets of china. Why do I have 5 full sets of china? Because I’m a food blogger and I need them for interesting pictures. Oh so you use them all the time right? Oh god no that would involve pulling them all out and cleaning them all, because clearly I can’t just bring out a couple to use in photos. Besides I use the same set of plates in all my pictures duh.

Aaannnnd now I am talking typing to myself in the third person. Moving on….

Can someone please explain to me why there are so many options for the shade of light blue? I can’t decide?! They all look exactly the same to me, yet for some reason I’m terrified to choose the wrong one, like I said before paint is totally permanent and everything.

Why are there so many damn bugs in this house? Moths in the bathroom, spiders everywhere and mosquitoes galore. There are side effects to living in the country people, I know, but how are they getting in???

So I think this is a good place to end this post. You get the idea of how ridiculous and frazzled my mind has been, besides I can’t even listen (read?) to myself complain any more. Maybe next week I will get my act together and have a real post, with pictures from a real camera, not just my phone. Also fingers crossed that there is time to cook for real.

Honey Dijon Baked Salmon

By Jessica

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This is a simple and succulent recipe for Honey Dijon Baked Salmon, that comes together in less than 30 minutes!

Just before we were about to move I took it upon myself to clean out our freezers. We basically went 3 weeks without buying more than milk and a few fresh veggies. I felt the queen of saving money when my weekly grocery bill topped out at $25.

The crazy part is that we aren’t even half way through our chest freezer. Quite a bit of that is venison that Chuck got this year, and that we are still working our way through, but there is also a sale turkey, corned beef, and a lamb roast in there, that I just haven’t found the time to cook yet. I even found a gallon bag of frozen yellow tomatoes that I totally forgot about, so there will be some Yellow Tomato Jam in our future.

Also in this venture I stumbled across some pretty well freezer burnt wild caught salmon. I racked my brains trying to come up with a way to use the basically ruined salmon, I mean there’s burgers, smoking, dog treats, you know all those recipes I’m sure, but in the end I decided to just go with a tried and true recipe that is amazing at keeping moisture in, something that freezer burnt food usually lacks upon cooking.

The marinade basically forms a crust on the salmon while it cooks to keep all the moisture and flavor in. It’s also really amazing to dip your veggies in, just sayin’. It some together super fast and since there’s citrus in it you only really want to let the fish marinate for 15 to 20 minutes or it will begin to get tough. When it comes out it’s perfectly crusted and beautiful. Something that will please many a picky eater.

Honey Dijon Baked Salmon

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 4 Servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon dried garlic
3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped (plus more for garnish)
1/3 cup grainy Dijon mustard
1 tablespoons lemon juice
4 10-12 ounce salmon pieces

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and place salmon skin side up in a large greased baking dish.
Whisk together the oil, garlic, parsley, mustard, and lemon juice. Pour the mixture over the salmon, cover and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes.
Place in the oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
Serve with an additional sprinkle of parsley.

Wedding To Do List (2 Months)

By Jessica

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The invitations are out! (barely) As are the thank yous from the shower. The floors of the new house are done and we are in! We won’t talk about the fact that we are still totally living out of boxes (kind of – we don’t really pack the traditional way with boxes, but you get the idea).

It has been one hell of a week to say the least.

I’m wiped.

Somehow Chuck is invigorated.

I think this week of craziness has pulled him out of the slump he’s been in since he got a desk job. I think he likes having projects and a purpose, and even though all I want to do is have a binge watching session with Netflix and my favorite Sunday, I’m so happy to see him so happy. I’m especially happy because I have a lot of changes that I would like to make to this place.

Even though we have a lot going on we still have a lot we have to do. The last time I did a to-do list for the wedding was 6 months ago! While it looks like a lot has been done, I’m realizing that there were a number of things missing from the list, so really it’s not any shorter.

What is left to be done:
Invitations designed. Ordered. And Sent.
Guest list finalized. Addresses found and organized.
Bridal party finalized.
Website designed & hashtag chosen. (Not sure this is really going to be finished up to my original vision, but it exsists, and does it’s job, so I’m calling it done.)
Dress Altered. And outfit details configured.
Men’s wear chosen.
Menu decided on.
Cake baker booked. My aunt & Miss Amy are making everything. Woo!
Hotel room booked (for us and a block selected for guests).
Centerpieces designed.
Ceremony & reception signage designed.
Guest book designed.
Favors created.
Wedding bands chosen

What I’m adding to the list

Meet with Snake about ceremony details
Figure out music, including ceremony & itinerary
Have a hair trial run
Seating Chart
Finish Guest Book
Get a crate from Momma Chuck for cards
Make a Thank You banner for pictures
Make/get outdoor games
Get a Marriage Licence

At this point we have just more than 2 months to go until the big day, and a lot of stuff happening in between. Fingers crossed that we can get it all done!

Why I’m Downsizing for a Larger Home

By Jessica

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“The impending move has made me really think about all of the stuff we have and what we want to bring to this house.” You may remember that statement from a post not so long ago, well typing out that little sentence sent me on a huge tangent that made me realize the topic of downsizing my stuff needed to have its own post.

Currently we live in about 750 SF with a small storage space, and we are moving to a 1200 SF home with roughly the same size (1100 SF) storage space plus a garage. I know I should be out shopping and doing happy dances because now I have “so much more room to fill with stuff”.

Here’s the thing; to me stuff is just stuff and what clutters my space, clutters my mind.

This house is a house that we want to build our life and family in. This is the space that we will finally start to live more sustainably and closer to nature, something that has been weighing on me in my many apartments for so long. This is a new, fresh start. It is the beginning of our dreams.

I know some people are rolling their eyes at my dramatics over a house, but my dreams are small and this house is a huge part of my big dream, the colossal step that I have needed for so long now.

I’m afraid to soil this new start with old junk. I’m not saying that I’m tossing all of my furniture and buying new, on the contrary we plan to keep most of our hand me downs until they wear through, or we find replacements that we love. For me it’s the little things like unworn clothes, ridiculous mugs (we have a lot), Tea I don’t like (surprisingly large collection of that too) papers (we have so many papers), old electronics, and other useless stuff. I don’t want to continue to live like this. I said before that I want to wear clothes that feel good, and that I like. I don’t want to tote around old gifts (the many mugs & teas) because I feel guilty that we don’t use them. The papers, junk and old electronics I really can’t explain, I just think that’s everyone these days. I don’t want these old things and feelings following me around.

In this house we are going to build our family and for that we need to have open space to allow that family to (hopefully) grow.

There is quite a bit of stuff that I have given to my mother to sell at her craft fairs & secondhand stores (she loves them). Some will go on Craig’s List, some will be given away and some just be thrown out. Our home will be sparse for a while, but it will be loved and allow us the time to really create a space that is more than just a dwelling. Filling our space with carefully selected, good quality pieces slowly will I think allow us to really feel out our lifestyle and only bring in what we actually need. I hope this will allow us to keep open space in our lives to welcome a larger family one day.

In the future I hope to keep us from getting to this point of too much stuff. Regular clean outs will be mandatory, and I’d really love to go paperless soon (think scanners and offsite computer back ups). Having already cleaned out my closet I learned a lot about my style and hope that I can avoid the wonky ridiculous wardrobe I once had. I filled my wedding registry with things like reusable bags, cloth napkins, canning jars and other stuff to move toward sustainability. Yes we have to store those things, but we won’t be storing a back stock of single use items (like paper towels) instead, and that to me is huge.

I could go on about our plans for this little home for days, but this post seems like it is long enough. Now I would love to hear your thoughts on living with less. Anyone bought a house recently? How did you feel about moving in your stuff? How did you decorate and choose pieces for your new home? I’m very curious!

Easy Chicken and Rice Casserole, a Dump Dinner

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