Recipe Numero Uno: Cream of Empty Cupboard

     Last night was one of those nights where I just threw together something random and told my poor husband, "If it tastes bad you don't have to eat it." That happens a little too often, but experimentation is how we learn, right? What I came up with is something we'll definitely have again. Especially during this memorably cold Alabama winter. (Seriously, I didn't wear a coat once last year. I've been freezing for weeks now!)

MUSHROOMS AND RICE WITH CHICKEN IS NICE

INGREDIENTS:

• Two medium/large boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
• Two bags boil-in-the-bag ready rice. 
• One can cream of mushroom soup.
• salted, sweet cream butter
• salt
• pepper
• minced garlic
• Tony Chachere's

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Assuming you're like me and just buy the biggest bag of frozen chicken you can, take some out to thaw. I used two decent sized breasts so that we'd each (theoretically) get a whole one.
2. Once the chicken is thawed, cut it into pieces about the size of your thumb. I'm paranoid about chicken being under cooked, so I cut it bite sized to be sure it cooks thoroughly. Put in a skillet with a tablespoon of butter and cook on medium high heat. 
3. Add salt, pepper, and garlic to taste. I buy the jar of minced garlic that you keep in the fridge, because I feel it has more flavor and less salt than garlic powder. Going out on a limb here and saying I used between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp of garlic.
4. Add the Tony C's to taste. I didn't measure, but I think I used around a teaspoon. Cook until chicken is done all the way through. I don't like mine to be tough, so I let it get nice and golden on each side and call it a day.
5. Prepare the rice according to the instructions on the package. As I've mentioned, I was super tired, so I just popped mine in the microwave. Make sure you're smarter than me and don't use a plastic bowl. I ruined my best mixing bowl in the microwave last night. And then I cried for half an hour. At least.
6. In a pot that's half again as big as what you'll think you'll need, heat the soup. I use the can of cream of mushroom, then a slightly less than a can of water. For a little extra flavor, add a tablespoon of butter. I find that a whisk is more useful than a spoon when preparing canned soup.
7. Once soup is well mixed and hot, add in the cooked chicken and rice. This is why your pot needs to be so big. Mix well. I added a dash or two more Tony C's as well.
8. Dinner is served! We ate this by itself, but I wouldn't have minded some crackers. It made enough for my husband and I each to have two good sized bowlfuls, and only took about 30 minutes to prepare.

     That's all, folks! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. The Buhr has been sickly lately, so this was a good "I don't feel well" dish. I'll try and remember to take pictures of any recipe I'm going to post from now on, but this was a spur of the moment thing. Let's just pretend it looked like this.

*Disclaimer* This is a random picture I found on Google. I do not own it.

 Stay warm!
     -Katherine