Cheesy Chicken-Veggie-Rice Casserole

Some days I am a very boring person. All I want to do is get in my PJs as soon as I get home, eat dinner, and watch horrible TV shows all night. Or I want to read a book. I may want to eat ice cream. But none of those things involve exerting any energy or interacting with other people.

When all you do is interact with 30+ little people all day, you really learn to treasure the silence.

This is a "boring mood" dinner that doesn't taste boring. It takes all of 5 minutes to get ready, 50 minutes to cook, and then you eat it. It's a perfect lazy day meal. 

And when I say boring, I don't mean the dish is boring. It's bomb.com. It reminds me of something a grandma from the midwest would make when you come to visit. Then you'd go work on the ranch in the morning and spend time in a garden. Just me? Okay.

This dish requires no fancy ingredients. 2 chicken breasts, a can of cream of chicken soup, a small bag of any frozen veggies you like,  3/4 c. rice, 1 1/3 c. water, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and 1/2 to 3/4 c. any shredded cheese your heart desires. My heart desired cheddar that day. It would be delish with mozzarella and DANG good with some shredded pepper jack. My heart belongs to pepper jack cheese. Don't tell Drew.

Preheat your oven to 375 F. Mix everything but the cheese and chicken in a 9x13 pan. Make sure the soup is mixed together with the water and isn't too chunky. That was the hard part. Give yourself a pat on the back, because you got this.

Cut the chicken breasts in half and place them on top of the rice/veggie/liquid mixture. Cover the entire pan with foil and bake it for 50 minutes.

Uncover your casserole and gaze at it. MAN that chicken looks naked. I don't like naked chicken. Really, I don't like any naked poultry. I'm quite conservative.

So obviously the solution is to cover the entire top of the casserole with your cheese. DO IT. Love it. Cover the pan back with the foil and let it sit for another 5 minutes.

 Look, the cheese melted. You didn't do anything to it and it got it's act together. How wonderful. And creamy. And cheesy. And wonderful.

Here you go. A wonderful old-lady-esque casserole that makes me feel like I'm in Kansas with Dorothy and her mother. Eat it and love it. Feel comforted.