Creamy Chicken Rice & Christmas Decorating

Dinner Tonight

Tonight I made a creamy chicken rice dish. This dish is wonderful in its versatility and doesn't cost a lot. You can make it as a burrito filling, a soup, a baked potato topping, just about anything you want. Tonight I made it into burritos.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans cream of chicken condensed soup
• rice (can be jasmine rice, long grain, short grain, brown, whichever you prefer. I used long grain.)
• about 1/2 cup milk
• onion (optional)
• cheese (optional- can be cheddar, or swiss, etc. I use Sharp Cheddar)

2 cans cream of chicken -- $2

1lb Rice -- $1 (Used 2 cups so about 20 cents worth)

Gallon of Milk -- $2.50 (Used 1/2 cup so about 5cents worth)

Small Onion -- $1 (Half the onion 50 cents)

2lb bag of Sharp Cheddar -- $7 (handful 25-50 cents)

Total: $3 to feed 3 adults and a toddler, and have leftovers

The Process:

Start your rice cooking. I cook mine in a rice cooker I got from Wal-Mart last year for $20.

At the same time empty the cream of chicken into a separate pot. Pour in the milk, the onion, and seasonings. I use just black pepper and garlic powder.

Cook it until it is bubbling, then add in the cheese and cook till melted. 

About this time my rice was done cooking so I just tossed it in and mixed it all up.

Variations:

• For a soup, add a bit more milk to make it soupy, then add some mixed vegetables. I like to serve mine with grilled cheese sandwiches. 
• For baked potato topping, use less milk to keep it thicker.
• For more heat, you can mix in taco sauce or like my dad uses - siracha sauce.

Christmas Decorating

We also put up our Christmas tree today. Yes, I know it is pretty early but I don't like doing all the work of decorating for it to only be up for a little bit of time so I like to do mine earlier than normal. Dad and myself put the tree together and got the lights and the star on it, and then the little one joined in with the ornament hanging (and candy cane munching).

The tree itself cost $20 at Wal-Mart, the lights were $4 from Big Lots, and the ornaments came from 99 Only.

Hope you enjoy tonight's recipe. 

Cheers,

Sheila