Chicken and Rice: Delicious and Incredibly Easy!

When I was growing up, both my parents worked. Mom would come home, mix this dish up in a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish and in an hour we were sitting down as a family for dinner. Take this dish and a salad and you have all the food groups needed for a delicious and nutritious meal.

Baked Chicken and Rice - serves 6

8-10 pieces of meaty chicken - thighs and breasts give each diner a meaty portion - skin if you want to decrease fat, but it is suggested that you drizzle each piece with olive oil after removing the foil and returning to oven for that last 1/2 hour to brown. If you do not drizzle a little oil onto the bird, you may end up with dry chicken.
1 Celery Stalk, cleaned and chopped
1/2 Green Bell Pepper, cleaned and chopped
1 sm. can of mushrooms - do not drain
1 cup of uncooked white rice
2 cups of water
6 shakes of sage
6 shakes of thyme
Garlic Salt
1 Pkg. Dry Onion Soup Mix

9 by 13 inch baking dish
spray cooking oil
aluminum foil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Apply cooking spray to cover baking dish. Spread evenly into the baking dish;
1 cup uncooked rice, celery, pepper, mushrooms, dry onion soup mix, sage and thyme. Gently pour 2 cups of water into the mixture. Top evenly with chicken parts. Take your garlic salt and sprinkle on chicken. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and place in oven. Bake at 350 F for 1 hour. Remove foil and bake 1/2 hour more, or until chicken gets that golden, crispy look to it. Take from oven, let stand 5 minutes to cool and serve.

We all need recipes that are easy and yet will nourish our families and ourselves. Good nutrition helps all of us to stay healthy and happy!