Baked Chicken and Rice

Last night I got home and the hubs had my new dining room table put together (WOOHOO) and most of the chairs. We took a "short" trip to IKEA Sunday (by short I mean due to issues and traffic we left at 10:20am and got home after 7pm) to pick up the couch and bed for the kids Christmas bedroom redo. We wound up getting a table that is extendable up to 10 people and 4 chairs. We're still looking for 2 end chairs because he wants a "captain's chair" as he calls it. Boys... *sigh* Anyway, he was getting the table together and then taking B to Cub Scouts. I make my menu around the Cub Scout schedule every week and had found a recipe a while back for this chicken. It said you could cook from 1 1/2 - 3 hours depending on temperature so I thought it would be perfect timing for when they got home from the meeting. And since my baby girl was asleep in her room because she wasn't feeling too great this recipe wound up being perfect. I was able to pop it in the oven and hang out with her while it cooked.

Ingredients:
4 - chicken breasts
1 - can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 - can Cream of Celery Soup
1 - can water
2 - cups uncooked MINUTE rice (I would not use regular rice. I don't think it would cook well.)
1 - pkg onion soup mix
Aluminum Foil

Prep Time: 3 minutes
Cook Time: 1.5 hours

Directions:
1. Mix both soups, water, and rice in a bowl.
2. Pour into a greased casserole dish. I used an 11X13 but a 9X13 would probably work too.
3. Lay completely thawed chicken on top of rice mixture.
4. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the top of the entire dish. (If you have picky eaters you could hide this in with the rice mix to still get the flavor.)
5. Cover with aluminum foil. (DON"T forget this step or your rice will burn.)
6. Cook on 250 for about 3 hours or 350 for 1 1/2 hours. Times vary by oven. (I actually cooked mine at 300 for 2 hours.)
7. Remove and enjoy!

This is the next day when I brought some of what was left for lunch.

*This is not the healthiest recipe with the processed soups, but there are lots of homemade recipes for these soups as well as the low-sodium versions in the grocery store if you're trying to cut back.
**Better pictures to come next time I make this. I always forget. :/

This was honestly delicious. TJ kept eating the rice right out of the dish. He even claimed it was the best rice he'd ever had. The chicken was a little more dry than I'd like, not terrible, just not juicy, so next time I will probably find a mild marinade (maybe garlic...) and let it soak overnight in the fridge. You could serve a salad and cornbread with this if you wanted more but for us just the dish was good.

I was told to definitely leave this as a good recipe in the box since when we aren't fond of something we just toss the recipe so we don't use it again. We had some Halloween candy for dessert then hung out with the kids and furbabies in front of the first fire we've made in our new house.

I am in LOVE with this fireplace. 

Roscoe just kept staring at it like it was going to get him. He's a big ol' fraidy cat.

Hope everyone enjoyed their night as much as I did and that you enjoy this recipe as much as we did if you try it.

My Juicing Journey - Day 4

 I was down even more weight when I woke up in the morning! Woohoo! And I felt even better than I did on Day 3. Seriously, I could keep this up. As a matter of fact I plan to have a juice at least 3 times a week after the actual fast is over. Maybe throw in an entire day of juicing every 2-3 weeks. On this day I started with the Berry-A-Peeling juice. I added 2 entire oranges and another 1/2 of a lime after I tasted it. Not because it tasted bad but because I thought those flavors would go good together and I needed as much juice as I could get. This drink didn't make very much. I hoped it would get me through work. I could make something different for dinner.

Even raw this looks like a yummy snack.

This juice was good enough to drink throughout the day. I just drank a glass, then 16-20 oz of water, then another glass of juice. I was still running to the bathroom like a crazy person due to all the liquid consumption but that's what I wanted. Water weight was disappearing.

Now this juice actually looks tasty.

Well, I did have something different for dinner. A salad. :/ Not because I gave in but I was physically feeling sick. Not sick from juicing either. Just plain cold or virus. I had been sneezing, getting chills, and getting a sore throat the last part of the day at work. Then I started feeling queasy. And I couldn't stand the thought of throwing up with nothing in my stomach. So I had a light salad with raw broccoli. Thank The Lord, because later that night I did get sick. I was still running a fever when I went to sleep.

My Juicing Journey - Day 3

I felt SO great when I woke up. Seriously. Woke up earlier, didn't drag getting out of bed, fit in my clothes better... YES! I mean, look at this happy face.

That is a happy girl right there.

I was down another 1.5 lbs when I weighed in the morning. Excuse me, what? I lost weight while I slept? Yes, yes I did. Hallelujah, it's a miracle. I stuck with the Fruity with a Twist recipe because it made so much and was delicious. I did add spinach to it again. A little more than I had previously added actually. Since I couldn't taste it the day before there was no reason not to. Just extra healthy. Let me just add that when I say "I" here, I really mean my hubby because he got it all ready, juiced it, and cleaned up the juicer for me. He is a winner. I can't say it enough. Well, once more wouldn't hurt...

That's the hubs for sure.

Anyway, the day went well. Just kept up my rotation of juice and water. It was by far the easiest day. The only time I even wanted food was when someone was eating right in front of me. And at that it was only junk. I won't lie, there was a Chips Ahoy Reese's cookie that looked more delicious than anything I'd ever seen. But I didn't give in and I was glad at the end of the day.

Total weight loss for the day = 1.6 lbs

Total = 5.2

My Juicing Journey - Day 2

First off, I felt wonderful at the beginning of Day 2. I was afraid that since I was feeling a little bad the night before I would be feeling awful but I didn't. I made the Fruity with a Twist drink again for breakfast. My awesome husband went to the store and got me oranges and strawberries since we had forgotten oranges in our original shopping trip and didn't get enough strawberries. (I have one recipe that uses a lot of those.) I modified this one since even the thought of celery still makes me sick but I need some greens, not just fruit. I put 2 handfuls of spinach in it. It tasted DELICIOUS. Basically like I was drinking orangey-berry-pineappley juice. I couldn't taste the spinach at all. In regular dishes I love spinach, but juiced by itself it's not too good. Mixed in with pineapple it was fine. This recipe made a lot of juice. As in I overflowed my juicers pitcher and had to clean up a huge mess this morning before I could leave for work. It was still a good thing because I needed enough to take to work with me. It definitely did the trick.

It tastes way better than it looks.

I tried to drink a glass of juice then a glass of water all day. Probably about 14 oz each since my cup I was using was 16 oz and I put ice in each drink. I know that you're supposed to drink it as soon as you juice it but that was not feasible for me while at work, so I didn't. I made my juice and put it in a big jug and took it that way. Didn't even have to write my name on it. Can you believe nobody tried to steal it out of the cooler? Haha. I was running to the bathroom all day due to the liquid consumption but that's okay. Makes me feel like it's doing the trick.

Mom had to take some whole fruits and veggies to work to try to eat those. She was too sick to juice again in the morning. She was going to try to eat raw and juice again the next morning. I hope she feels much better so she can. 

I never did make more juice bc this drink made a lot. Enough to last me all day. I felt different than at the end of Day 1 and I know it was due to the spinach I added to the drink. I didn't feel bad, but I could tell I was detoxing more. Temperature was a little higher, I got occasional chills, and I was sweating more. 

Total weight loss for the day = 1.4 lbs

Total = 3.6

My Juicing Journey - Day 1

Okay, this day starts full blast. I woke up at 9 and started juicing. I made the Berry-A-Peeling drink first today before I did anything else. It's all fruit and since my trial juice made me sick last night from the celery in it, I thought fruit would be safer. It wasn't bad. It had apples, limes, and strawberries in it. The lime taste hung around for a while after. I think next time I do this one I'll just use 1/2 of a lime. I cooked the kids and hubs blueberry muffins for breakfast. One of my favorite things. I stayed out of the kitchen while they ate. I wasn't hungry, I just wanted one because I like them.

1st thing. Hair not brushed or anything. But proof I did it.

My mom did the Beginner Green and she has been sick all day. It is mostly green with lots of celery and makes you detox pretty quickly apparently. She also did the Berry-A-Peeling but since she was already sick it didn't help. I don't drink anything but water anyway so mine wasn't as bad as her. She has to have her coffee every day. Hopefully she'll stick with it because she felt bad enough to stay in bed all day and ended the day throwing up. If she wakes up feeling better tomorrow she'll start with fruit juice instead of greens.

My 2nd drink was a Green Lemonade. It had way more green than the first as you can see. It didn't taste bad. It has apples, lemon, kale, spinach, and cucumber in it. I am not a fan of cucumber but it wasn't strong in the drink. It was strong in the aftertaste.

Looks gross but didn't taste bad.

At this point the day started to get a little rough. I was honestly not hungry but we were supposed to go to my hubby's grandparents house for dinner. I sat that one out. TJ made me the Fruity Punch with a Twist before he left. Somehow even though we marked it off the list we forgot oranges, so he threw some strawberries in instead. I didn't get a picture (ops) but it was the worst looking of all. Best tasting though.

 Even though I wasn't hungry I felt like I needed to eat something. I never did get sick but I did feel a little blah. Some people say doing this has them running to the bathroom, but I didn't. Other than from the juice and extra water consumption. While the family was gone to dinner, I folded laundry, cleaned the house, washed the dishes, and drank juice and water. At the end of the day I was craving food. Anything. I would've been happy with a Saltine Cracker. But I didn't give in and I went to bed full. I hope Day 2 is a little easier than Day 1 with the cravings.

Total weight loss for Day1 = 2.2 lbs

My Juicing Journey - Getting Ready

I am actually really excited about this post. It's for betterment of body and mind. Maybe not while it's hapening because it's going to be difficult, but after for sure. I have a friend who decided to do a juicing fast. I have been inspired by his results to do one of my own. He says he's lost weight and feels better than ever, and since both of those things appeal to me I'm doing it. I'm going to shoot for 5 days. I'm going to put each day into a post and put what I drank, how it tasted, and how I feel. I will also be putting in my mom's thoughts since she is amazing and decided to do this with me even though we're in different states. Here's me being excited to start with my mini.

She's excited too because she wants to try all my drinks.

In preparation, I had to get a juicer since it's essential for juicing. I decided on a Breville Juice Fountain Plus. 

My mom is using a Dash. 

I also looked up recipes. My buddy Adrian recommended Juice Recipes as a good recipe source. He was right. They have their recipes broken into categories, including one that focuses on weight loss. These are the recipes we're using because we both want to lose a few extra pounds while we cleanse. I made a Word document and sent it to my mom so we could both print it. You can get it here. All recipes are copied straight from the website.

I also made a shopping list on the Anylist app for iPhone and shared it with my mom. It's a nice feature. We bought fruits and veggies and got ready. We decided to start on a Sunday since the detox can make people feel sick. We didn't want to be feeling crummy at work on the 1st day. Especially her since she can't have her coffee! Lucky for me I don't drink it. 

I tried my juicer out Saturday night just to see what I should be expecting. I made the Fresh Start drink off the website. My hubby tried it and didn't hate it, but I DESPISE the taste of celery which has an even stronger taste when juiced. I will be cutting down celery in most recipes if I use it at all and adding lime to cut the rest of the taste since just the taste made me sick. The process of using the juicer was easy. 

I had gotten a tip off a video somewhere that said to put a plastic bag in the pulp catcher so that you can just pull the bag out and not have to wash the catcher every time. GREAT tip. Even though if you rinse as soon as you're done it cleans easily anyway, using a bag makes it even easier. You'll be washing it a lot so every little bit helps.

I'm all set up for tomorrow and plan on doing a fruit juice for breakfast since the celery made me sick. I'll do a green juice for lunch.