Chicken and Rice Casserole (Minus the Cream of...)

This was last night's dinner and it was delish!! Best part, no "Cream of" anything!!

Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ingredients

·         2 cups cooked rice

·         2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

·         1 1/2 cups cooked, chopped chicken breast meat

·         1 can (12 fluid ounces) Nestlé Carnation Evaporated Milk

·         1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

·         2 large eggs, lightly beaten

·         1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

·         2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

·         1 tablespoon diced jalapeños

·         Salt

Preparation

1.  PREHEAT oven to 350–F. Lightly grease 2-quart casserole.

2.  COMBINE rice, cheese, chicken, evaporated milk, onion, eggs, cilantro, butter and jalapeños in prepared casserole; stir well.

3.  BAKE 45 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Season with salt.

This makes 4 servings. I upped  the ingredients a bit (and I didn't have to by much) to get more servings out of it.

Raisin Scones (With Nonfat Vanilla Yogurt)

These are super easy and absolutely delish!!!

Raisin Scones

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons of butter or margerine
1 large egg
3/4 cup plain yogurt (Skinny: Nonfat Yogurt)
1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates
*I also added approx. 1 tablespoon of cinnamon to give it a little extra something.

Preheat oven: 425 degrees F

Sift flower, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the whole wheat flour and sugar. Mix together. Cut the butter into several pieces and rub into the flours with your finger tips until the texture resembles peas.\

In a small bowl, beat egg and add in yogurt and raisins. Pour into flour mixture, using a fork, stir until soft dough is formed.

Lightly flour a baking tray. Scoop dough onto tray and pat into rounds approx. 3/4 inch think. Bake for 20 minutes or until skewer comes out of center clean.

Serve with warm butter and jam.

**It says, that this is 6 to 8 servings, but honestly, even at 8, they are still pretty big. With kids especially, you could cut that in half and get twice as many servings. Just don't forget to adjust cooking time!!

I'm thinking of trying it with apples too. Will let you know how that goes.

Is a Garden of Eaten possible?

I know this is redundant to my profile, but it is the explanation for the creation of this blog. I am a wife, mother, zookeeper, "farmer," photographer, and attempting to improve my survivalist skills. The world is becoming a scary place. I just want to raise my children to appreciate life, to be productive humans, and to respect differences. Idealistic maybe, be as of late I am more convinced that living as much off the land as possible, and to be as self sufficient as time and money allow, is not only beneficial, but necessary. So come with me on my journey to figuring out how to go from clueless to sufficient for family's sake.

I will be trying new recipes, cooking with clean ingredients, and trying to cut out unnecessary fat and sodium. My mini greenhouse will be busy growing me some ingredients (me and my brown thumb hope). Finding as many ways for our chickens, ducks, and turkeys can improve the kitchen and other ways. I also want to try things like making my own laundry detergent, body scrubs, hair treatments, other soaps, candles, and other DIY projects to improve living without inflation. Lots of other things on the agenda too, but we'll cross that bridge if it is still standing at the end of this.