A New Wreath

I made a ribbon wreath for my parents! It's very monochromatic with black, white and silver ribbon, but seriously, we represent four different universities and it's football season. Kind of hard to choose one school to put on the front door. (Let me rephrase - it would be easy to choose for MY front door, but for my parent's house, it was much harder). To see the tutorial on how to make this wreath, check out my post from February.

The only things that I did differently were to use pearl picks instead of jewels and I put a fun M on it! (Had to get my razorback color in it somehow!) I just bought a wooden M, painted it red, and hot glued straight pins to the back of it. After that, you just have to push it into the styrofoam form! Pretty easy.

Stay tuned, there will be a new wreath for Halloween soon!

Chicken Casserole

I haven't posted in a LONG time! Lots has been going on! I wanted to share one of my (and Ryan's) favorite recipes- Chicken and rice casserole! This casserole freezes well and it tastes even better each time you reheat leftovers. I could seriously eat this daily for a week or two...probably not a good idea! Funny thing is that this is the first meal my grandma made when my dad brought my mom home to meet the family. I have received a few requests for this recipe so I figured I would post it on my blog. So in the style of Ree Drummond, I am posting pictures and giving you a step-by-step tutorial.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups cooked rice
• 1 medium package frozen broccoli (chopped or in small pieces)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 1 can water chestnuts, sliced
• 1 small jar cheez-whiz
• 3-4 cups chopped or shredded chicken (use more if you want!)
• 1/2 cup milk
• Shredded cheese

I always forget about the milk....luckily if you DO forget to put it in, the casserole is still delicious (trust me, I've done it)

 Hmmmm...why is there a diet coke with the ingredients? Oh yeah...I'd don't cook without diet coke. Let's be honest, I don't do much of anything without diet coke. :)

 Place chicken in a pot and fill with water. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Go ahead and turn the oven on to 350 if you are planning on cooking this now.

 While the chicken is cooking, go ahead and cook the rice.

 Drain the water chesnuts 

 Combine milk, cheez-whiz, broccoli, cream of chicken, and water chestnuts in a bowl or pot.

 Add chicken! I like to shred mine, but chopping works too. It's just whatever is easiest for you.

 Start adding rice until you think the mixture seems thick (but not too thick) - I end up using about 4 cups.

 Place mixture in a greased baking dish.

Sprinkle cheese on top. Seriously, who doesn't like extra cheese?

Pop in the oven for 30 - 35 minutes or freeze for later in the week. I think Ryan can vouch that it tastes pretty yummy after being frozen!

Not the prettiest picture, but I PROMISE it tastes amazing! If you do try it, let me know what you think!

Hope you have a great week!