I’m so tired of trying to think of things to cook at night that my whole family will eat I could just spit. In fact, I may have. The fact is: I will never make everybody happy. So I’ve just given up. I mean, sometimes I’ll specifically make things by request – but what the kids request is not what my husband likes. And sometimes not what I like. What my husband and I like is not what they like. Sometimes what my husband likes is not what ANYBODY likes. But him. (In which case he’s on his own).

So the other day I got home from work at 6:30 and my husband ran out the door to his play rehearsal with a yell over the shoulder, “The kids haven’t eaten yet!” I kicked off my shoes, put my hair up, and went to inspect the fridge. Then the pantry. Looking for inspiration. Then my gaze settled on the rice. Rice. Yum. Chicken. Yum. The kids should, possibly, maybe, eat this. Fingers-crossed.

From the pantry I grabbed a bag of Uncle Ben’s Converted Rice, an onion, a couple garlic cloves, canola oil and a can of Campbell’s Cream of Chicken soup.

From the fridge/freezer I grabbed a bag of frozen chicken tenders, a pint of half & half, butter, white wine and Better Than Bouillon concentrated stock (which we like so much better than bouillon cubes).

This is the part where I confess to not taking ANY pictures. I was HUNGRY dude. And busy.

Okay, so in a medium stockpot on medium heat, I poured some oil  and the diced onion and garlic. Let that simmer a bit then put in 4 or 5 frozen chicken tenders. After the chicken was mostly cooked (still a little pink in the middle, but that doesn’t matter because you cook it more) I took the chicken out and cut it up in smaller, bite-sized pieces. Put it back in and let it simmer more while I got other stuff ready. Then I added a little bit of wine to degrease the pan and get all that cooked yummy stuff up from the bottom and circulating in the soup.

I poured in 1 cup of rice, 2 cups of water, the can of Cream of Chicken soup, about half a cup of half & half (but in hindsight maybe a full cup would be best), stirred it all up and turned the burner to medium-low to simmer. I set the timer for 20 minutes and walked away. After 20 minutes I checked the rice and it was still a little firm so I added a little more half & half (probably for a total equivalent of 1 cup of half & half, but I tend not measure) and I also added 1 tbsp of butter. I also added a couple shakes of Tastefully Simple’s Onion Onion and Garlic Garlic because the flavor to add a touch more flavor. (Also, Cayenne would probably have been good but I didn’t try that because of the kids.) 10 more minutes on the timer.

At the end of 10 minutes it was perfect. Just the right consistency – not too runny because I’m not a huge fan of runny, brothy soups – but good creamy broth, yummy, flavorful chicken and overall a filling meal. I think broccoli would have been an excellent addition to the soup as well but I didn’t have any at the time. We’ll try that next.

My husband thought it was very good. He heated it up when he got home, added milk to thin it (because he likes a runnier soup) and he ate an entire big bowl. My kids? *sigh* They would not touch it. Frown. They saw that I made soup and ran screaming from the room. Seriously? What’s wrong with these kids? I was picky when I was a kid but, hello, rice? Chicken? That’s a no-brainer! So I made them heat up their own Chef Boyardee while I ate my yummy soup. So there.

Quick. Easy. Yummy.

Happy eating,

Stef