Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Another cheese and chicken casserole...I know. But this one is super easy and fast. Great for leftover chicken.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked and diced chicken
2 cups long grain white rice, uncooked
1 can cream of chicken soup (you can use the low fat)
1 1/3 cups water
1 tsp. worschteshire sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Fried Onions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
In a 9 inch square casserole dish, combine all ingredients except onions. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the rice is tender.
Top with fried onions and bake another 5 minutes.
Let cool for 10 minutes and serve!

Chicken and Artichokes

I bought a cookbook at a book fair and I want to make literally everything in it. This is the first recipe I made out of it and it turned out to be quick, easy, and amazing. Michael even left me a note on the fridge telling me how delicious it was.

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 jar marinated artichokes in oil
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I like Prego garlic and parmesan because I'm fancy like that)
6 slices parmesan cheese
6 slices prosciutto
Hot cooked orzo (rice shaped pasta) or any pasta of choice will work too.

Drain artichokes, reserving one 1 tbsp. of the oil.
Put oil in 12-inch skillet and heat over medium high heat *see my note about browning chicken below* Put in chicken and brown on both sides until most cooked through, about 10 minutes.
While the chicken cooks, boil water and add your pasta.
Add artichokes and cook for 1 minute.
Pour spaghetti sauce over the top, cover, and let cook for 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Top each piece of chicken with 1 slice each of prosciutto and provolone cheese. Cover and cook for another two minutes.
Serve over your pasta and you are done!

A note about cooking chicken. The key to cooking chicken in a skillet is to heat the oil until it begins to smoke. Hot oil is the key to cooking chicken well. If the oil is not smoking, it's not hot enough and the chicken will absorb the oil and get a bit soggy and will also stick to the pan. Heating the oil to hot enough takes several minutes but it's worth it to get nicely browned chicken.