Ask Jen about how chicken once saved her life

Hear me out. Don’t disregard this lovely story just because it’s only September. I’m about to use a word – a curse word of sorts – that is difficult to even think about, let alone mention… Ready?

Thanksgiving.

There. I said it. Are you still there?

Picture this

A rookie. A 22 year old gal (a super cute one, I must say) cooking her first Thanksgiving all by herself. A turkey stuffed with homemade dressing, homemade gravy, potatoes, yams, steamed veggies, pies; heck, even the rolls were homemade! This was going to be my – I mean – her entrance exam into the talented gene pool of cooks in her family.

Okay, okay. it was me. This is totally non-fiction. Don’t laugh – we all have one of these stories.

Anyway, I may have overextended myself just a smidge. I specifically remember turning the oven on, but not remembering what temperature to use. In an effort to look it up, I obviously got sidetracked with the other 47 dishes I was cooking, and forget to turn the heat up past 200 degrees. Oh, the shame.

When I realized what I had done, the family was on their way, and we were set to eat in about an hour. Go me.

What did I do, you ask? I pulled a bag of chicken breasts out of the freezer and cooked them in an electric skillet with rice.

Chicken breast to the rescue! To this day, we call my chicken and rice, “Thanksgiving Chicken.”

Fyi, at about 8 PM that night, the turkey was done, the family was gone, and the cook was exhausted.

Go make something awesome,
Jen

Thanksgiving Chicken

6-8 skinless chicken breasts
Adobo or poultry seasoning, to taste
Sea salt, black pepper, and parsley, to taste
2-3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup|
Several cups of water, divided
1 small sweet onion, diced
1-2 stalks celery, diced, including leaves
1-2 carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces
1 cup uncooked brown rice

In a large electric skillet, drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil, add and begin cooking the seasoned chicken breasts, flipping often, so they don’t get too done on the outside (20-30 minutes or so). Add enough water to cover the bottom of the chicken, and spoon the condensed cream of chicken soup directly on the tops of the chicken breasts. Cover and let simmer for another 20 minutes or so, adding the veggies as you chop them. Make sure not to allow the chicken to stick to the skillet. Once the veggies simmer for several minutes and a lot of the water has cooked away, scoot the chicken to one side of the skillet and add two more cups of water and the uncooked rice. Make sure the rice is in the water and not sitting on top of the chicken. Spread the chicken breasts out again and continue cooking until the rice is done, making sure nothing sticks to the skillet. Oh, and have a happy Thanksgiving.