A Mommy Story

Evenings have been a bit of a blur around here lately. With therapy appointments, gymnastics, homework, and everything else going on, it feels like we’re trading off who’s home each night, coming and going constantly. Tonight, for example, shortly after the kids are home from school, I have to get them in the car to go to Mira’s gymnastics, where we’ll meet up with Aaron after he’s done with work. Depending on who has more to do, one of us will stay at gymnastics and the other will take Cordy home to finish homework.

I’d be embarrassed to tell you the number of times we grab food on the go each week. I know it’s not healthy for us, but with such little time, it’s hard to put together quick meals that the kids will eat. And let’s be honest – I’m a lousy cook. Domestic tasks aren’t my strength. I usually leave the cooking to Aaron, but occasionally I’m called on to come up with a meal for the family.

When that happens, I’m thankful to find easy recipes that even I have trouble screwing up. Recently I heard about Campbell’s Wisest Kid in the Whole World promotion and their kid-friendly, easy recipes involving Campbell’s soups. I was invited to give one a try to see just how simple and tasty it could be. I love soup as an easy meal itself, but had never considered cooking with soup.

The hardest part was finding a recipe my family would all eat. Cordy is picky, Aaron is gluten-free, and Mira just occasionally decides she doesn’t like certain foods, after they were her favorite foods last month. (In other words, typical kid.) We looked over the recipes together and agreed on the Fiesta Chicken & Rice Bake, though, so that was my mission.

I liked the simplicity of this recipe: a can of tomato soup, some chicken breasts, rice, chili powder and cheese. I looked through the comments on this recipe and decided to add some corn to the mix, too. (Look at me, going off-script for a recipe like I think I know what I’m doing!)

This is all you need to make this meal. (Plus a little water, if you don’t use pre-cooked rice like me.)

This recipe is also a single dish recipe, cutting down on anything complicated by mixing it all together in the same dish. It was honestly so easy to put together – I had it ready to go before the oven had even pre-heated! I was a little generous with the chili powder, as we like our dishes on the spicy side here.

Once the oven was ready, I covered the dish in foil, put it in, and baked for 45 minutes. I spent that time pondering how I could put together a dinner so quickly, and wondered if there was a catch.

When the timer went off, I pulled out the dish and peeled back the foil. I cut into a chicken breast to make sure it was cooked all the way through, which it was. And ta-da! – there was a perfect Fiesta Chicken and Rice Bake.

 I’m a lousy food photographer, but I can assure you this smelled and tasted delicious.

All that was needed at that point was a hefty dose of cheese and serving it to the family. It smelled SO good! I split a chicken breast between Cordy and Mira, and Aaron and I each took the other ones.

The result? Cordy loved the chicken, and ate some of the corn and rice. I’ll call that a success. Mira liked the chicken, didn’t like the rice, but singled out the corn to eat. I knew she’d like the corn. Adding the corn was a great idea and helped provide some additional flavor to the dish. I might even try adding black beans next time.

I thought the chicken was just right, tender without being dried out, but Aaron and I agreed it could have used a little additional spice. However, seeing how easy this recipe is, it would be equally easy to quickly add additional spice to meet the needs of our spicy-food-loving family. Even being light on spice, though, it was still delicious.

I was surprised just how simple it was to make this dish from Campbell’s. It’s easy enough that the kids can help with the prep work, giving them more control over their dinner. Or if we’re rushed, it’s easy for one person at home to start the meal while waiting on everyone else to get home.

You can find the recipe for the Fiesta Chicken and Rice Bake at Campbell’s website, along with several other kid-friendly recipes your family will love.