Chicken and Rice Casserole

I think it's the fact that I'm pregnant and kind of loathing grocery shopping lately...but I'm less and less dependant on recipes than I ever have been in the past. A few years ago you would never find me just "throwing something together". Even today I still usually LOOK for a recipe, but if I can't find what works with what I have...well let's just experiment. Today I had the problem of a jar of canned chicken open in the fridge and some sliced Provolone that needed to be used ASAP! So I put together this casserole. I was a little wary of it when I pulled it out of the oven and wondered if Provolone was meant to be baked, but it was really good. The kids even all liked it! Didn't get to try it out on Joey unfortunately because my brother came over and ate everything that was left :)

Chicken and Rice Casserole

1 pint canned chicken (I used this because I had it. You could use raw chicken and just bake it longer or cook it before you put it in with the rice)

2 C Rice (or so, didn't measure. I just made two scoops of rice in the rice cooker and used it all)

1 can green beans (could add more/different veggies if you prefer)

1 can cream of chicken soup (I'm sure you could use other cream soups if you prefer)

6 slices Provolone cheese (whatever you have on hand will work I'm sure!)

Mix together the chicken (I shredded mine first), rice, green beans and cream of chicken soup. Spread in a 9 x 12 glass baking pan. Top with slices of cheese. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

I didn't add any extra spices, although I'm sure salt, pepper, garlic salt or other like things would have been good. I also probably could have used two cans of soup for the amount of rice I had. It wasn't dry because the rice was plenty moist, but wasn't saucy by any means.

Also as a side note...the canned chicken...I bottled myself! I got a great deal on boneless skinless chicken breasts. They were "seconds" so not whole breasts, but they worked perfectly for this. It was very easy (although it DID stink up my house for a few hours...). I have never used a lot of canned chicken just because it's really expensive, but this was a really cheap way to do it. It also is a nice way to keep chicken for long periods of time, without taking up freezer space, worrying about freezer burn, etc. And it's really tender and already cooked when you get done! If you want more info, let me know and maybe I'll do a post on it.