Chicken Wild Rice Casserole

You guys, I have some terrible news. I have to go back to work in 3 weeks. I know, it's bad. I bet all you 9-5, 52-weeks-per-year readers feel really sorry for me. :P Anyway, in preparation of my impending return to work, I've been gettin' my cook on and socking away some freezer meals. And that is good news, because that means you can expect quite a few blog posts coming your way very, very soon.

First up, Wild Rice Chicken Casserole. I love wild rice, so this recipe immediately caught my attention. And it seemed super easy, and I'm super lazy, so that was nice. I found it here. I changed just a few things.

Here's what you'll need:
1 box wild rice (with the seasoning packet) 4.3 oz
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can water
1 small can of mushrooms, drained
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (the recipe said 6, but the ones I had were huge so I only used 3)

Ok, I have no idea why this picture is upside-down. I tried for almost 30 minutes to get the darn thing to upload right, but it just wouldn't work. So I'm afraid you'll have to settle for an upside-down picture. Deal with it. I just wanted to show you what kind of wild rice I used. So there it is. Upside-down.

First you mix the wild rice, seasoning packet, both cans of soup, and the can of water. When I say "can of water" I just mean take one of the soup cans and fill it with water.

Then stir in the can of mushrooms. You could also use fresh mushrooms. I prefer fresh, but I didn't have a lot of time since I was doing a lot of cooking, so I settled.

Then spread it into a casserole dish. I typically use those disposable foil ones (P.S. they're cheap), but I had this one in the pantry. It's like a hard paper type one. It's very sturdy and I prefer this kind, but they're more expensive.

Then take your chicken breasts (however many you decide to use)...

... and lovingly place them on top. That's right, lovingly. If you don't do it lovingly, it won't turn out right.

Cover it with foil and write the cooking instructions on top. It may also be a good idea to lable it by writing what it is, which, I just realized while looking at this picture, I did not do. Oops.

Thaw and bake uncovered for one hour until the chicken juices run clear and the rice is tender.

And there you have it. The prep literally takes 5 minutes, and you have a tasty (hopefully) meal you can just toss in the oven!

Grilled Cheese Hamburgers

In our family, we really like grilled cheese sandwiches. We also really like hamburgers. So when I saw this recipe, which is so incredibly easy, I had to try it.

It's summer, so we're grilling a lot. One day, when James suggested that we grill hamburgers, I remembered this recipe and said, "Ok!"

James grilled the burgers...

...while I spread a little butter on one side of a few slices of bread, placed it butter-side-down on a baking sheet, put a slice of american cheese on each piece, and baked it at 350 degrees in the oven for about 8 minutes.

And, well, that's it. You just flop one of those burgers between two of these slices of bread, and you have a grilled cheese hamburger. And it is gooooood. I will definitely do this again.

Drool.

DIY Wreath

This was actually one of my very first DIY projects! And you guys, it could NOT have been easier!

Here's what you need:

• a hot glue gun (and glue sticks for it, of course)
• a wreath - I got mine at Michaels for like four bucks
• some faux flowers of your choosing
• one of those wooden letters
• craft paint, if you want to paint the letter

You literally just glue everything on however you want. It's that easy. I chose to paint the "R" to match the yellow flower. Our house is blue, so I thought that contrast would look nice.

I am so happy with the way it turned out!

Birthday Madness!

Wow. Let me tell you, having your kids birthdays within days of each other is hectic! Fun, but hectic! I can NOT believe that I now have a one-year old and a three-year old! So here it is, the boys' birthdays in pictures.

Opening presents at the farm with the Richter crew

Isaac got a bike from Grandma and Grandpa R

You can never get Isaac to look at the camera if there's cake involved!

The boys birthday cake at the farm

Cake!

Cake!

The morning of Alex's birthday. We couldn't wait, so we let him open his presents right away.

"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you."

Hanging out with Grandma Cookie (my grandma, she makes lots of cookies).
Grandma LOVED all the snuggles!

Isaac's super awesome Spider Man cake made by Grandma Olson!

Alex's amazing monkey cake made by my good friend, Cat.

Yummy smash cake! Isaac seems to be enjoying his Spider Man cake in the background.

The boys chillin' in the chairs they got at their party with my mom's side of the family.

Breakfast on the morning of Isaac's 3rd birthday. No, it's not an M. It's a sideways 3. I couldn't change the orientation.

My mom has some serious cake making talent. Isaac was WAY excited about this one.

Playing with his super hero toys with Dad.

Yep. It was a long week.