homemade Rice-A-Roni with chicken

Does anyone else love Rice-A-Roni as much as we do?

Whenever we buy a rotisserie chicken from the store to have for dinner one night, the next night's leftovers are almost always paired with Rice-A-Roni.

But as much as I love it, I absolutely hate all the unnecessary stuff in the boxed mixes.

I don't really know why it took me so long to decide to make my own from scratch...  It's such a simple, delicious meal, and you won't miss the boxed stuff at all!

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This will be my last recipe post for a week or so, while we are on our little roadtrip down to Mexico...  but I will hopefully get to post a bit while we're on the road!

Maybe I'll just show you all the In-N-Out we will end up eating on this trip?  ;o)

I'm sure I will be having complete kitchen withdrawals by the time we get home and will be anxious to get right back into the swing of things!!

Homemade Rice-A-Roni with Chicken Recipe
adapted from Simply Scratch
serves 4-6

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup long-grain rice
1 cup broken spaghetti noodles
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt & pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2-3 cups cooked chicken

Directions:
In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Stir in the rice & noodles and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are golden and the butter is fragrant.

Stir in the chicken stock and spices and bring to a boil.  Stir in the chicken if it's cold, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed.

Turn off the heat and let the rice sit for about 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork, taste for seasonings and serve!

24 weeks down... 16ish more to go!

Ok, ok...  I have to confess:

This is actually a 25 week belly picture, not a 24 week.

Last week was just not a week for pictures.  You would have gotten a dark, blurry, shot of me with bags under my eyes, wrinkly, toddler-stained clothes on, and a pout to rival any 3 year old's!

But this week things are better.  And I am as close to photo-ready as possible, so here you go!

Unfortunately, my OCD side won't let me post this as a 25 week picture.  It ruins my whole set-up and I just can't do it.  So, pretend with me - ok?  I promise my belly looks pretty much the same as it did last week!

Oh, and here's our corresponding fruit-baby size!  :o)  I just love this kind of stuff!!

(Except, week 20 was a cantaloupe and this week is a grapefruit?!  Since when is a grapefruit bigger than a cantaloupe??)

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Again, sorry about the lack of recipes right now...  I promise I will back to my regularly-blogging self after we get back from our trip!

I'm still here...

I promise!!

Just insanely busy being pregnant, tired and trying to get ready for a long road trip with the whole family packed into a tiny car!

Did I ever tell you I hate packing?  Because I do.  Because I always forget something important.

Always!

So...  help me out here friends!  What am I forgetting?

What do I need to have for this trip of over 3,000 miles with two toddlers, a preteen, a pregnant me and the hubs all packed into our little blue prius?

I've got the dvd player and videos.  And I'm heading to Costco for snacks this afternoon.

What else do I have to have?  (Remember, space is very limited!!)

And how crazy are we for even attempting this in the first place?!  ;o)  (Be nice!)