Sore, sleepy, but well fed...with a freshly painted house!

I should start off by saying I. AM. ALIVE. I know I've been MIA from the blogging world. That has primarily been because of an all consuming project Chase and I have been working on.

Now, I love Chase dearly, and I won't say he's a psycho, but I will say he's definitely an advocate for doing things like painting your entire house in 36 hours. In Chase's defense, we have been talking about painting the house since the day we moved in and we have been anxiously awaiting the time to do it. The house was a yellowy, beige-y color (that we honestly can't tell if the sun turned it that color or that was the desired shade...) with maroon trim that had seen better days. In not Chase's defense, he had approximately 48 hours between one project and leaving for the next project offshore. But if there's one thing you should know about Chase, it's that things like time, difficulty, and the normal sleeping requirements of common folk do not get in the way of Chase completing a #project.

So on Friday morning I found myself outside saying over and over again, "no you may not turn on the power tools before 7AM". At 6:58, Chase got started prepping our 1950's wooden ranch house for a new coat of paint. This left me with a little time to clean the kitchen and throw together something I could force feed Chase over the next few days before I was summoned to sand window trim outside. With chicken, broccoli, and some cheddar cheese in the fridge, I settled on a casserole. On Wednesday I'll be recapping the whole painting project, but in the meantime here's the recipe that kept us sane & full during the project. And don't worry, you don't have to paint your entire house to enjoy this one...

Cheesy Rice, Chicken and Broccoli Casserole:

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 4 cups heavy whipping cream

• 2 cups chicken broth

• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

• 4 cups cubed cooked chicken

• 4 cups broccoli florets, cut into bit sized pieces

• 3 cups cooked rice (cook your rice in chicken broth!)

• 1/2 cup chopped parsley

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

• salt and pepper to taste

• 2 cups Ritz crackers, crushed

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Add the butter to a large oven safe pan and when melted whisk in the flour.

3. Once the flour is completely mixed with the butter, pour in the heavy whipping cream and chicken broth slowly and whisk.

4. Let reduce on medium heat until the cream is slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes

5. Add in the cheese, parsley, dried thyme, turmeric, salt, and pepper and whisk until fully combined.

6. In large bowl, mix the cream sauce, rice, broccoli, and chicken.

7. Transfer to greased baking dish.

8. Top with the buttery cracker mixture.

9. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

#casserole #roastedchicken #chickenbroth #rice