Chicken and Rice

One of my favorite foods growing up was chicken and rice. My grandma would make it when we would visit and my mom also made it quite often. I realized when I moved out on my own that I would have to cook all the foods I wanted myself, there wouldn't be anyone else to make them for me! (Shocking, I know) So I started to cook, I tried recipes from our family cookbook that my aunts and uncles put together to chronicle all our families recipes. My grandmother was an wonderful cook, her chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls, hamburgers, homemade applesauce and holiday candies are all fondly remembered by my cousins and myself. Unfortunately, a few of her best recipes did not make it into the cookbook. I am thankful that the chicken and rice recipe did though. It's super easy to make, and while it does take an hour to bake, it is totally worth it. The rice gets sticky and flavorful from the cream of celery and cream of mushroom soup and the chicken is cooked to juicy perfection. Now that Fall is upon us I think this is the perfect time to share this recipe. Friends who have tried it love it, hopefully you will too!

Chicken and Rice
Serves 4 (with leftover rice)

4 chicken breasts (you can use boneless skinless, but the chicken breasts with rib bones and skin are the best)
1 1/2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 cup milk (or water, or chicken stock)
2 cups medium grain white rice
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cream of mushroom, cream of celery, milk and rice in a large baking dish coated with non-stick spray. Lay chicken breasts on top of the rice/soup/milk mixture. Sprinkle salt, pepper and paprika over the chicken breasts. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.