Chicken & Rice Bake

My mom used to make this awesome chicken and rice casserole when we were little... She used canned chicken, white rice, cream of mushroom soup and butter ;-) As kids, it was the best meal ever haha! So, I've been craving it!! But I won't do canned chicken ;-/ I don't like the idea of my meat sitting in a can for days, weeks or months... yuck! So, I cleaned up the old-school recipe and made my own healthy version. It's so good and pretty easy, too. It's a total hit with the whole family and there will be leftovers for a couple days. Yay! I don't have to cook tomorrow ;-)

Here are the details...

BAKED CHICKEN AND RICE
What you need:
3-4 organic chicken breasts
1C long grain brown rice
6C low-sodium chicken stock
1-2 cans cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
salt & pepper to taste

How to:
Place chicken in a large pot of water... (I added 1/2 an onion and 2 chopped stalks of celery, along with some salt just for extra flavor). Once the water starts to boil, reduce to simmer and cover for 40-50 minutes. Once chicken is cooked through, remove from water and cool. Shred and set aside.
In the meantime, cook rice according to package but use chicken stock or broth instead of water (you don't have to but this adds to the flavor).
Preheat oven to 350.
Once rice and chicken are done, scoop both into a cassarole dish. Top with 1-2 cans of cream of mushroom soup (I used 1 and a half). Mix it all together and bake for 30-40 minutes.

*We had BAKED BRUSSELS SPROUTS on the side
What you need:
2-3C brussels sprouts, cut in halves
1TBSP olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
juice from 1/2 lemon
sea salt to taste

How to:
Place sprouts in baking dish. Drizzle with oil and lemon. Mix in garlic and salt. Toss until well coated. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.