Good evening and ya'll come on in to the 'Net Porch. I am slap dab tired and need to sit and rest a minute. I have cleaned out the cabinets under the sink, relined, threw away, and put everything back. 1 down and lots to go but will do 1 or 2 per day until I finish.

I found out several years ago that you can buy pretty wallpaper rolls on sale and this makes great shelf liner. You need to use the ones with the vinyl coating so it will be waterproof and last longer but it does a great job and you have a larger choice of patterns and colors. If it tends to roll, get some double stick tape to hold down the corners but after you put the "stuff" back it will hold it flat.

When I got ready to fix lunch/supper (lupper) yesterday I looked to see what I needed to use now. I found a bag of frozen, chicken nuggets, some boxes of Rice-A-Roni and set about to come up with a good casserole. Onions, celery, carrots and garlic are most always in my fridge and canned tomatoes are a staple in our home so out these came to join the other ingredients. Chicken, beef and vegetable stock are a necessity now that I discovered how useful they are and this house without garlic cloves is not happy.

I began to cook and combine and this recipe came into being. It is really good, inexpensive and feeds a whole passel of folks or you can freeze part of it. Let me know if you try it and what you think about it.

Chicken Nuggets and Rice Casserole

1 box Chicken flavored Rice- a-Roni
3 cups chicken broth or stock
Flavor packet
3 Tbsp. butter

Prepare the rice following the instructions on the box but substitute the broth or stock for the water. When rice is tender, remove from heat and don’t drain.

8 - 10 frozen, fried chicken nuggets (leftover fried chicken or baked chicken) about 2 cups
2 Tbsp. olive oil or vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped bell pepper
¾ - 1 cup, chopped carrots
1 large garlic clove, finely minced
2 tsp. freshly grated ginger or 1 tsp. powdered ginger – fresh is really better
1 can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste – taste after you have combined everything

Slightly thaw the chicken nuggets and slice OR microwave for 1 min. and slice
Heat oil in large skillet and add chopped vegetables. Grate the ginger over these and sauté until tender-crisp. Add the tomatoes, soy sauce and chicken and simmer for about 3 minutes. Add the rice to the vegetables and chicken and if too dry add a little chicken stock. You don’t want it to be dry and sticky. Combine, cover and cook on low for about 3-4 minutes for the rice to absorb the flavors from the vegetable mixtures. This will feed about 8 or more people and it freezes well.

Serving suggestions:
Serve with garden salad and toasted French bread
When served, sprinkle with fresh parsley
I also thought about using shrimp instead of the chicken

For dessert we had Strawberries with Orange Sauce over vanilla ice cream with chocolate chunks in it.

Strawberries with Orange Sauce

2 pints of frozen strawberries

1 orange

1/2 cup Splenda

Place the strawberries in microwave proof bowl, zest the orange over the berries and add the juice from the orange. Microwave 5 minutes. Add the Splenda, stir, return to microwave and cook for 1 minute more.

Serve over ice cream, pound cake or eat it with whipped topping on top.

You can use fresh strawberries but cut the cooking time to about 2 min. You want the strawberries cooked but not mushy.

I hope you enjoy these suggestions and ya'll come back to see me.

Nuff said and good eating

The Georgia Peach