Chicken and Rice

This is one of our favorite comfort foods.  It reminds me of mom's home cookin'!

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, each cut in half or thirds
2 cans cream of chicken soup
6 T. finely chopped onion
2 T. parsley
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. thyme (or a teaspoon or so of fresh thyme from the garden, if you have it!)
1 tsp. celery flakes
3 cups water
2 cups minute or instant rice, uncooked
paprika

Roll chicken pieces in flour and brown in oil in a large skillet.  In a large saucepan, mix together the soup, onion, parsley, salt, thyme, celery flakes, and water.  Bring to a boil.  In a 9x13 pan, sprinkle minute rice on bottom, pour sauce over the rice, and mix.  Place chicken pieces on top of the rice and sprinkle with paprika.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until chicken is cooked through and tender.

Note:  I actually like to use 2 or 3 pre-grilled chicken breasts, chopped in bite-size pieces and cook this recipe on the stove-top.  Once the sauce comes to boil, stir in rice and chopped chicken.  Turn down heat to low, and cover pot with lid.  It only takes about 10-15 minutes to cook this on the stove-top because the chicken is cooked before you start, so all you're doing is cooking the rice and heating everything through.  This is a great camping dinner to make in a Dutch oven on a Cache cooker.  We always serve this with green beans (home canned, of course!) and a fruit side dish.