Easy Chicken-Rice Casserole

This is a rockin' recipe that I stole from Mama A.   My family LOVES this casserole, and we are not big casserole folk, so you KNOW it is gonna be yummy.

Please note:  This is a casserole that I do not measure stuff out for.  It always ends up tasting good!

(photo courtesy of fredmeyer.com)

Pre-buy: A roaster chicken that is (preferably) on sale at your local market.  Mr. Meyers makes some yummy chicken.  Also I buy the aluminum "throw-away" loaf pans so that I can stick some in the freezer for later dinners.

1. Cook a Pot of Rice.
2. Put that rice in a bowl with the following:
3. The roaster chicken, but rip it up into small bite pieces!
4. um maybe 2 cans of  cream of chicken/mushrom/whatever you have in the pantry.
5. 2 small bags of shredded cheese, this is maybe ummm 4 or more cups?  (What, who doesn't like cheese? Also... cheese that was on sale, always a PLUS!)
6. Chopped up veggies.  Fresh always tastes better, but we don't care if they are frozen.  What veggies taste good you ask?  Umm Carrots, Broccoli, Corn, Peas...please feel free to get creative.  How much?...umm enough so that you have some color in every bite?  
7. Add some pepper and probably you don't need any salt because that cream of whatever you added will have tons of sodium.  (yum!)  Also, feel free to get creative and add more spices or onion, or whatever your family likes. (hot sauce?)

Mix that up, hopefully you have a huge bowl, it sometimes gets messy.  If you notice it looks too dry, or you think you need more cheese, JUST ADD IT.   Fill up some loaf pans, or a big casserole pan.  Make sure you mark on the freezer pans what the heck it is, and the date and how to cook it, and then put it in a freezer ziplock after tinfoiling it!  Cook unfrozen for...uh an hour??  at 350?? for frozen... more and hotter than that??  (I will tell you an hour at 350 for a full frozen loaf pan = a very frozen dinner 1 hr later...)  

For exhausted teachers who come home at the end of a fall day of teaching a classroom of rambunctious kiddos who would rather be outside playing, casserole full of veggie and meat and cheese that you can pop in the oven IS A GODSEND!