Frugal chicken dinner

Food is the place where we could save the most.  Our food budget has nearly doubled in the last six years.  Part of this is the increase in food prices, part of it is the doubling of our family size.  A lot of it is that we aren't happy with what we have on hand any more.  I find myself going to the store for two or three things, and then picking up half a dozen more.  This needs to change, so I am focusing on using what I can keep on hand to make meals. 

I made a simple chicken a rice dish yesterday.  It wasn't the exceptional dish that my mother and aunt make on occasion, but it was good, and filling, and relatively inexpensive, and usually have every ingredient on hand.

Chicken and rice casserole

2 chicken breasts
         I bought a box of chicken at lee's for 1.50 a pound last month.  Lee's is my favorite place to buy frozen  chicken; it's not fatty, and the pieces don't stick together
2 cups rice
         from food storage
1 can cream of chicken soup
        I bought this two years ago for 45 cents a can
1/4 of an onion, sliced
         I always have onion in the fridge
Cheddar cheese
          Found for 1.69 a pound at Smith's

I defrosted the chicken, then cut it into large pieces.  I poured rice over it, then about four cups of water.  Add the onions, and the cream of chicken soup, then stir.  Bake at somewhere around 375 for half an hour, covered.  I did not cover mine, because I'm out of aluminum foil and won't be buying any more soon.  After half an hour, uncover and add cheese if you want. 

This recipe is better if you add onion soup mix, but I was out.  When I add the onion soup, I don't add cheese.