Gal-on-the-Go! Hotdish

Between my career, doing improv, maintaining my facebook profile and taking baths, I am often left with little time in the day to devote to meal preparation. Frequently, this results in me eating things like graham crackers, sharp cheddar or wine for dinner. But sometimes my readers, it just means I need to find a faster way of fixin' good old favorites that warm the tummy and the heart. Such was half of the inspiration behind my original recipe for 'Gal-On-the-Go!' hotdish.

The other half of the inspiration comes from Sandra Lee, as in the leggy now overly-made-up host of 'Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee' on televisions FoodNetwork. Sandy played an oddly sizeable role in my life a few years back. I was 23 and had just returned from living in China for six months. Upon my return I moved into my parent's basement and began a steady daily routine of sleeping in, drinking half a pot of coffee, talking to my then boyfriend on the phone, going to the Buffalo Public library to borrow wifi and 'apply for jobs', coming home, watching Paula Deen & Sandra Lee, trying to make whatever I had watched on Paula Deen & Sandra Leen, then collapsing on the couch watching (oh God - I can't believe I am admitting this...) Gilmore Girls until my Mom got home and I once again had social interaction. At the time, my lifestyle seemed close to perfection. Now that I actually type it out, I can see where it might come across as mildly unfortunate. Nonetheless, watching and making recipes from Sandra Lee (or Paula) was really the highlight of each day, and for that, I will be forever grateful to both of those cookin' gals.

In tribute to Sandra, this hotdish is particularly 'semi-homemade.' That's a nice way of saying that this hotdish is for the lazy not-so-talented Chef in all of us. This hotdish is also a great item for those of us currently living in the Klondike. It's hearty, and piping hot when done.

Gal-On-the-Go Chicken Wild Rice Hotdish
1 bag of Uncle Ben's 'Ready Rice' - Wild & Brown Rice Medley (this would be the rice that you nuke for 90 seconds - fyi)
1 bag of frozen 'Steam-In-The-Bag' broccoli
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can of chicken

There you go. Mix that business together, add some pepper to taste, pop it in the oven at whatever you want (I went about 20 minutes at 350 degrees) and eat. Done and done. This tasty little concoction took hardly any time and left me with a meal that I felt good and productive about, and let's face it, any hotdish that comes with a side of self-esteem boost is a winner.

It is also worth noting that I am aware that in a recent post I promised you all more photos, and this entry was nearly devoid of them. Please remember, this hotdish is for busy people. People who do not have time to search their apartments for their cameras that they are certain they left on their bookshelves but now it's nowhere to be seen...but I digress. Sorry for the lack of photos. I'll do better next time. You can take that to the bank. They won't care or give you anything, but you can take it there. Just saying.

Gotta go!