Thoughts on cooking for a teen

Hi sweetie;

You're off on your own now and cooking for yourself.  I know you're quite capable, too.  I wanted to make you a cookbook like my mother did for me when I left home, but as we've talked about, that's not terribly useful for a 21st century teen.  Here's a blog post you can refer to when you want to know how I used to cook something you liked or want to try.  Of course you can always try texting me, but when my phone is off or dead, here's an alternative.

Love, Mom

Chicken and Rice  I started making this not long ago, but it's so easy and makes leftovers you can put in the fridge and eat for a couple of days, or you can feed a bunch of friends with it. The proportions of rice and water are important, so here are the ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of white rice
• 1 can of soup (the original recipe said cream of mushroom, but I prefer cream of chicken)
• 1 packet dry onion soup mix (which you probably have around for your famous meatloaf)
• 1 3/4 cups water
• pieces of chicken

Mix the uncooked rice, soup, onion soup mix, and water in a 9 by 13 pan (or something of equivalent volume).  Put the pieces of chicken on top.  I sprinkle them with paprika and ground black pepper so they don't look so gross.  If you're at home and have the time, cook it at 300 for 2 hours, or if you want it speedier, at 350 for 1 hour.  Cover it with foil until the last 5 or 10 minutes (otherwise the water boils off and the rice doesn't cook properly), then take it off to brown the chicken.