Chicken, Broccoli, Cheese and Rice Casserole

So, I searched yesterday for a chicken and broccoli casserole that had rice in it.  When I searched for "creamy" with these words, I ended up with recipes that wanted me to throw 2 blocks of cream cheese in (and to me, that seemed like ucky overkill).  So I threw this together--it's not exactly like any of the other recipes I found, it's inspired by this one and the reviews that followed.  It's not "healthy" or "good for you" (besides being a way to get kids to eat broccoli), but it worked for us:

Chicken, Broccoli, Cheese and Rice Casserole

2 cups of chicken (I used 3 chicken thighs that I boiled up and removed the skin from, because they were cheap.  You can use breasts that are boiled or baked, part of a rotisserie chicken, or canned chicken-although the canned chicken might be a little blah)

2 cups cooked rice (I used my rice cooker.  Do you have a rice cooker?  You should get one!  I have this one.  You can even steam your veggies on the top.) I cooked my rice in chicken broth.

1 16oz bag of broccoli florets, thawed

1 packet onion soup mix

1 tsp garlic powder (more or less to taste)

1/4 tsp black pepper (I used my pepper grinder, a couple of turns)

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste--remember the soup and cheese are going to be salty, so you might want to hold off until you serve it to add salt individually as needed)

2 cups shredded cheese of your choice (I used cheddar)

2 cans of cream-of-something soup (I used cream of mushroom and cream of chicken)

1 cup of milk

1/2 a stick of butter, cut into tablespoons

Ritz crackers to crunch over the top

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 13x9 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Put all ingredients except butter and crackers in casserole dish and mix until incorporated together.  Place pats of butter on top of mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes, mixing halfway through to help the cheese melt.  Put crushed crackers over the top of casserole and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Enjoy with some crusty bread and a salad.