And then god made rice....

I use a lot of instant rice. It's fast, moderately cheap and can be done a zillion different ways.

Beef and Rice
1#ground beef
1 can peas
2 cups instant rice
1 cube beef bullion
Onion Powder or chopped onion
1 tbsp Minced Garlic
Seasoned salt and pepper to taste

Brown & drain the beef. Toss in the garlic while the meat is still hot. Add a couple shakes of onion powder and pepper. Boil 2 cups of water, add the boullion cube and let it melt. Add peans and 2 cups of rice to the meat, stir.
When the water comes to a rolling boil, pour it over the meat mix, stir and cover. I usually put the pot back onto the hot, but off, eye that I just boiled water on. Wait 10 minutes, stir. Check to see if the rice is ready. Taste it and see if you need more salt, pepper...

Feel free to add a can of chopped tomatoes to the meat. If you're using fresh onion, boil it in the water before you add the water to the meat.

Chicken or Turkey and Rice - cream style
1# chicken - boneless
1 can peas
1 can carrots
1 can other - pick something you like: tomatoes, mushrooms, artichoke hearts
1 can cream of soup - pick one: chicken, asparagus, celery, mushroom.
1 cube boullion - pick one: chicken, chick & tomato, veggie
Italian dressing
3 cups Instant rice
1 can stock - pick one: chicken or veggie - or just use 1.5c water
Minced garlic

You may decide to use a bag of frozen mixed veggies instead of the canned veggies. Go ahead! If you have a stalk of celery or two getting soft in the drawer, chop it up and toss it in. Half an onion staring at you? Put it out of it's misery. Wilting scallions? Some lonely carrots? Toss em in! A serving of odd veggies from the day before last? If you think it'll work and be tasty, waste not, frugal friend!

Thighs are really easy to debone. Don't be afraid. The chicken is already dead, he's not going to care. Rule of thumb is one thigh per person plus one for the pot. Or go with breast halves... same rule. Pull off the skin, cut the meat from the bone, scrape off any fat you can get rid of. Trim anything off that you don't want to eat. If you want to save time on cooking day, debone your chicken and freeze it that way.

Chop your chicken into bite sized pieces and coat with italian dressing. Let it marinate in the fridge for at least a half hour.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Open your stock and put in a pan to simmer. Add boullion and minced garlic. Add cream soup and stir. The goal here is to have a creamy, pourable liquid, not a lump of can shaped goo.

In a baking pan, add your veggies, rice, spices and some salt & pepper. Add marinated chicken chunks. Pour warm soup stuff over everything. Stir to coat, get it all. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.

Dump, stir, dump, cover. Cook. How easy is that?