Chicken and Rice Skillet with Cranberries

A few weeks ago there was a special at giant - buy 5 boxes of Zatarain's rice and get 30 cents off per gallon of gas.  I took advantage of that sale with a coupon that I had.  Spent $4 bucks for 5 boxes of the rice and also saved $1.70 off per gallon of gas (using the other gas points I had earned with other sales).  So I've been building a few of our recipes around the Zatarain's rice.  This one came straight from their website - I did not modify too much.  I could not find creole seasoning, so looked up how to make my own.  That recipe for creole seasoning is first - then I have the ingredients and directions for the dish listed second.  This was a GREAT dish!  Pretty easy to make and would make wonderful leftovers : ) 

And so ends my stretch of July recipes... Things are about to get really busy again with teaching and the students coming back on campus (yep - full time job too!)  Aiden is up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth and a few days away (I'm guessing) from figuring out how to crawl.  The little man will be 8 months on Sunday!  I can't believe how quickly time is flying.  I'll be back in the next few days to post his 8 month pictures : )

Creole seasoning - makes a little more than 1 tbsp, mix all ingredients together:
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder

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Ingredients for Chicken and Rice Skillet with Cranberries:
1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch strips
1 tbsp. of creole seasoning mix
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cups of water
1 package of Zatarain's yellow rice
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion (I still buy mine pre-chopped at the store - saves a ton of time!!!)

Directions:
Spring chicken with creole seasoning. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat.  Add chicken; cook 2-3 minutes per side or until chicken is cooked through.  Remove from skillet; keep warm.

Stir water, rice mix, cranberries, celery and onion into skillet.  Bring to a boil.  Place chicken over rice mixture and it's been stirred.  Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed and rice is tender.

Remove from heat.  Let stand 5 minutes and serve.  We served ours with cooked dill carrots - very good!
 

What ours looked like in the skillet before serving (while I let it stand for the 5 minutes)