Update on the rat situation in my car! If you didn’t read yesterday’s post, I have been parking my car outside the garage since we have the bathroom project going on. A light came on so I took it to the dealer and they found a huge rat’s nest on the engine of my car. Thankfully, it’s all covered under insurance and I have a $100 deductible, so that’s a blessing. I got the report back from the insurance company and those rats did over $2300 worth of damage to my car. The entire wiring harness has to be replaced because they have chewed so many wires. So, just a cautionary tale. Be careful if you park a car outside. I had so many on Instagram tell me that they had this happen or their friends had it happen to them, so it must be happening a lot. We will definitely be getting proactive about this stuff because Mark drives my old car to work and it is parked on the driveway every night, so we don’t want this happening again. We are going to look into rat repellent stuff to deter them from our cars. Plus I sure don’t want them to get in our basement either. I hate nasty rodents! If you want to see a picture, go over to my Facebook page, it’s on that post. I hate to show ugly pictures on this post.
My roommate, Rhonda, shared with me it happened to a friend of her’s and it was squirrels. A search online indicates that some new cars are being made with wires covered in an insulated soy based material, which is attraching rodents. That makes more sense that this is happening a lot. I had no idea and I bet you didn’t either. Be aware! Here’s an article from a news network.
Back to my scheduled post…..
I promised I’d share recipes with y’all when I find some worth sharing and this is definitely worth sharing. My sister made it over the Christmas holidays and I tasted it and wow, is it good. I haven’t been making casseroles that much over the years, but this one is perfect for Winter comfort food, so I hope you’ll try it and let me know what you think. It’s probably not all that healthy, but it sure does taste good.
This is a Trisha Yearwood recipe and you can find it on Food Network under Trisha Yearwood Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole.
Her recipe is for a huge casserole dish, so I cut this one in half for us. I’m sure you could freeze it too if you wanted, but I find that casseroles get a little more dry once you reheat them again, so to keep it fresh, I only made 1/2 and that makes 2 meals for us, one meal and leftovers. I love to have some leftovers, but if I serve them too many times, my man rebels. If you’ve got a big family to feed, this would be perfect! I served it with a side salad.
It’s got some real ingredients and the rice mix is the only thing out of a box, so I’m glad it’s not a “cream of chicken soup” type recipe. I much prefer butter and half n half. It is so tasty, I think you’ll like it. Almonds give it a nice crunch.
My sister uses rotisserie chicken in hers but I cooked up some chicken tenders in my skillet and got those ready to chop up. There is a little prep involved, but once you put it in the dish to cook, it’s a one pot meal.
With fresh mushrooms (which we love), I knew I’d like this one. Sautee onions and mushrooms in butter.
Add flour and that’s what thickens it up.
Then comes the chicken broth and half and half.
Be sure and cook your wild rice mix ahead of time and it’s ready to go. I just used one box of wild rice and then halved all the other ingredients. The recipe calls for pimentos but I never have those, so I leave them out.
Once the sauce thickens up, then you pour it all together in a casserole dish and cook for about an hour. Follow the directions and you can’t go wrong.
Not a great picture, but this is coming out of the oven. I’m not a real food blogger because they stage everything to make it look perfect, but I just snap pics right before we eat to share my recipes.
It comes out of the oven slightly creamy and almost reminds of a risotto consistency. The flavors are so delicious and it really is comfort food. With a salad and even bread on the side, what a yummy meal.
I found the most delicious take and bake bread from Aldi, so I’m going to share it with you. I really try not to eat so much bread, because it’s just empty calories and carbs…blah, blah, blah, but I really love GOOD bread. This bread is an Italian bread and you put it in the oven and bake it for maybe 15 minutes, I think on 400°, but read the label if you get it. It is seriously SO delicious and it’s $1.39 for this big loaf. I just slice off enough for a meal and leave the rest in the fridge and it makes about 3 meals for us. It comes out crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. It’s SOOOOOO good…and I don’t rave about many things.
With real butter, don’t forget the real butter!
That’s it, I hope you’ll try this one if you haven’t already. It’s on our rotation now, when I find something that Mark loves too, it’s a keeper and he loves this one!
Melanie says
Looks fabulous and I cannot wait to try it. In the past, I have made Trisha’s chicken rice broccoli casserole and it was real good, too. I tried to see a pic of the rat’s next but couldn’t find it.
Rhoda says
Hey, Melanie, if you look down in the comments on that link, it’s there.
Mary says
Thanks, I’m certainly going to try this. I shop at Aldi too. Don’t ‘cha just love it? Can’t believe those rats did so much damage!
Diane Taylor says
YUM!!! This looks so good. Amen for real ingredients! I would rather have a smaller serving of something yummy like this than anything made with fake stuff. Thanks for sharing!!!
Rhoda says
Diane, yes for sure, I hope you’ll try it and like it as much as we do.
Deborah Dickson says
This looks delicious! And, as for y0ur comment about not being a food blogger but, instead, taking the food pictures not staged as you are going through the process … I firmly believe that that’s what your readers prefer. We all love how real you are. Thanks for the wonderful recipe. I will be making it very soon.
Rhoda says
Thank you for saying that, Deborah. I have figured out that’s what you all like, the being real part. And I really can’t do it any other way. I’m not about to spend hours setting up and photographing one beauty food shot. Life’s too short for that! So I’m glad you all embrace my methods and way of doing things.
jill says
Looks delish! We had that exact bread for the first time this weekend and could not stop eating it! I’m sad to say three of us ate the entire thing in one evening!! Aldi does a great job for the price.
Rhoda says
Haha, Jill! I can totally believe you 3 sat down and ate the whole loaf. I could make a meal of it, with lots of butter!
Julia says
That looks like a recipe my husband will love. I will definitely try it!
I went to your Facebook page to check out the rat’s nest. They looked like they were very warm and cozy on top of your engine! I’m glad that your insurance covered it. Let us all know what you find out about how to combat the little critters!
Rhoda says
Julia, they sure were making themselves at home in my beautiful car. It’s so creepy that they were in there doing all that damage and I had no idea. I can’t wait to get my car back in the garage where she belongs!
Molly Tilson says
Goodness that looks delicious! So sorry about your car! Years ago I used my then college aged daughter’s car to take my son to the pet shop to buy him a hamster. On the way home, I needed to make a stop. Well next thing I know there is my son with a funny look on his face. He opened the carton to pet his hamster and it jumpeded out of the box scurrying on the floor board and then up to the dash board! That hamster lived there for a couple of days before we finally caught him! We could see hm through the air conditioning vents. That hamster did so much damage chewing wires! Well over a $1500.00. Now, it makes a great story and we all laugh about the characters at the auto repair shop to us and the antics we used to get that dang hamster!
Rhoda says
Hi, Molly, now that’s a funny story, although I’m sure it wasn’t at the time. I’m still creeped out knowing they were in there doing all that damage to my car.
Renee says
Real butter and cream is good for you. People only started getting fat when the took the fat out of everything and added sugar. I love that this recipe doesn’t use canned soup.
My man would starve if he didn’t eat leftovers…lol. I work late three nights a week, so it’s leftovers those nights.
Rhoda says
Hi, Renee, you’re right, nothing wrong with butter and cream and the real stuff. I never get fat free anything anymore.
Lourdes says
Thanks for posting the article on wires covered in insulated soy based material. I also have a Toyota and can attest to this problem — twice! What’s that saying about the road to hell being paved with good intentions?
Rhoda says
I know, Lourdes, I’m just finding this out too and apparently it’s all over the auto industry, not just Toyota. I have an old Toyota too, but never had this problem with it. We are going to have to get proactive to try to keep it from happening again.
Sue says
Hi Rhoda, this is a delicious casserole. I got the recipe off a box of Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice. I don’t remember the recipe having mushrooms but everything else was in there plus minced onion. My family loves it, I take it for covered dishes and it’s always a hit.
Lori says
This is very similar to a recipe we’ve been making for the homeless shelter for years, and at home on those same days. Every time I make it for guests I get asked for the recipe. I think the secret is the Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice which is fantastic. My recipe version has celery instead of mushrooms, but I love mushrooms so can’t wait to try this one. Thanks for the post. Sounds sooo good.
Linda Chapman says
I had to follow your Facebook link to see that rat nest! We do our due diligence to keep the rats and squirrels away as much as we can! They can do a lot of damage. I call Louis Dean ‘Mr. MacGregor!’
Your chicken dish looks delicious and those photos made my mouth water!
Lauren@SimplyLKJ says
This looks so tasty Rhoda.
Tanya Jansen says
Hi!
Just a quick note about the rat problem. I had the same thing happen and we were told to put moth balls in the car. Apparently rats hate the smell of moth balls. Me too! But it’s working.
Rhoda says
Thank you, Tanya, I read and heard that too, so we just might have to get some and try it out. I do not want it to happen to my old car that sits in the driveway all the time.
Whitney says
I absolutely love how you talk in your blog posts. You have no pretense and you do things just the way you want! Now that you’ve been on Instagram stories for a while, I can hear your voice when I’m reading and it makes it even better. 🙂 This recipe is definitely up our alley – we love all those ingredients! My husband is like Mark, not a fan of leftovers! 🙂
Rhoda says
Hey, Whitney, I’m so glad, that’s how I want to be online. I have no time for pretenses, so I’m glad you all like that too.
DiB says
It looks – will try for sure. You re right probably not calorie friendly but everyone needs a splurge now and then.
I think the term “my man” is so off putting, you seem more independent than that –
Rhoda says
Ha! Well, I am very independent, but I also enjoy making him happy.
teresa says
Ha! That’s funny, but I don’t see “my man” as not portraying independence. Now had you referred to yourself (in a serious way as the “little woman” I might agree! 😉 I think you’re still in the thrilling honeymoon stage and very much in love and I hope you stay that way for a LONG time. I find your references to Mark charming. I’m anxious to try this recipe, although for my DH and I no half and half.
: (
Rhoda says
I agree, Teresa, thank you for saying that. We have a very good relationship.
Roxanne says
I am going to try his casserole out on my Bible study group! We are all supposed to bring dinner to share, and the younger couples have some strange ideas about the food they bring. I always try to make some sort of hearty, filling casserole…which they gobble up! LOL. My car had a horrible smell for one entire summer. I used to do research with mice and recognized that dead rodent aroma. Turned out to be mice that were feasting on my cabin air filter (didn’t even know I had one!)
You are one independent lady, and I love that you call Mark “my man”!
Rhoda says
Roxanne, I think your Bible study group will eat this up! It’s very tasty and I can’t imagine anyone not liking it.
Sherry says
There has been research and several car companies have used a soy based ingredient in the coating on the wiring harness that has been found to attract critters (mice, rats, and squirrels).
I think it was used because to be more environmentally friendly. Down side.. critters apparently like it.
Something you might want to look into further.
P.S. Hate that I even know that tidbit of information.
Rhoda says
Hi, Sherry, I found that out too and it’s in my post at the top with a link to an article about the soy based materials and lawsuits going on. I just wanted to share all of this so others would be aware it can happen and fast. My car was outside for about 2 weeks and they wreaked havoc on my car in that time period and I’ve heard from countless others about their experience with this as well. We will definitely be getting proactive since we have one vehicle which must stay in the driveway all the time.
Nancy says
Ugh! We bought a brand new motor home in 2016. It’s at a storage lot when we’re not using it and my darling man and I check on frequently. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself) A few days ago we found it FULL of tiny mouse droppings and a little dots of urine. Gross. And one dead mouse. More gross. We put 4 little boxes of rat poison. Now, I’m frantic to go back and check the wiring! Tomorrow!