Creamy and Sweet Chicken and Rice

Okay, everyone makes the chicken and rice bake with cream of chicken and Lipton onion soup, right? Not that I don't still love it, but was in the mood for something different. I was extremely low on my grocery funds, due to unexpected funeral expenses traveling to Utah. In other words, I simply needed to make do with what was in the house. Even if I had unlimited funds, there was no way I was going to go to the store after I had just gotten home from such a long trip by car. They say, necessity is the mother of all inventions. However, as much as I would like too, I can't take full credit for this one alone. The original recipe came from Kraft, and I just happened to have found it in my spam email box. I will post the original recipe, and tell you my tips/tricks below.

Honestly, I think this is a dish that is elegant enough to serve to dinner guest if you chose to keep the breast intact, as the original recipe instructs. However, when on a budget, low on time, or cooking large, I always shred my chicken in the crock!

Tips: I placed 6 breasts, frozen, in crock pot with everything, but the kitchen sink... Oops, I mean the cream, almonds and the rice. I didn't even use the almonds, but sure think it is fancy! I also used pineapple/apricot jam, because I had that in the house. I cooked this on high for 3 hours. While my brown rice and not, white rice, was cooking, I added my cream, and continued to cook in crock pot on high for 30 min. Once rice was done, I used a metal spatula to shred up the chicken into bite size pieces and serve over rice. That is it! Idiot easy, fast and cheap.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter (didn't use)
2/3 cup sliced almonds (didn't use)
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (used crock pot and shredded)
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream (used half and half)
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
3 tbsp. orange marmalade (I used apricot/pineapple jam)
1 tbsp. Dijon-style mustard (I used spicy, style)
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
6 cups hot cooked regular long-grain white rice (I used brown)
Directions:
Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the almonds and cook and stir until lightly browned. Remove the almonds from the skillet.  Season the chicken with the black pepper.  Heat the remaining butter in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in batches and cook until well browned on both sides.  Add 1/2 cup almonds, heavy cream, soup, marmalade, mustard and red pepper to the skillet. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with the remaining almonds. Serve chicken and sauce with the rice, if desired.