well, this is what i did for dinner tonight:

in a 12" stainless steel skillet (my FAVORITE pot, i use it EVERY night...ask tyler, he washes the dishes!) brown 1 lb chicken (cut into bite sized pieces) in a few tbsp of olive oil.

when done (about 5 min) put the chicken on a plate and cover with aluminum foil. in the skillet, cook 1 lb smoked sausage ( sliced into bite sized pieces, i use chicken sausage) for 5 minutes.

add one HUGE onion and start to deglaze the pan with the onion juices. oh, add one large garlic clove too.

when the onion is translucent, add 4 c chicken stock. finish deglazing the bottom of the pan. add 2 boxes of long grain and wild rice mix, but only 1 packet of seasoning. bring to a boil. turn down to low, cover, and simmer until almost all the liquid has boiled out.

in the last few minutes, add the chicken to reaheat, one box of frozen snap peas, and one can of chopped up artichoke hearts. cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

tyler and i decided that we didn't like the tang of the artichokes with the smoke of the sausage. next time i'm going to omit the hearts and sautee a zucchini or summer squash with the onion.