Club Chicken - a casserole

A few days ago one of my friends gave me several cookbooks. One of them was Better Homes and Gardens Meat Cook Book from 1966. I love older cookbooks. I've been trying to eat lighter these days and most of the recipes in this cookbook screamed HIGH Cholesterol and FAT. I'm not quite sure if the recipe I made today is less in Cholesterol, but I did try to Healty it up a bit.

The orginal recipe.

Club Chicken
1/4 cup butter, margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth or 1 1/2 chicken bouillon cubes in 1 c. hot water
1 14 1/2 oz can evaporated milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
3 cups cooked rice
1 3oz can (2/3 cup) sliced mushrooms, drained
1/4 cup chopped pimiento
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds, toasted

Melt butter; blend in flour. Gradually add broth, milk and 1/2 cup water; cook and stir over low heat till thick. Add salt. Add chicken, rice and vegetables. Pour into greased 11 1/2x7 1/2x1 1/2-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with almonds. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Here's how I made it:
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Fat Free, Low Sodium chicken broth
1 12 oz. can No Fat evaporated milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups diced cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cups cooked Minuite brand Brown Rice
1 8oz. pkg sliced fresh mushrooms
1 2oz. jar chopped pimientos

First I put the rice in a medium pan to cook. While it was cooking I cut up two boneless, skinless, chicken breasts into bite size pieces. I placed them in a skillet with no oil and cooked them just till done; no browning. In the same skillet with the chicken I added the flour; over to one side. I poured in some Low Sodium chicken broth; enough to make a thick paste and then poured in the rest; stirring it well into the chicken. I didn't add the 1/2 c. water that the orginal recipe suggested. I didn't see how it would effect the taste much if I just used the rest of my can of chicken broth. Next I added the rest of the ingredients: salt, No Fat evaporated milk, pimientos, and fresh mushrooms. Mixed all that together. I then placed the rice in the baking dish and poured the chicken mixture in; stirring it all together. Baked at 350 degrees, per orginal recipe, for 30 mins.
Delicious! I am thinking that next time I make this a few sauted onions and a larger pkg of fresh mushrooms would be good. Hum, just had an idea... what about adding some chopped fresh spinach also?  I think there's a lot you can do with this recipe.

I couldn't help but notice as I was comparing and changing ingredients that the size of the can of evaporated milk has shrunk since the 1960's. I've noticed this happening alot with other products lately. The price remains the same, but the product has shrunk; less in the can or container. For example, if you're like me you save your butter tubs to use; find an old one and compare the amounts (lbs or ozs).