The Last of the Chicken

We had baked potatoes for dinner on Tuesday night.

Last night, we used up the last of the chicken.  Wait, I used up the last of the meat on the bones.  I'm going to make chicken soup out of the remaining bones for dinner tonight.

Unfortunately, when I'm making soup from scratch, I believe in bringing the water to a boil before I let it simmer.  So, tomorrow morning before I head off to work, I'll bring the water and leftover bones to a rolling boil, and then I'll toss it all into the crock pot and set it on low for 8 hours.

For dinner last night, I made a Chicken and Rice Casserole.  This recipe was given to me by my room-mate's grandmother back when we were in college and just learning how to cook.  I loved it then because even I could make it - as long as I remembered to set the timer once I put the stuff in the oven!  Even better, when I made this for me, I ended up having dinner for several days during the week.  This was dinner last night, and will be lunch for my husband and I tomorrow.

 

Chicken and Rice Casserole

(Cherie's Grandma's Recipe)

1 cup cooked chicken or turkey, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 (10 ounce) bag of frozen mixed veggies
2 cups of cooked rice
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 cup mayo
Corn Flakes

Spray a 9x13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Saute the onion and celery in a saucepan until veggies are soft.

In the pan, combine chicken, mixed veggies, rice, onion mixture, cream of mushroom soup, and mayo.  Stir well and spread to edges of the pan.

Crush one cup of corn flakes, spread evenly over the casserole.

Bake in a 350* oven for 20 minutes.

Note- I've had this recipe with mayo and without.  I prefer it with the mayo.  I've exchanged the cream of mushroom soup for cream of celery and omitted the celery stalks.  I've had it with two cans of cream of soup and no mayo - one can of mushroom and one of celery.  The point of this recipe is to keep your expenses low.  Cherie's Grandma told me that the trick to this recipe is to use what you have in your fridge and pantry first, and then to hit up the grocery store last.  She always used this recipe to use up odds and ends of leftovers in the fridge.  If she was trying to feed more people, she'd add more rice and veggies to the mix.