Leftovers - in disguise

We had some pretty amazing meals over the holidays and now my refrigerator is bursting with leftovers. What do I do when I have too many leftovers in my refrigerator and I can't seem drum up enough excitement to eat them?  I turn them into something else so they don't look like leftovers anymore.  In this case, I had leftover herbed basmati rice and leftover dry rubbed grilled chicken breasts.  I turned to a chicken casserole recipe that I was passed down to me from my mom.  It's an oldie but goody.

My Mom’s Chicken Casserole
3 cups chopped cooked chicken           
2 cups diced celery                                1 can cream of chicken soup
1 Tablespoon minced onion                4-6 Tablespoons butter
1 cup mayonnaise                                  1 ½ cups crushed cornflakes
1 ½ cups cooked rice                            ½ cup slice almonds
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Saute celery and onion in butter to soften.

 

Combine celery, chicken,

mayonnaise,

rice,

 
lemon juice

and soup.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

Spoon into casserole dish.  (I divided mine into 2 smaller dishes so that I could freeze one for another day.)

Put cornflakes in a ziploc bag.

Crush the cornflakes with a rolling pin or step on them carefully.  My son's size 11 shoes make great cornflake crumbs in a hurry.

Brown cornflakes and almonds in butter and sprinkle over casserole.

Bake 45 minutes at 350.

Once again I forgot to snap a picture of the casserole before we ate - sooner or later I'll get the hang of this food blogging thing.  Anyway - my daughter had 3 servings of chicken casserole - obviously it was a big hit.  The casserole was delicious and it's a great way to use up leftovers.  Your family doesn't even have to know that they're eating leftovers.

Bon Appetit!