04. Tator Tot Taco Casserole with Variation

Well after being busy with kids end of school activities I've finally had some time to try a new recipe. Actually I volunteered to bring a casserole to an event and then I realized I don't have any casserole recipes! So I hit the internet looking for something that sounded good. Normally I wouldn't have chosen something with tator tots in it, but my daughter begged me to. Apparently she had eaten a similar casserole at a friends house and loved it. So after some searching I found something quick and easy.

1 lb. ground beef
1 sm. pkg. frozen tator tots
1 can cheese soup
1 can corn
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix

Brown ground beef. Put in taco seasoning and stir well. Add cheese soup and corn to beef and stir well. Put beef mixture in baking dish. Cover with tator tots. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until tator tots are browned. Add grated cheese on top for extra cheesiness!

Now for some variations...

I replaced the tator tots with crushed up Nacho Doritos and I think it was even better than the tator tots.

I haven't done this yet, but next time I will be replacing the corn with black beans. You can do this with any vegetable.

Top with sour cream, this was really good. I also thought it might taste good wrapped in a tortilla.

Now obviously this isn't the most healthy meal, but it is quick, easy, and cheap. You can also make the beef mixture ahead of time and pop it in the oven when ready. I may be playing around with more variations to make this a healthy meal.

If you have any ideas please comment and let me know!

Until next time...

03. Cheeseburger Pie

We had this at my work and I asked the cook for the recipe. It was pretty good. So this recipe is is from a wonderful lady named Dana :)

1 pound ground beef/turkey browned and drained - I used beef
Salt, pepper, garlic, onion (add 1 teaspoon beef bullion if using turkey) - I used garlic powder and one small onion
2 Tablespoon flour - stir into meat until moistened
1 medium can tomato sauce
Bring to boil over medium heat for one minute then allow to simmer on low
Topping (will cover 8x8 dish) (9x13 will need 2 pounds meat and 2 cups flour, milk)
1 cup self rising flour
1/2 stick butter cut into flour
Stir in 1 cup milk just until moistened
Pour meat mixture into greased casserole dish.
Layer with American cheese slices.
Use spatula to pour batter on top of cheese and gently spread to edges.
Bake at 375-400 until brown and bubble. May take about 30 minutes or more.

Verdict: We liked it. We also cooked a can of corn and put it in a bowl and then put the Cheeseburger Pie on top of it. Next time we'll change or try a few different things. Like we'll have more of the topping next time AND we'll probably try a different type of sliced cheese. But overall, pretty good!

02. Traditional Beef Stew

I love pot roast...But this was a little different then what my mom always made. But that's okay cause it was still good. I have to credit this recipe to Stephanie at http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/, I got it out of her cookbook called Make It Fast, Cook It Slow.

Ingredients:
1 yellow onion
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered (I just used a can of diced tomatoes)
3 celery stalks, sliced
1 cup sliced carrots
2 cups green beans (I used frozen peas instead)
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 pounds beef stew meat (I used chuck roast)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary (I used fresh)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup dry red wine
2 (15-ounce) cans beef broth

The Directions (as the book says)
Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Put all the vegetables into the cooker. Dredge the meat in flour, and add to the crock. Discard any remaining flour. Add the dry seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, wine, and beef broth. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 12 hours.

What actually happened
My husband actually helped me a lot on this one. We first seared the meat and then we cut it up in chunks to make it more like beef stew not pot roast. Then we cut up the onion, celery, and carrot. I cheated and bought the can tomatoes and already sliced mushrooms. After we seared the meat and cut it up we put it to the side and in the same pan we seared the meat in we put the onion, celery, carrots. We let those simmer for a bit and then added flour to thicken it up. After those simmered and thickened we added red wine to it. Then we put that in the crock pot. We added the peas, tomatoes, mushrooms, rosemary, and Worcestershire sauce to this and mixed it well. Sprinkled in some salt, pepper and garlic powder. THEN we added the meat and the beef broth. And let it cook on low for about 6 hours.

Results... It was quiet tasty. I think it more of a colder weather type food but it was still pretty good!