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Thursday, May 10, 2012

Hamburger Tater Tot Casserole

I'm sorry I've been missing in action lately.  Life got away from me and I did take a wonderful trip with my husband as well :)

I'm seeking comfort lately, and this week I'm not worried about carbs or calories :).  So here's another old standby recipe.  In my opinion, this SHOULD work better than it does for getting kids to eat veggies. My mother never mixed my veggies with cheese and hamburger or there would have been way fewer dinner time battles! :)  Instead I was forced to eat things like beef stroganoff (WITH mushrooms) and the like.  Apparently I'm just too nice of a mom in terms of my cooking. So my kids don't appreciate really yummy recipes like this.  There's a lesson there I guess.  Unfortunately my middle son won't eat this because he doesn't like tater tots (or veggies LOL).  The younger son will usually eat most of it and my oldest daughter, husband and I clear our plates and get seconds.  YUM.

Hamburger Tater Tot Casserole

2lbs ground beef
onion powder, garlic powder to taste (~ 1tsp)
salt & pepper to taste
2 cans of Campbells Cheddar cheese soup
a bag of frozen mixed vegetables
a bag of frozen tater tots

Brown the hamburger and season with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste.  You may also add chopped onion if you wish - we aren't big onion people so we don't add it.  Drain the excess fat.  Spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish with non stick spray.  Layer hamburger, veggies, and soup and stir lightly together to combine.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Top with tater tots and bake at 350 for additional 45 minutes or everything is melted / bubbly and the tater tots look lightly browned.   I like to make this recipe a few hours ahead and keep in the fridge until it's time to bake for dinner. It will usually cook in 45 minutes or less coming from the fridge instead of the freezer.  Leftovers are equally satisfying :)