Tater Tot Hot Dish

I grew up in the great state of Minnesota.  Apparently, Tater Tot "Hot Dish", as they call it (I call it casserole but "hot dish" is so much more fun to say) is a big deal in Minnesota.  It's, like, the state meal...or something like that.  I honestly do not remember ever eating it during my childhood.  Maybe I didn't like it, so I blocked it out of my memory...I don't know.  Anyway, Tater Tot Hot Dish has become a staple meal in my household.  It's not expensive to make, it's filling, and it's awfully tasty. 

Ingredients:

*2 lbs. ground beef

*2 large cans of Cream of Mushroom soup

*2 envelope packets of dry onion soup mix

*Frozen mixed veggies

*Frozen tater tots

Procedure:

1.  Preheat your oven to 375* F.

2.  Brown and drain the ground beef.

3.  In a large bowl combine the ground beef, soup, dry onion soup, and mixed veggies.  Mix well

4.  Pour this mixture into a 10x15 baking dish.

5.  Top with tater tots.

6.  Bake in your preheated oven for 1 hour.

*NOTES:  I use 2 dry onion soup packets for a large batch but, it can sometimes come out a little salty.  Just use 1 packet if you are watching your sodium intake.

Sausage Potato Casserole

This recipe came from a cookbook that was put together by my MIL's 4th husband's family. Don't ask.

What you'll need:

*1 lb. ground pork sausage
*3/4 cup milk
*1/2 tsp. salt
*3 cups potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
*1 can cream of mushroom soup
*1/4 tsp. ground pepper
*1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

What you do:

1. In a large skillet, cook sausage until it is no longer pink; drain.

2. In a bowl, combine the soup, milk, salt, and pepper.

3. In an ungreased 9x13 baking dish, layer half the potatoes, then the soup, then the sausage; repeat the layers.

4. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 1/2 hours (aka 90 minutes).

5. Sprinkle with cheese and return to oven until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes).

*NOTE: I don't actually measure the potatoes after I have sliced them...and it doesn't have to be "3 cups" worth of potatoes. You can stack them as deep as you like...which is what I do. Just make sure that you make more of the soup/milk mixture to accomodate all those taters!

Creamy Potato Soup

"Easy and very creamy soup with taste! Great served with grilled cheese sandwiches. Will satisfy even the meat lovers in your family." ~Karen from Colorado.

This recipe is #15165 on Recipezaar's web-site. I came across this recipe almost a year ago and I am sad to say that I have made this soup only twice. It is DELICIOUS! Here in Texas we have very few days that I consider "soup weather" (yes, even in the winter). I guess I'd better hurry up and make this again...before it gets too warm to enjoy it!

What you'll need:

*5-6 large potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
*1/2 lb. bacon (cut into bacon bits...I'll tell you how to do this in a bit)
*1/4 cup all-purpose flour
*3 cups chicken broth
*2 cups heavy cream
*3/4 cup frozen corn kernels (or canned, drained)
*1 medium onion, diced
*6 garlic cloves, minced
*1/4 cup butter (optional)
*salt and pepper, to taste

What you do:

1. Fry bacon until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain. Reserve bacon grease. (Don't worry...I will post how to make perfect bacon bits)

2. Meanwhile, boil potatoes in a large Dutch oven or stock pot in water until tender (but not falling apart)...do NOT add salt! Drain.

3. Pour reserved bacon grease into large empty pot; saute onion and garlic in reserved bacon grease until onion is lightly browned.

4. Add flour to the sauted onion and garlic, stirring until evenly browned; add cream and stir constantly until mixture thickens. Add chicken broth and stir until bubbly.

5. Stir potatoes, corn, and crumbled bacon into the soup; add butter, salt, and pepper to taste. Simmer until butter is melted and stirred into soup.

6. Add milk a little at a time if the soup is too thick for your taste.

*Some side notes...I don't use the butter. Also, this soup will be THICK! I don't add milk at the end to thin it out. Instead, I add 2 whole cans of chicken broth (which ends up to be 4 cups instead of 3).