Compliments to the Chef

Last night, older Son was due to get home from a week at camp, so I thought I'd fix something to have in the fridge for after he got in, you know ... in case he might be hungry. :)


So I threw together a small, quick mess of "tater tot casserole" (with a pound of hamburger), only I split it between two small pans, so I could put some kind of VEGETABLES in mine. I tried some once at a ladies' supper that had peas in it, so that's what I tried in my portion. I tried corn in the last big version I made here at home, and Hubby deemed it "O.K.," but wasn't that thrilled with it. So this time, I tried the peas. It was GOOD. I put the veggie-style in a round 8-inch pan for me, and the non-veggie-style in a small 8 X 8 square pan, then baked them both.


Wow it turned out good! Don't know if it was because I almost burned the hamburger, or the healthy dose of garlic powder, plus some paprika. But it had that "old-fashioned comfort food" flavor. YUM!


My leftovers this morning, that I had for breakfast, still good!




Hubby works at night, and if he doesn't eat breakfast with his co-workers, he might have a bite to eat here once he gets home, before he goes to bed for the ... day. Well, I got up this morning, and THIS NOTE was written on the fridge board:





I thought I'd bust a gut over that smiley face! But the "homemaker" inside of me was happy and pleased that something I'd made was such a HIT!


The nearly empty pan!




I told older Son when he got up that if he wanted any tater tot stuff, he'd better hurry. He said, "Ah, I've had that before." I said, "But this turned out especially good, and there may be none left!"


TATER TOT CASSEROLE


1 lb. hamburger
1 can cream-of-mushroom soup
bit of milk
salt
pepper
garlic powder
paprika
tater tots
Shredded cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray pan(s) you want to use. For just a pound of hamburger, a smaller casserole will work, unless you don't mind the meat layer being thin.


Put hamburger in skillet to fry. Get on the computer and start playing "Marble Lines," and forget hamburger is frying. RUN to the kitchen, and barely catch the hamburger before it's burned! But it has a nice, brown, "roasted" texture. (Which I personally love.) Remove grease. Add can of mushroom soup, and a good splash of milk to make it a smooth, creamy (but not soupy) consistency. Add in spices, such as salt, pepper, garlic powder, (couldn't find my onion powder), and this time, I added some paprika. Can add vegetables at this point if you wish.


Put in baking pan(s), top with tater tots, sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake around 30 minutes to heat everything up and get tater tots done. DEVOUR.