Tater Tot Taco Casserole

First of all, a friend gave me this recipe, so whomever initially wrote it, thanks!

I love casseroles. My kids - they're hit or miss. Whose kids aren't? But this one incorporates all sorts of foods they love plus some healthy ones. It's a nice alternative to taco night. So is taco soup. YUM. If I haven't posted that one, let me know and I'll share that! Top this however you want on your plate: add black olives, peppers, sour cream, you name it! Just like a home made taco bar, but in casserole form. Don't like black beans? Substitute in pinto or chili beans. You can use fresh or frozen corn in lieu of can corn and any meat: pulled chicken, ground turkey, etc... Like Mexican cheese instead, use that. Be creative in what you like to use, here's the base recipe:

casserole dish, deep sided pan
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of black beans, drained
1 can enchilada sauce - we used medium
1 pkg of frozen tater tots (I like tots, so I used the whole bag. You could use half a bag)
12 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Pull out the tots from the freezer and set them on the counter. Heat your oven to 350 deg. In a large pan with sides, brown meat and onions. Drain fat. Add garlic, taco seasoning, corn, and beans. Heat through. While the meat mixture is warming, pour half of the enchilada sauce in a rectangle casserole dish. Set dish aside. In the pan, or a large mixing bowl (<---- I used a bowl), combine meat mixture, tater tots and 3/4 of the cheese; pour into prepared dish. Top with remaining enchilada sauce. Bake for 30 minutes. Top casserole with remaining cheese and bake 10 more minutes.

I topped my portion with sour cream, so did my kids because it came out with some heat. I think that's about it. Enjoy!

Apple Cheddar Bacon Soup

Yum Yum Yum Soup. I used gala apples in this soup, but I'm sure you can use any apple that tickles your fancy. Because of it's sweetness I would suggest having it as a first course, not a main meal. My 5 year old, who does not eat soup, ate this soup!

6 strips of bacon (unless you're a bacon lover, then add two strips)
1 small onion, chopped
2 apples, cored, peeled, chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
3 C chicken stock
1 1/5 C apple juice
2 C shredded cheddar cheese (plus some for extra topping if you like)
2 green onions, sliced
2 slices of wheat bread (or rye)
Dijon mustard

In a pot cook your bacon. Remove bacon and let cool on paper towel. Remove all but 2 T of bacon drippings. (I dipped a paper towel in the pot to make sure I left enough drippings) Cook the onion, apples and potato in bacon drippings over med-high heat about 5 min or until apples are soft. Add chicken stock and apple juice. Cook about 10 more minutes or until potatoes are soft. Turn off heat, stir in all but 2 T of cheese. In batches puree your soup in a blender. Return to pot - I returned it to a smaller pot. Yay, soup is done!

Spread Dijon mustard over bread. Sprinkle with remaining 2 T of cheese. Broil or toast bread in toaster oven until cheese is melted. Cut the bread into cubes - croutons! While the bread is toasting, chop bacon up into pieces.

Serve soup in bowels. Toppings include: croutons, green onions, bacon, shredded cheese.

My son actually dipped the bread into his soup and ate it. Maybe finger length strips of bread would be fun for them.

Sliders

We've been sick all week. Well, three of us at different intervals all entwined  I wanted something yummy that did not consist of soup and crackers. Here we go.....

1 lb Ground Beef
2 t Steak Seasoning (McCormick, yum)
1 T W-Sauce
1 t Onion Powder
Slices of cheese
1 Pkg Pillsbury layered rolls
Celery Stalks
Peanut Butter
Craisins
Fruit
--ketchup, mustard, pickles, etc...toppings for burgers


Pre-heat your oven to 400 deg. Bake rolls according to package directions.

In a medium bowl combine first four ingredients. Roll meat into little balls that fit in the palm of your hand; flatten and press down in the middle. I made 9 little burgers. Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add 1 T oil. Once pan is hot add burgers. Cook about 5 min, then flip and cook for another 5 or until they're done to the temperature you like ~ about 160 deg F. Once they're about done quarter your cheese slices and lay a piece on each burger. Let the cheese melt, remove burger from heat; set on a plate.

Rinse and cut celery in halves or thirds. Fill the inside of celery with peanut butter. Top with craisins.

Prepare fruit.

Open the layered rolls wherever you want. Place your burger on the bottom. Add your toppings. Cover with the top of the roll. The rolls are buttered and the kids devoured them quicker than a regular burger!

Turkey Mac & Cheese

I don't know if this recipe has enough cheese! It's delicious and SO creamy....

8 oz noodles of your choice. Jacob chose this, but I also had mini shells on hand.
4 T butter
1/4 C flour
2 C milk
1 bay leaf
Dash of ground Nutmeg
2 1/2 C Cheddar Cheese (white, yellow, whichever), shredded
2 C Gruyere or Gouda Cheese, shredded
12 oz turkey sausage, stuffed with cheese (you can use any type of sausage or even kielbasa, I bought fully cooked meat), sliced
1 C crushed pretzels (Here, I would use bread crumbs instead, maybe not 1 full cup on crumbs. The pretzels came out soft)

Cook noodles according to package directions for al dente. While your water is coming to a boil, shred cheese. In a sauce pan melt butter over Med heat. Add flour and whisk 2 minutes. Add milk, bay leaf, and nutmeg. Whisk occasionally until thickened, about 5-8 minutes. (Drain noodles when they're done.) Add 2 C of cheddar cheese, and 2 C Gouda cheese to milk. Mix well. Add sausage and noodles, mix well. *Add up to 1 C of warm water to make the cheese less viscous. (you can use the water the noodles were cooked in here)* Spread mixture into a greased baking dish, at least 2 qt. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 C cheddar cheese and top with pretzels or bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes to heat through.

A Yummy Fall Dinner

A little inspiration from everywhere, including my dad. Thanks Dad! This recipe has flavorful rice, moist chicken, savory apples and delicious veggies. I'm eating leftovers today,which is all thrown together and it tastes great that way too!

Chicken  - I eyeballed measurements, so I hope it's close!
4 Chicken Thighs
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp water
1/2 C bread crumbs
1/4 C fresh Parmesan cheese
1 T paprika
1 t garlic salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 deg. Spray cookie sheet with Pam. Pre-heat skillet with oil over medium heat. Pat chicken dry. In one bowl mix egg and water. In another bowl mix bread crumbs, cheese, paprika, salt. Dip chicken, one at a time, in egg then in bread mixture. Coating well. Brown in skillet. The chicken will not be cooked through. We want to seal the chicken in the crusty bread. Transfer chicken to cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.

Rice -change amount of rice as needed
2 C water
1 C rice
1 T chicken bouillon

Bring water to a boil in a pot that has a cover. Add bouillon and rice. Bring temperature to Low and cover. Let sit on Low heat for 20 minutes.

Apples
4 medium apples (we used a red apple good for baking)
1/4 C brown sugar (more or less to taste)
2 t Ground Cinnamon (more or less to taste)

Pre-heat oven to 350 deg. Core and slice apples. We did not peel them, but you can if you or your kids don't like the skin. Place apple slices, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Toss to coat. Place apples on baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes. Serve warm. ** this also fills your house with a wonderful smell! You may want to do more apples late in the afternoon and get this done first, prior to the chicken so you can snack while you cook.....Yes, I'm that bad**

Vegetables
I cheated. Grab a bag or two of steam in the microwave veggies. Pour cooked veggies in a bowl, serve.

Chicken Souvlaki

I love a good gyro or souvlaki, however most of the dishes I found to try over the years just weren't up to par. This one is pretty good. Not an exact match to my beloved tzatziki sauce, but pretty darn good. Hey, I woofed it down!

Serves 4

For the chicken souvlaki:
2 T olive oil
1 T lemon juice
1 1/2 t minced garlic
1 1/2 t fresh oregano
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t coarse salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
4 pita bread
lettuce leaves
tomato slices
onion slices

Whisk together first 7 ingredients in a bowl. Add chicken thighs. Toss to coat and let marinade for at least 30 minutes (I let it sit for an hour, turning once). Pre-heat broiler to high. Place chicken on a baking sheet and broil for 4 minutes. Flip chicken over and broil for an additional 4 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, about 180 deg F. Cut chicken into bite-sized chunks.

You can either stuff your pita or fold it like a taco. Fill the bread with lettuce, tomato, onion and chicken. Top with tzatziki sauce to taste.

For the Tzatziki Sauce:
1 C Greek Yogurt (full fat is fine)
1/4 C diced seedless, peeled cucumber (about half a cucumber)
1 T minced garlic
1/2 t olive oil
1 t lemon juice
1/4 t coarse salt
pinch black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Stir to combine.

Kielbasa Bundles

Hello foodie friends. Yes, it has been a while. Here is something I made for lunch today with the family. It was fun having the kids help out when they could.

1/2 lb fully cooked kielbasa or Polish Sausage, chopped (I used Polska Kielbasa, 14 oz)
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 C green pepper, chopped (I used 1/4 green pepper, little over 1/4 C)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 T butter
1/3 C barbecue sauce (I had Hickory Smoked on hand)
2 tubes (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent rolls
4 slices American cheese slices, halved
1 egg white
1 T water
Sesame Seeds

Pre-heat oven to 350 Deg.

In a large skillet (try deep dish), cook sausage for 5 minutes over medium heat. Drain any fat. Add onion, green pepper, garlic, and butter. Cook until vegetables are tender, about another 5 minutes. Stir in barbecue sauce and heat through.

While the vegetables are cooking; unroll crescent dough and separate into four rectangles; seal perforations. Place a cheese slice on half of each rectangle; top with 2 T sausage mixture. Fold dough over filling and pinch sides. Tuck any remaining dough underneath. Beat egg white and water together in a small bowl; brush over dough. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 8 bundles.