Tater-tot Casserole

Ok this sounds soooo bad but yet I really want to try it..perhaps tonight! Going to make a few minor adjustments to class it up a bit starting with fresh green-beans I just got at the market....also going to definitely use turkey and low sodium soup to keep it healthier...going to put meat and beans both down then cover with soup and tots and lastly I'm going to put under the broiler the last few minutes to really get those tots crispy! Mmmmmm, we'll see how it goes!


TATOR TOT CASSEROLE

1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 (16 oz.) pkg. French style green beans
1 can mushrooms (or fresh) - optional
1 pkg. tater tots
1 can cream of mushroom soup - or any other cream variety you like
1/2 C milk
1/4 C water


Brown ground meat. Put in a 9 x 13 inch pan sprayed with cooking spray. Cover meat with cream of mushroom soup mixed with milk and water. Top with green beans and tator tots and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Margaret's Confetti Egg Strata

This breakfast casserole is my sister-in-law Margaret's recipe. Very adaptable and hard to keep from hungry people.

Confetti Egg Strata

1/2 loaf Italian bread, cut into 1 inch cubs
8 oz ham, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (1 1/2 cups)
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup red or green pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup green onions with tops, sliced
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
10 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups milk
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper

In a greased baking dish, layer half of bread, cheese and veggies. Repeat. Whisk milk and seasonings into eggs until well blended. Slowly pour evenly over layered ingredients. Cover with foil and refrigerate several hours overnight.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 55 to 60 minutes or until strata is set and top is golden brown.

As far as substitutions, you can do all kinds of things. I skip the mushrooms. Bacon or sausage both work great. I like a lot of green onions, so I load up on those. We eat a lot of sourdough bread and don't always make it through a loaf before it starts to go bad, so I freeze it. This last time I made it with all my leftover bread, including sourdough, boule, two croissants and some country Italian bread. You could make it Mexican with chorizo, salsa and Mexican cheese.

Laura's Sausage Bake

The basic recipe, can be adapted as needed:

Cut up bread - enough to fill the bottom of the greased pan (I typically use leftover hamburger/hot dog buns)

Then mix:
6 to 8 eight eggs
Can of mushroom soup
Sausage (this time I used a 1 lb of plain sausage and 1/2 lb of sage sausage)
Cheese (this time I used 3/4 block of cream cheese & some leftover cottage cheese in the mixture)
Sautéed onions, garlic and peppers (typically I use a yellow onion, but this time I used red onion. I also don't always add pepper, but did this time)
Pepper & salt to taste

Then bake covered -- typically an hour or so (more if it's frozen). But, I don't think you can actually over bake this thing - it's amazing. I also tend to add shredded cheese to the top about 15 minutes before it's done.

This recipe is relatively easy, uses a bunch of leftover stuff and freezes well.

Favorite Comfort Food - Chicken Divan

Chicken Divan was on the regular meal rotation growing up and always my brother's request for his birthday dinner. My mom used to microwave the chicken (gross!) and use frozen broccoli. When I started making it in college, I decided to go with boiling the chicken and fresh broccoli. It's a couple extra steps but well worth it in my opinion. When we were little, we used to pick around the broccoli and ask my mom why she couldn't make it with just chicken. Now the broccoli is my favorite part! The leftovers of this may be even better than the dish itself.

Chicken Divan

3-4 Chicken Breasts
2-3 heads of broccoli
5 Slices Lorraine Swiss Cheese (highly recommend using Lorraine Swiss rather than regular - you can get it in the Deli)
3 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup sherry cooking wine (any white wine works)
1+ teaspoon lemon juice
4 tbsp butter or margarine
1+ cups of Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing mix

Put the chicken on to boil and while it is cooking, cut the broccoli up into small pieces. Steam or boil the broccoli until it is crisp tender (will cook more when you bake the casserole). When the chicken is done, cut it up into small pieces and put it into a bowl with a bit of sherry. Mix the chicken soup, mayo, sherry, and lemon juice in a separate bowl and set aside. Melt the margarine or butter and then toss in the stuffing mix until it is coated. Lay the broccoli on the bottom of a large rectangular glass pan. Pour some of the chicken soup mixture over it to cover a bit. Layer the chicken on top of that and pour the rest of the mixture on top of the chicken. Lay the slices of swiss cheese on top and then add the stuffing mixture on top of that. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is bubbly (about 20 minutes). Serve with rice.

p.s. thanks to mollie for sending me my recipe so i didn't have to type it all over again:)