TATER TOT CASSEROLE RECIPE

If ever something was comfort food to us, this would be high on the list...it's the ubiquitous Tater Tot casserole...sure it is totally bad for you but it sure does make you feel good at the same time!  Best of all, it's pretty inexpensive.

Begin by gathering the 6 simple ingredients:

1 - 1 1/2 lb ground beef

1 pkg of onion soup mix

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 16 oz pkg frozen peas

1 pkg frozen tater tots (we like the 'crowns' if you can find them)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees


Steps as follows:

1) Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish a bit just to keep everything from sticking. 

We put the meat and onion soup mix right in the pan and just mix it up there with your hands like a meatloaf.  At this time you can add other seasonings you might like. We added a bit of paprika and some cayenne for heat.

2) Press the seasoned meat into the bottom of the dish.

3)  Put the tater tots on top of the meat. Some people are very orderly in their approach, lining them all up in rows.  We just sort of randomly put them in, you'll see why in a couple more steps.

4) Pour/spread the cream of mushroom soup on top of tots. 

5) Sprinkle the peas randomly over the top.

6) Finally, spread about 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese over everything.

7) Bake at 350 degrees for 20 mins and then take it out of the oven.
This is an important (and different) step.  Using a large spoon, stir it around a bit, bringing the meat up from the bottom and breaking it up.  Add salt/pepper to taste and put the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese on top of what you stirred up.

Return to oven for another 20 mins, or until meat is fully cooked.

8) Remove from oven and it will look like this.  Not the prettiest dish at the dance but...

...when you dish it up, it sure is good.

Eat.  Repeat.  As often as desired.

Enjoy.