Tater Tot Casserole - Fit for a Kid, Loved by Adults

Ah, the Tater Tot...kids love them, adults love them, and Napoleon loves them so much that he'll tell you to get your own! A few months ago, when we were experiencing the throes of over-committed work schedules, my oldest sister-in-law was watching our children for us for the day; if that wasn't enough, that do-anything-for-anyone woman made us a carryout portion of what her family was having for dinner. She sent us home with tater tot casserole and peach cobbler. Oh. My. Word. - Delicious. After a long work day, basically anything that someone else makes for you is perfect. However, after making this recipe myself for my family later on, I've learned that this is a perfect recipe for any kind of day. It's quick, easy, and loved by kids and adults alike. The nice thing about this recipe, too, is that you can vary it with things you have on hand. The first time I made it, I used a base recipe (ground beef, soup, cheese, minced onion, and tots). A friend of ours happened to be hovering around the kitchen that day and told me that the recipe is also awesome with cream of celery soup. I never even considered using cream of celery...maybe I didn't even know it existed actually? At any rate, it really is good that way and that's how we had it tonight. I also spied some fresh mushrooms in the fridge that I meant to roast earlier this week; I threw those in, too.

I'll give you the rundown below, but basically if you think it would taste good on a burger, it would probably fit in this casserole. I think you could easily steam some broccoli, throw that in and sub out the cream of celery for broccoli cheddar soup and cheddar cheese soup for the cream of mushroom. If you mix it up a different way, let me know in the comments box below. I'm always looking for new dinner ideas!

Here's what you need: 

• 1.5-2lbs of ground beef
• 1 small white onion (or half of a large one)
• 1 package of fresh white mushrooms, washed and sliced
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can of cream of celery soup
• 1 bag of seasoned tater tots
• 1 bag of shredded cheddar or colby

Here's what you do:

• Preheat your oven to 425
• Grab a 9x13 baking dish and set-aside
• Brown the ground beef and sauté with mushrooms and onions
• Drain ground beef and pour in baking dish
• Fold-in soups over ground beef
• Empty bag of frozen tater tots onto beef; arrange in tots into one layer
• Top tater tots with cheese
• Bake for 25 minutes; tots should appear done/golden

Let cool and enjoy! Serve with fruit and veggies.