Quintessential Comfort Food: Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole

My daughter and I have both been battling chest colds/bronchial issues the past week and a half, and nothing puts you more in the mood for "comfort food" than feeling under the weather!  I can't believe I've never made tater tot casserole before, it got such rave reviews I'm definitely adding it to the lineup! I "tweaked" several recipes I found online, so feel free to modify to your liking, too! Here's what I did:

Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole  

a pound of ground beef (or ground turkey)

one small onion, chopped

one can cream of mushroom soup

a bag of frozen tater tots

shredded cheese (I used a new "four cheddar" variety I found at the supermarket)

Brown the ground beef , then drain the grease and put back into pan.  Add chopped onion and cook till soft.  Place meat in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Arrange tater tots on top of meat.  Pour mushroom soup on top of tater tots, stir if you want.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven, top with shredded cheese and then bake for 5 additional minutes. Perfection!

There are many variations of this recipe; you could add peas or mushrooms, use sour cream instead of soup, or use hashbrowns instead of tater tots. Just DON'T omit the cheese! That would just be pure craziness....