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....

March Madness Food; aka Crescent Pepperoni Roll-Ups

Every spring, my husband takes two days off work to "sit around and watch college basketball". I'm usually recruited to make a yummy snack, or two (big surprise), and am always looking for something new to make (another big surprise).  This year, he requested a big, baked Stromboli-thing I make (see 2/5/12 post for recipe), but I just didn't have the energy to undertake it this year.  What I did make, though, is practically just as good, and much quicker/easier to make; sort of "mini Strombolis"!

Crescent Pepperoni Roll-Ups (with a nod to www.plainchicken.com)

2 "cans" refrigerated crescent rolls (8 count)

big bag of pepperoni slices

8 pieces of mozzarella string cheese, cut in half

garlic powder

spaghetti/marinara sauce (optional), for dipping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Unroll crescent rolls and separate into 16 triangles. Place 5 slices of pepperoni on each triangle and top with a piece of the halved string cheese. Roll up, starting from the big end and working to the tip of the triangle.  Place on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up) and sprinkle each "roll-up" with garlic powder. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Serve warm with a side of spaghetti/marinara sauce for dipping. This recipe makes 16; I doubled it for the "March Madness" group!

Sooooooo yummy; like tiny, inside-out pepperoni pizzas! 

Today's Brilliant Idea: Freezing Avocados

I've seen this on Pinterest for some time now; freezing avocados for future use! My local supermarket had a great deal: 5 for a dollar! There is NO way I could eat them all before they went bad, so I peeled them, pitted them and "smooshed" them in my standing mixer (with a few tablespoons of lemon juice). 

Now I have "guac starter" in my freezer, ready whenever I want it!  Just thaw and add your choice of spices, and serve!

Thanks to www.sausome.com for the super-cute illustrated "recipe"!

Crock Pot Coconut Chicken Curry

Had enough of this winter's horrid weather? I have! To help pull myself out of "gloominess", I decided to "spice things up" (get it?) with some savory food; and oh, how my house smelled amazing while this was simmering away on the kitchen counter! Whoa! So, thanks once again, Pinterest! 

Crock Pot Coconut Chicken Curry  

adapted from www.tastykitchen.com

2 pounds (or so) boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into large chunks

a whole onion, peeled and quartered

2 cloves garlic, peeled

a whole small green bell pepper, seeded and quartered

a small can (6 ounces or so) tomato paste

a can (13 ounces or so) coconut milk (shaken)

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon curry powder

1 Tablespoon Garam Masala (I found it at my supermarket for about $2.50)

2 Tablespoons water

1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch

fresh cilantro

Place cubed chicken in crock pot.  Add remaining ingredients (except water, cornstarch and cilantro) to a large food processor or blender and puree until smooth-ish.  Pour sauce on top of the chicken, mix well and put the lid on the crock pot.  

Cook on low for six hours.  An hour before serving, mix the water and cornstarch in a small bowl, until the cornstarch is completely dissolved.  Add to the chicken and curry, and mix well.  At this time, I also added another 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder and Garam Masala, since cooking things in a crock pot for 6 hours kind of dulls the potency of the spices.  Cook another hour on low, and then get your taste buds ready!

I made a huge, double batch of jasmine rice, to serve the curried chicken on.  And topped it off with lots of fresh cilantro, which looked lovely in the late afternoon sun, don't you think? Yum, yum, yummy, yum yum!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Oh, yeah, you heard right; Loaded Baked Potato Soup! What, another soup recipe? Yep, it's that time of year, and I'm snowed in right now. Well, not really "snowed in" as much as "colded in"; the windchills have been below zero for the past 48 hours. So, soup it is! And homemade soup, to boot! I wanted something a little heartier than the standard cream of potato soup recipe I usually use (my maternal grandmother's recipe), so I "doctored" it a bit, resulting in Loaded Baked Potato Soup! Try it yourself!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup
(adapted from Lucile M. Beckner's Cream of Potato Soup recipe, circa 1960)

4 Tablespoons butter

1/4 cup finely diced onion

6 potatoes, cubed

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups milk ( I used a combination of leftover heavy whipping cream and 2% milk)

4-5 pieces of cooked bacon, crumbled

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, melt butter and add onion.  Saute onion until soft.  Add potatoes, chicken broth and enough water to cover potatoes. Bring to a low boil, and then simmer until potatoes are soft.  Add milk and bacon.  Add cheese and stir until melted.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Got Soup?

While winter continues to slowly grind on, my crock pot is getting a workout! Even though this weekend we've had a bit of a warming-up, it's still not shorts and flip flops weather! Puttering around in the kitchen is one of my favorite things to do, and I like the feeling that something's on the stove, in the oven or simmering away on the counter in the crock pot. It's no secret I like food....

Anyway, I was in the mood for something different (God forbid I should make the same thing twice in the crock pot!), so I scoured my big recipe binder for something I've been meaning to try but hadn't gotten around to.  Voila the winner: Tomato Basil Parmesan Bisque (actually, it's called "soup" by my source, but "bisque" sound so much fancier, don't you think?) I'm not a big tomato soup fan, but this was more like a creamy, savory pasta sauce.  Definitely a keeper!

Tomato Basil Parmesan Bisque

(adapted from a recipe posted by randomthoughtsandthrills.blogspot.com)

2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes

1 cup finely chopped carrots

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 tablespoon fresh oregano

1 tablespoon dried basil, or 1/4 cup fresh basil

4 cups chicken stock/broth

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1 cup Parmesan cheese (I used a 5-cheese Italian blend)

1 1/2 cups half and half or evaporated milk

salt and pepper to taste

Combine tomatoes, carrots, onion, oregano, basil and chicken stock in a large slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours, until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.  About 30 minutes before serving, make a "roux": melt butter over low in a saucepan and add flour.  Whisk constantly for a minute, then slowly stir in one cup hot soup.  Add another cup, then another, then another, and stir until smooth.  Add all back into slow cooker.  Stir, and then add the Parmesan cheese and half and half. Salt and pepper to taste. Add additional oregano and/or basil if needed (the slow cooker makes the spices a little bland over time).  Cover and cook on low an additional 30 minutes before serving. 

Oh my, how decadent this tastes! I served mine with slices of Asiago foccacia bread - yum!

Pineapple Upside-Down Muffins!

If you've been following this blog for very long, you know how much we love muffins at my house. And, you know how much I like trying new recipes, too! This week, I was perusing my pantry, while snowed in, and found a can of crushed pineapple. A quick search on Pinterest, and voila, a clever twist on a classic dessert. These are super yummy muffins; perfect for a quick pick-me-up on cold winter mornings! 

Pineapple Upside-Down Muffins 
(a big thanks to http://littleindiana.com for the recipe!)

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup brown sugar
8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, you can add one tablespoon of lemon juice to one
                              cup milk and let set 5 minutes-which is what i did)
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease muffin tins well.  Spoon the 1/4 cup melted butter evenly into tins (about a teaspoon in each).  Sprinkle brown sugar over the melted butter in each tin. Spoon pineapple over top of brown sugar in each tin, and then set aside.

In a bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Make a well in the center. In another bowl, combine eggs, milk and 2 tablespoons melted butter.  Add quickly to flour mixture and combine, but do not over-mix.  Spoon batter into muffin tins.  Bake for 18-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool and remove from muffin tins. Serve pineapple side up! Enjoy!