Tater Tot Hotdish

I do not think that this is served outside of Minnesota and the Dakotas, but I love it.  It is an easy recipe that is very kid friendly.  As the weather is turning cooler, this is a 'feel good' food that I crave.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can creamed corn
1 bag tater tots
Salt & Pepper to taste
Onion (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, brown ground beef over low-medium heat, add salt and pepper to taste. Can add onion if you like.
2. Once browned, turn heat to low.  Add soup and corn.
3. In the meantime, scatter tater tots on the bottom of a cake pan, in a single layer.
4. Pour beef mixture over tater tots to cover entire mixture.
5. Add tator tots to the top of the beef mixture.
6. Cook at 350F for 1 hour.

Mexican Lasagna in a Crock Pot

When we were canning tomatoes this past week end,  Ashley and I had a jar of salsa that did not seal.  I put it in my frig pondering what to do with it.  Knowing that I had a potluck coming up at work, I thought about what I could make with it for the pot luck.  I searched my cabinets, finding black beans, black olives, enchilada sauce, corn and lasagna noodle.  When I looked in my freezer, I found I had a pound of ground beef.  I decided to try my hand at a Mexican Lasagna that I could make in the crock pot.  It turned out great (though I was very worried about how it would taste) and it actually got second place amongst all of the dishes.

Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray

Lasagna Noodles (uncooked)

1 Can of Corn

1 Can of Black Beans

1 Large Can of Black Olives (I sliced them)

1 Can Green Enchilada Sauce

1 Pound Ground Beef

1 1/2 Pounds Shredded Cheese (Cheddar, Colby Jack or Mexican)

3 Pints Salsa

Directions:

Brown ground beef.  Add 2 pints of salsa and the enchilada sauce to make a sauce.  Spray crock pot with cooking spray.  Put about 1/2 the salsa in crock pot.  Layer the following ingredients until out of ingredients or crock pot is full.  Lasagna Noodles, Salsa, Corn, Black Beans, Olives, Meat Sauce, Cheese.  I put a few olives on top of the cheese in the last layer.  My crock pot get really hot, so it only took about 3.5 hours to cook.  I unplugged it and slightly opened the top to let it rest for about a 1/2 hour before serving.