Tater Tot Casserole

A lot of my fiends joke with me about trying to be like the Duggars because I am the only one out of them all who was crazy enough to just keep having children.  You know the Duggars, that family from the TLC show Twenty Kids And Counting.  Don't worry...no personal aspirations for 20 offspring, we are more than happy (and DONE) with the 4 we have!  Although the more people I meet and talk to, the more people I am finding out surprisingly have 4 or more children.  I do have to say that I am quite fascinated by the extremely large family.  Whether you agree with their lifestyle or not, I do think they are a pretty interesting family.  I love their family dynamics and how smoothly their household appears to run!  I'll never forget the episode where they all waked into Aldi's and filled up like 10 carts with groceries.  It was like a caravan of grocery carts.  How do you possibly feed and cook for THAT many people EVERY night?!?  I forget their exact monthly food cost, but it was quite a lot more than I spend in a few months.  With soon to be 6 eaters in our house, I have to try really hard to keep food expenses as low as possible.

Another thing I specifically remember from their show was the tater tot casserole.  They had me at tater tot!  I love those awesome little cylinders of pressed potatoes goodness.  They just make me happy.  So when I saw this featured one evening, I searched out their website and found the recipe the following day.  Although there isn't any cheeses in it, the creamy topping sure gives it a cheesy appearance, texture and flavor.  My 10 year old was shocked when I told him there wasn't any cheese at all.  There are very few ingredients, making it quick and easy to throw together.  Even though I love to do a lot of cooking that requires a lot of prep work, it's nice to have an easy dinner to fall back on sometime!  It is definitely kid friendly...the Duggars should know all about that!  Plus it's pretty much meat and potatoes...perfect for my husband's "taste". 

Mrs. Duggar considers her large brood to truly be blessings.  As I ate my dinner that night with one hand, trying to navigate my fork successfully to my mouth without spilling food on the squirmy baby being held on my lap with the other hand because he didn't want to sit in his bouncer chair, I looked around at my 2 year old dumping peas on the floor, my 4 year old eating with her hands half the time and my 10 year old trying to argue some strange point only he understands with my 4 year old while having a mouth full of food, I took a deep breath and gave a silent thanks that I am not as "blessed" as The Duggars!  

Tater Tot Casserole (The Duggar Family)

*I half their recipe since I don't need two pans of the stuff!!

1.5 lbs ground beef

Garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper

1 32 oz. bag frozen tater tots

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 can evaporated milk  

In a pan, brown the ground beef, drain the grease and season with the garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste.  Place the meat in a greased 9" x 13" baking casserole dish.

Spread the bag of frozen tater tots in a single layer over the meat.

In a bowl, whisk together the cream of chicken, cream of mushroom and evaporated milk until smooth.  Pour evenly over the tater tots.

Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.

Tater Tot Casserole.

Recipe for: Tater Tot Casserole

www.momsaysjustonebite.blogspot.com

Adapted originally from  http://www.duggarfamily.com/recipes.html

To prepare: Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease a 9” x 13” baking dish.

Ingredients

Directions

1.5 lbs. ground beef Garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper 1 32 oz. bag frozen tater tots 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 can evaporated milk

1.   In a pan, brown the ground beef, drain the grease and season with the garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. 2.   Place the browned meat on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. 3.   Cover the meat with the frozen tater tots. 4.   In a separate bowl, whisk together the cream of chicken, cream of mushroom and evaporated milk until smooth. 5.   Pour the mixture evenly over the layer of tater tots. 6.   Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 1 hour.

Leek & Spinach Pesto Sauce

When I'm not cooking, cleaning or playing with my kids during the day, I'm searching the internet for tasty and interesting recipes to fix or new cooking techniques to try my hand at.  I recently found a very nice food forum and have enjoyed, for the most part, all the regular people who participate in the cooking community there.  A lot of the people who contribute have very diverse backgrounds and quite a lot more experience than I could ever claim to have.  I now consider them to be a very valuable resource and have learned quite a lot from them all.  I am amazed at how gracious a lot of them are...always willing to suggest a recipe or answer my questions.  After I made my Pureed Broccoli-Leek Soup, I was staring at all the green tops and wondering what in the heck I was going to do with all those tough leaves.  Were they even useable?  The recipe called for only the white bottoms....maybe the tops weren't edible?  Although, in thinking about how much they resemble a scallion, I found this very hard to accept!  If anything, I supposed they could be composted, but before I settled on this fate for the tough green parts, I figured I'd throw out the question to the food forum.

Are the green parts useable??  The resounding answer was YES!!  They are actually quite versatile and can be pretty much interchanged with scallions in most recipes.  They can be sauteed or used to make soups and stocks.  One lady, Chris, gave me the most interesting suggestion and was awesome enough to give me a recipe for a basic pesto sauce she had made that I could easily adapt to ingredients I already had at home.  She described this pesto as "tasting like Spring" and boy was she right!!  Everything was fresh, green, very light yet very filling at the same time and so flavorful.  It actually made quite a bit and I was able to turn the leftovers into a very tasty appetizer for a game night I hosted the following weekend.  It would have been equally good as leftover pasta...cold or warm!!  This recipe is definitely a keeper.  So many thanks again to Chris.  She has a very cool website, http://www.figsfoodie.com/, which I very much enjoy looking at from time to time.  Her blog is interesting reading and I love her pictures.

Leek & Spinach Pesto

1 leek, green parts only, cleaned well and chopped into 1/4" slices (If you want to know how to clean leeks, check out the Pureed Broccoli-Leek Soup.  I explain how to easily clean them in the first 3 pictures).

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 c frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess moisture

2 tbsp parsley (I used one of my frozen parsley cubes )

2 tbsp. walnuts

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp. shredded Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp. olive oil (plus more for thinning the mixture)

1/4 tsp, black pepper

1 tbsp. honey

1 1/2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

2 tbsp. dried basil 



In a saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the chopped leeks and salt and cook approximately 15 mins until the leeks are tender.

Add the spinach and parsley and saute another 2 - 3 mins.  Transfer to a separate bowl to cool slightly.

In a second pan, lightly toast the walnuts.

Add the leek mixture, toasted walnuts and remaining ingredients to a mini food processor.

Process the mixture well, drizzling additional olive oil in until desired consistency is reached.  Pesto should still be thick, not runny like regular pasta sauce (Sorry...I apparently forgot to take a picture!).  Toss a heaping spoonful of pesto with cooked pasta and any other ingredients of your choice.  I tossed mine with diced tomatoes, black olives and peas.

Recipe for: Leek & Spinach Pesto Sauce

www.momsaysjustonebite.blogspot.com

To prepare: You will need a food processor (or blender) for this recipe.

Ingredients

Directions

1 leek, green tops only, cleaned well and chopped into ¼” slices. ½ tsp. salt ¼ c. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess moisture. 2 tbsp. parsley 2 tbsp. walnuts 2 tbsp. shredded Parmesan cheese 1 tbsp. olive oil (plus more for thinning the pesto sauce) ¼ tsp. black pepper 1 tbsp. honey 1 ½ tbsp. red wine vinegar 2 tbsp. dried basil

1.       Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.  Add the leeks and salt and cook for 15 mins. until the leeks are tender. 2.       Add the spinach and parsley and continue to sauté for another 2-3 mins.  Transfer to a separate bowl to cool slightly. 3.       In a separate pan, lightly toast the walnuts. 4.       Add the leek mixture, walnuts and remaining ingredients to a mini food processor. 5.       Process the mixture, drizzling in additional olive oil until desired consistency is reached. 6.       Toss a heaping spoonful of pesto sauce with cooked pasta and other vegetables or proteins of your choice until all is well coated.

Robin Egg Bird Nests...3 ways!

I thought these bird nests were so very cute and would be really easy for Brenna (or any child for that matter) to help out with.  My problem was deciding which combination of flavors to choose!!  I found the original marshmallow/Chow Mein noodle combination on so many different websites that I couldn't possibly list where the origin came from.  Kind of like a Rice Krispie Treat sans Rice Krispies!  I love how the Chow Mein noodles really take on the appearance of little sticks.  Then it occurred to me that I have had some white chocolate chips sitting around forever that I really wanted to get out of my cupboard.  Those would be nice paired with some type of nut, but what type of nut could I use to resemble twigs?  Slivered almonds...hooray!  Then I thought, well if I'm making white chocolate I have to make some with regular chocolate...you know, just to be fair.  I love the chocolate-coconut flavor combination so I settled on some toasted coconut for the "sticks".  So why make 3 kinds?!?  Isn't that a little excessive?!?  Some might say excessive, but my indecisiveness says necessity!  Plus my final thought (actually to be honest, my final thought was of myself getting to sample all three creations...YUM) was that the white of the white chocolate, the tan of the Chow Mein noodles and the dark brown of the chocolate would nicely contrast each other on a plate.  So many thoughts...cooking is exhausting!!

Besides being one of the cutest things I've ever made, they are also one the easiest.  All you do is melt the bonding agent, stir in the ingredients acting as the sticks, press the mixture into the bottom of a greased muffin pan, refrigerate until hardened and then pop them out.  No baking required at all!!  Brenna really did have a lot of fun helping to make the Chow Mein ones, but then she lost interest and ran off to do something else...4 year olds and their attention spans!  I don't think I could rank them from most tasty to least tasty...they were all my favorites because they all had their own distinct flavor and texture.  I was very excited to pass these out to the neighbors along with the Cottontail cookies we made.  They really are to DYE for!  Just a little post Easter humor for you.  If it left a bad taste in your mouth, just make some bird nests! =)

Robin Egg Bird Nests (Marshmallow/Chow Mein Noodles)
*Recipe makes 12 bird nests

2 c. miniature marshmallows
1/4 c. unsalted butter
6 oz. Chow Mein noodles
Robin Eggs or Jelly Beans for decorating

In a saucepan melt the butter over low heat.  The Assistant Chef loves recipes in which she actually gets to cook over the heat...although those are very seldom found.

Add the miniature marshmallows and continue to stir over low heat until melted.

The marshmallow mixture.

Add the Chow Mein noodles...

and stir until the noodles are evenly coated with the marshmallow mixture.

Divide the mixture evenly between 12 greased muffin cups.  Press the mixture down and up the sides, leaving an indentation in the bottom.  Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

When nests are hardened, pop out of the muffin cups and decorate with the Robin Eggs or Jelly Beans.

Robin Egg Bird Nests (Milk Chocolate/Toasted Coconut)
*Recipe makes 12 nests.
11.5 oz. milk chocolate chips (I like the Nestle brand the best because it seems to melt easily in the microwave, but you can use whatever brand you'd like.)
14 oz. bag of sweetened coconut flakes
Robin Eggs or Jelly Beans for decorating



Place the coconut in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet.



Bake in a 325 degree oven for 20 - 25 mins, tossing every 5 mins, until the coconut is crispy and golden brown.  Transfer to a separate container to cool.

Place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.  Heat for 60 seconds, and stir.  Continue heating and stirring in 30 seconds increments until chocolate is melted and smooth.

Add the toasted coconut and stir well to evenly coat the coconut.

Evenly divide the mixture between 12 greased muffin cups.  Press the mixture down and up the sides, leaving an indentation in the bottom.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

When nests are hardened, pop out of the muffin tins and decorate with Robin Eggs or Jelly Beans.

Robin Egg Bird Nests (White Chocolate/Slivered Almonds)
*Recipe makes 12 nests.

11 oz. white chocolate chips
2 1/2 c. slivered almonds
Robin Eggs or Jelly Beans for decorating

Place the white chocolate chips in a large microwave safe bowl.  Heat in the microwave for 60 seconds and stir.  Continue to heat and stir in 30 second increments until white chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Add the slivered almonds and mix to evenly coat the almonds.

Divide the mixture evenly between 12 greased muffin tins.  Press the mixture down and up the sides of the muffin cups, leaving an indentation in the bottom.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

When the nests are hardened, pop them out of the muffin cups and decorate with Robin Eggs or Jelly Beans.

Robin Egg Bird Nests...3 ways!

Recipe for: Robin Egg Nests (Marshmallow/Chow Mein Noodles)

www.momsaysjustonebite.blogspot.ccom

To prepare: Grease the insides of a 12 cup muffin tin with butter.  Recipe yields 12 nests.

Ingredients

Directions

2 c. miniature marshmallows ¼ c. butter 6 oz. Chow Mein noodles Robin eggs or jelly beans for decorations.

1.   In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. 2.   Add the marshmallows and stir constantly until   melted.  This will take approximately 6-8 mins.). 3.   Remove from heat and add the Chow Mein noodles.  Stir until the noodles are well coated. 4.   Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 muffin cups. 5.   Press down and up the sides leaving an indentation in the bottom. 6.   Place muffin tin in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. 7.   Pop the individual nests from the muffin cups and decorate with the robin eggs.

Recipe for: Robin Egg Nests (White Chocolate/Slivered Almonds)

www.momsaysjustonebite.blogspot.ccom

To prepare: Grease the insides of a 12 cup muffin tin with butter.  Recipe yields 12 nests.

Ingredients

Directions

11 oz. package white chocolate chips 2 ½ c. slivered almonds Robin eggs or jelly beans for decorations.

1.   Place the white chocolate chips in a large microwave safe bowl. 2.   Heat in the microwave for 60 seconds.  Remove from the microwave and stir.  Return to microwave and continue heating in 30 second increments until the chocolate is completely melted. 3.   Stir in the slivered almonds and mix well to completely coat. 4.   Evenly divide the mixture between 12 muffin cups.  Using the back of a spoon, press the mixture down and up the sides of the cups leaving an indentation in the bottom. 5.   Place muffin tin in the refrigerator for at least 1 hours. 6.   Pop the individual nests from the muffin cups and decorate with the robin eggs.

Recipe for: Robin Egg Nests (Milk Chocolate/Toasted Coconut)

www.momsaysjustonebite.blogspot.ccom

To prepare: Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease the insides of a 12 cup muffin tin with butter.  Recipe yields 12 nests.

Ingredients

Directions

11.5 oz. package milk chocolate chips 14 oz bag sweetened coconut flakes Robin eggs or jelly beans for decorations.

1.   Place the coconut in a single layer on a baking sheet. 2.   Bake the coconut for 20-25 mins., stirring every 5 mins, until coconut is crispy and golden brown. 3.   Transfer toasted coconut to a separate bowl to cool. 4.   Place the chocolate chips in a large microwave safe bowl. 5.   Heat in the microwave for 60 seconds.  Remove from the microwave and stir.  Return to microwave and continue heating in 30 second increments until the chocolate is completely melted. 6.   Stir in the toasted coconut and mix well to completely coat. 7.   Evenly divide the mixture between 12 muffin cups.  Using the back of a spoon, press the mixture down and up the sides of the cups leaving an indentation in the bottom. 8.   Place muffin tin in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. 9.   Pop the individual nests from the muffin cups and decorate with the robin eggs.

Cottontails

One of the things I love the most about holidays is that it gives me a really good excuse to make themed desserts.  Brenna loves arts and crafts, and cookie making is an amazing opportunity to combine her love of creating things with my love of cooking to make some really fun Easter themed cookies and some really great memories as well.  I looked on the internet and decided on some super cute Cottontails and Robin Egg Nests (3 different types mind you...because I am the world's most indecisive person).  I'll post the Nests in a separate post because I really want to get the Cottontails posted since quite a few people have asked to see them.

All 3 of my kids had a lot of fun making them.  You don't need a whole lot of ingredients for these and the dough is super easy to make.  Forming the cookies is a little tricky at first, but after a few of them it does get easier, so don't get discouraged.  Tyler was actually really good at making them...see even a 10 year old can create Cottontails.  It's kind of like playing with Play-Doh because you have to roll the dough into a ball and then into a rope...kind of like the snakes we all used to make as kids.  They had a lot of fun with the decorating part.  The colored sprinkles give them just the right Easter touch....the rainbow mix was actually Tyler's idea.  Good thinking buddy!  If you like the taste of sugar cookies, you will definitely like these cookies!

I know what you are thinking.  I can't believe they are going to eat ALL those cookies!!  While I might eat some of the cookies, I will definitely be sharing a majority of them with the neighbors and taking some to our family Easter celebration on Sunday.  My favorite thing to do might be to cook and bake, but my second favorite thing to do is share what I have made with my friends and family!!

Cottontails

*Recipe yields approximately 2 dozen cookies.

3/4 c/ butter, softened

2/3 c. white sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

Colored sugar

Miniature Marshmallows

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric hand mixer.

Add the egg and almond extract and blend well.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.  Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until a smooth dough is formed.

Don't be surprised if you have to use your hands to mix at the end.  These are very hands on cookies!!

Roll 1 tbsp. of dough into a ball using the palms of your hands.

Just like playing with Play-Doh!

Roll each ball into a 5 1/2" rope...just like a Play-Doh snake!  It should look something like this.

It should not, however, end up looking like this! =)

Nice try Assistant Chef...try again!

Fold the dough rope in half.

Gently twist the rope twice to form the rabbit.  Can you see the little bunny yet?? 

Even Aiden played with the dough...although it was admittedly hard to keep him from eating it.

Trying to roll the dough!  He's still in training!

Tyler on the other hand gets a gold star!

Rolling it into a rope.  His art teacher should be proud!

It took me a good 4 or 5 tries to get my first cookie from not ripping apart.  Tyler only needed one try!  I was amazed.  What technique!

In a small bowl, place some colored decorating sugar.

Gently press the cookie into the sprinkles to coat well.

Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet 1" apart from each other.

Brenna decorating her "Cottontail".  You REALLY have to use your imagination for hers!

Hmmmmm....which cookie can I steal first???

Bake in a 325 degree oven for 15 mins.

Remove from the oven and immediately place one miniature marshmallow on the bottom part of each cookie. 

Return to the oven for an additional minute to slightly melt the marshmallow.

Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet until slightly cooled.  Then gently transfer to a plate to cool completely.

The finished Cottontails.  Cute!

Recipe for: Cottontails

www.momsaysjustonebite.blogspot.com

To prepare: Preheat oven to 325°.  Recipe yields approximately 2 dozen cookies.

Ingredients

Directions

¾ c. unsalted butter, softened 2/3 c. white sugar 1 egg ½ tsp. almond extract 2 c. all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking powder Colored sugar Miniature marshmallows

1.       In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric hand mixer. 2.       Add the egg and almond extract and blend well. 3.       In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. 4.       Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix well until dough is smooth. 5.       With the palms of your hands, shape a tablespoon of dough into a ball.  Gently roll the ball into a 5 ½” rope.  Fold the dough in half and gently twist twice to form the shape of a rabbit. 6.       Gently press one side of the cookie into a bowl of colored sugar. 7.       Place the cookies 1” apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. 8.       Bake in a preheated oven for 15 mins. 9.       Remove baking sheet and immediately place 1 miniature marshmallow on the bottom part of the cookie. 10.   Return to the oven for an additional minute to slightly melt the marshmallows. 11.   Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet until slightly cool. 12.   Transfer cookies to a plate to cool completely.