My Midwestern Roots Are Showing

[asphaltcowgrrl]

So, my parents were born and raised in a little town in Illinois and, although my palate has progressed past the meat and potato (both usually fried) staples we had growing up, sometimes I fall firmly back into those culinary wormholes my mother opened in my soul. It doesn't help that my husband's family is from Indiana and shares similar pitfalls in their diet, but I digress.

99.9% of the time, I make healthy, tasty food.  I'm no Emeril Lagasse, but I can make fancy meals, too, when the mood strikes me.  Last night was not one of those nights.  Indeed, it was quite the opposite.  I'm finally starting to feel better after approximately ten days of being sicker than all get out (and now my time in Texas is rearing its ugly head, I think...) and, despite having pulled a muscle in my back sneezing and coughing (I kid you not), dinner had to be made.  When my 14-year-old asked if she coud help me, I jumped on the offer.  I handed her the recipes I'd printed for the week and let her choose.  Why am I not surprised she chose the trashiest thing I've considered making in years?

There is nothing more satisfying when you're not feeling well than a hot, cheesy, horribly non-nutritious casserole. Well, for me anyway.  So, when I found this one on Pinterest a few weeks ago, I knew it needed to be made.  Even better that it's simple enough for my kid to make without any supervision.

"Cracked Out" Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

serves 8

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

16 oz sour cream

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1 (1oz) package Ranch dressing mix

1 (3oz) bag real bacon pieces (Oscar Meyer)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 lb bag frozen tater tots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together chicken, sour cream, soup, Ranch mix, bacon and cheese. Fold in frozen tater tots. Spoon mixture into prepared pan.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until bubbly.

Pretty easy, eh?  I used a store bought rotisserie chicken because I'm weird and don't like chunks of chicken breast in my casseroles (or pasta, to be honest).  I also skipped the bacon because I'm not a big fan of store bought bacon bits and wasn't exactly in the mood to fry bacon last night.  My kid's a good cook, but she's as clumsy as I am so letting HER fry the bacon would have resulted in cat flambé, I'm sure.  Despite the lack of pork fat, sorry Emeril, this was the tastiest freaking thing I've had in weeks.  And I even resisted the urge to doctor it up with a little Worcestershire or Louisiana Hot Sauce.  The only alteration I might make next time is using the Mini-Tots that Ore-Ida makes.  Or, in a pinch, I might just pre-bake the tots for 10 minutes before dumping the sauce on them.

And now that I've just lost all culinary respectibility with this recipe, I'm going to go back and finish my leftover casserole I have in my lunchbox.

*no clue why this is 'cracked out' other than my husband and younger child were fighting over who got to get seconds first.

**as an aside, I'm making baked pork chops for dinner tonight, so my family is on the road to recovery from this meal, whether they like it or not.

Comments

[asphaltcowgrrl.livejournal.com]

Aw, poor Emma. I had a cat like that, she would NOT go outside for anything. Buddy, on the other hand, is out the door if you don't push it closed. Somehow he's discovered that he can open the door into the garage with his claws if it's not properly shut.

Well, he did once devour your salad, so this isn't much of a stretch. :D

[kaige68.livejournal.com]

OMG - Floyd opened my kitchen door the other day from the outside. My closed kitchen door. He always bounces with the whole "Can Eggs come out to play?" thing, but he actually opened the door. Of course there was huge noise, and Eggs hides behind me...

It might also help that if she steps foot out the door the dogs will chase her back in. Poor little girl.

[asphaltcowgrrl.livejournal.com]

DOGS, I swear! But that's still too funny. One of my co-workers has a ball python that he's had for something like ten years now. She's so large that she's able to open the doors in his apartment (he has the kind of handle you push down onto open). Needless to say, he's been taken by surprise by his snake a couple times.

Oh yeah, I'd be wary of setting paw outside the safety of the house too, if that were the case! Poor Emma.