Sloppy Joe Tater Tot Casserole

I could use a little less stress. I thought after matching the stress would ease up a bit. I did get a little break for about 1 month to just de-stress but then reality sunk in. I just matched to a site that is 1800 miles away! A place that I do not have time to fly up there and find a place in person ::sigh:: Finding a place all online ...YIKES! And when I visited for the interview ... I was there for about 12 hours before I had to fly out to the next interview. Don't you just hate when reality smacks you in the face and reminds you that your an adult...

Though I am still stressed, a few things came together for us. First, I got help from someone who knows the area well and could tell me what areas were safe/quiet. Then, I stumbled upon a really cute  listing that although did not want to accept dogs -- with a little bit of discussion and letter from our current landlord was open to it and said yes! I am going to take this coming year to show them that some dog owning tenants can be great :) Eapecially the food blogging ones because we come with dessert ;)

It is a 2-story town house with a basement and washer-dryer in unit (yesss). It has two decks for Ninja to spend some outdoor time on (Ninja loves sun bathing). It's in a safe and quiet area of town. It has a garage parking spot! AND the landlords seem really sweet and responsive ::fingerscrossed:: this works out. I also booked our moving truck! I celebrated this week full of findings and decisions made with ice cream. The hubby found this delicious hazelnut ice cream for me (it doesn't taste too much like hazelnut but i is yummy).

Here's another catchup post on a recipe I made awhile back. I had a random can of "Manwich" in my cupboard ... no doubt something the hubby picked up because he found it on sale. HA! And I thought how in the world can I use this -- well I found this recipe for a Sloppy Joe Tater Tot casserole and the rest was history and so was this dish because we ate it up waaaaayyy to quickly :)

Sorry for the excessive dried green onions -- I went to sprinkle some and a whole lot tumbled out!

SLOPPY JOE TATER TOT CASSEROLE

Adapted from Buns in My Oven

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 450F Degrees

1 tbsp. garlic (optional)
1/2 c. of diced onion
1 pound ground meat (I used ground turkey)
1 (15.25 oz) can of corn, drained
1 can of Manwich Bold Sloppy Joe Sauce
4 oz. cream cheese
2 c. shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend)
16 oz. bag of tater tots, slightly thawed
Diced green onions for garnish

DIRECTIONS

In a large skillet heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, saute garlic and onions until garlic is fragrant and slight browned, and onions are translucent. Add in ground meat and cook through. Drain any excess liquid. Stir in corn, Manwich and cream cheese. Continuing stirring until cream cheese melts and is evenly distributed.

Grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish. Pour Sloppy Joe mixture into dish. Top with 1 c. of shredded cheese. Arrange the tater tots, in a single layer, on top of the cheese. Sprinkle the remaining 1 c. of shredded cheese over the tater tots. Bake for 20 minutes until or until tater tots are golden brown and warm. Garnish with green onions.

Enjoy,

Tater Tot Casserole

I had another extremely busy week that basically left me too exhausted to even sit and watch television. So I have to tell you the crazy cycle I have gotten myself in and cannot seem to break out of. Because I am so tired by the time I come home, I go take a "nap," but I have not mastered the art of taking short naps. Basically, I end up sleeping from like 8pm-3am, then I wake up to complete assignments and work I need to get done until about 7am, when I have to get ready and head to school. Which makes me even more tired when I come home- causing me to take a nap again- and again wake up at 3am! Ahhhh! Thank goodness for baking, cooking and awesome friends.

Speaking of awesome friends- I had another potluck dinner with Justin and Luke. Justin made this really creative manicotti with a twist. I had never heard of manicotti and he told me that it is pasta cannoli shells filled with ricotta cheese. But he decided to stuff the manicotta shells with string cheese and Italian sausage. I love string cheese and Italian sausage- so I was sold! I decided to make this orzo dish (to be posted). Afterwards, I had even more of a blast because we played this game scategories categories. Have you played that came before? I really, really loved it! It was so much fun! Though I have to say, I never knew how hard it would be to think of words on queue!

Okay, so I want to share something that happened to me that was really, really sad. I do not think that I hide at all that I am Sri Lankan and very proud to be so, that my skin is brown :) and my husband is white. You are probably thinking, okay.... This is why I am telling you this: my apartment complex has been renovating by pouring new concrete where the side walk is chipping and where the parking lot has potholes. Someone decided that outside of the hubby and I's apartment that they should write "WHITE POWER." in wet concrete so it would dry that way :( I cannot lie- that made me cry. I have no idea why someone would want to hurt someone's feelings who has never done anything to them and why they would violate someone's home. Underneath everything I value human life and human feelings. And it hurts to know that people do not like me just because I am "brown." I have lived a sheltered life and married a wonderful man- never thinking that the color of our skin defined out love. But yesterday, I experienced ignorance after a long time. :( And yes I know mentally- I should not be bothered, BUT emotionally it really brought me down... ::sigh::

Lets enjoy some Tater Tot Casserole :) Another fun kid friendly meal that takes me straight back to my childhood. Sometimes happy memories during really sad times- is greatly needed!

TATER TOT CASSEROLE

Adapted from Mommy's Kitchen

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 350F Degrees

1 1/2 - 2 lbs. ground turkey
3 green onions diced
Pepper and salt to taste
1/2 c. diced onions
32 oz. package of tater tors
(2) 10 oz. can of cream of mushroom and cream of cheese
8-10 oz. can of sour cream
1 c. milk
1-2 c. grated cheese

DIRECTIONS

In a large skillet over medium heat, brown ground turkey and diced onions adding pepper and salt to taste. (if you want additional taste- you can add crushed garlic). Drain excess fat.

In a large 9x13 casserole dished (greased with shortening or butter) pour meet mixture and spread evenly. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the cream of soup, sour cream, and milk. Then take sour cream mixture and evenly distribute over meat mixture. To evenly cover use a spatula.

You can do the next part two ways: you can randomly toss tater tots over the sour cream mixture to cover the top of the casserole or you can do what I did: I took each tater tot, one by one, and evenly placed them in rows to cover the sour cream mixture and create a nice uniform pattern for the top of the casserole. It does not affect the taste, so choose your hearts desire ;)

Sprinkle shredded cheese over entire casserole, evenly distributing but not entirely covering. The cheese will spread when it melts. Bake, uncovered for 30 minutes. Allow it to cool before cutting.

Enjoy,
Chika