Alfredo Style Tater Tot Casserole

Last night for dinner I threw together a tater tot casserole. The great thing about tater tot casserole is you can customize it however you want. The meat, veggies, sauce, and add ons are all your choice! The only constant is using tater tots for the topping before it's baked. In this variation I used alfredo sauce and Italian herbs. All of my measurements are approximate since I just cook enough for my family. This fed 3 kids, 2 adults, and left one large portion leftover when made in a 9x13 dish. I attempted stuffed breadsticks and the cheese oozed out. They were still delicious, haha!

1cu chopped onion
2tbsp garlic
1lb lean ground turkey
14oz frozen veggies
16oz alfredo sauce
2cu skim milk cheese
2lb bag tater tots

1. Preheat oven to 425*. Take tater tots and veggies out the freezer. Sauté onions and garlic in a small amount of olive oil until translucent.

2. In the same skillet brown the turkey and season as you want then add in the frozen veggies. Cook for about 5min before pouring on alfredo sauce. If you want to use some on the top only use half the jar.

3. Place turkey mixture into casserole dish, sprinkle on cheese, and  cover with a layer of tater tots (I used all but about 3cu of the bag). If you saved some sauce drizzle it on top.

4. Place in oven uncovered and bake for about 30min or until the tots are as brown as you like.

Skillet Lasagna

You know those boxes of helper for ground meat that shall remain nameless?? Well, I wanted something quick for dinner without resorting to that and came up with the idea of using those quick cook lasagna noodles in an untraditional way. This is what I came up with. It was done in less than 20 minutes and that includes the time it takes to brown the meat. Definitely awesome for those times when you want a pasta dish and don't want the extra steps of boiling the noodles...

2tbsp evoo
8oz chopped mushroom
2tbsp minced garlic
1-lb ground meat
Seasonings of choice (I used italian herbs, pepper, and salt)
24oz jar tomato sauce
1 box oven ready lasagna noodles, broken into 1in pieces

1. Heat the evoo in a large skillet then add mushrooms and garlic. Sautee until fragrant and the garlic starts to brown.

2. Add in meat, season, and cook until brown. Add in pasta sauce plus 2cu water and noodles. Cover and stir every five minutes for about 15 minutes until the pasta is as tender as you like.

3. Serve and enjoy!