EASY TACO CASSEROLE

1 lb ground beef

1/4 C chopped onion

1 pkg Taco Seasoning

3/4 C water

1 (16 oz) can Refried Beans

1 (8 oz) Taco sauce

2 1/2 C crushed Tortilla chips

7 oz (1 4/4 C) shredded cheddar cheese

11/2 C shredded lettuce

1/2 chopped tomatoes

Heat oven to 400. Cook ground beef and onions well. Now why did they have to tell me to cook well. I am going to simmer 10 minutes and cook in oven for 25 minutes. It must be all about the draining.

Mix in taco seasoning mix, water and simmer 10 minutes

In medium bowl combine refried beans and taco sauce. In ungreased 2 qt baking dish layer 1/2 bean mixture, 2 C chips and 1 C cheese. Top with remaining bean mixture and beef mixture. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Top with remaining chips and cheese. Return to oven 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve with lettuce and tomatoes.

I first crushed the chips in the osterizer and they came out pulverized. I realized you do it with two hands.

Number Four

Number Four in my experiment is EASY TACO CASSEROLE

As for being easy, I would prefer going to Cha Cha a few blocks from the house. That would be easy! Mom and Joyce liked it so I guess it is a keeper. Still doing ground beef recipes. I looked at the book more carefully and see it is divided into three sections. Casseroles, Skillet Dishes, and Slow Cooker Meals. I am going to deviate from my original plan and do a recipe from each of these sections in rotation. Anything to get out of the ground beef section. Hopefully the first Skillet Dish will be something else.

TATER NUGGET HOT DISH

1 lb ground beef

1/4 C chopped onions seems so little, but I would never add more prednisone to a Rx ointment so I dutifully put in 1/4 Cup

1/2 chopped celery - usually have celery left over when we get take out Bar-B-Q wings at Low Brow Tavern, but none this time. A little less crunch I guess.

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp pepper

1 Cup cut green bean, thawed and drained. One cup was like green straws in a haystack. I doubled this and broke my a rule above.

1 (16 oz. pkg) frozen potato nuggets.

Heat to 375 degrees. Brown beef onions, and celery until throughly cooked. Drain well. This writer must have been a stickler. She had to add well to the draining. As I did it I remembered when Mom would place all drippings in a coffee can and we would take the can to the butcher to help the war effort.

Bake at 375 for 40 -50 minutes until casserole is bubbly and nuggets are golden brown.

Number three

Number three is Tater Nugget Hot Dish In keeping with my experiment I read only one recipe at a time - like filling prescriptions. I discovered this one had ground beef in like the first two. I check to see if the chapter heading was "Ground Beef Recipes" but that is not the case. It was good but again could use some extra flavoring.

DEEP-DISH SPAGHETTI PIE

DEEP DISH SPAGHETTI PIE

6 oz. spaghetti Here we go again guessing. I had a 24 oz box. It would have been easy to take a fourth of a full box, but I had the remainder of a box. I guess it was a fourth.

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 lb ground beef

1/4 Cup chopped onion

1 14 oz spaghetti sauce

1 11 oz. whole kernel corn

1 small green pepper

4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook spaghetti, rinse. Heat oven to 350 Grease 10 inch pie pan. Combine spaghett, eggs,and Parmesan cheese. Toss slightly. Press evenly over bottom of dish and up sides of pan to form crust. The stuff wouldn't stay up the sides of dish. And what was the crust they were talking about. I read the recipe twice times to see if I was supposed to bake it into a crust. Oh well, what else were they going to call it.

Brown beef with onions. You know to drain. Stir in spaghetti mixture and corn. Spoon evenly over crust. I read the recipe one more time.Top with pepper rings and cheese.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Number two

My second casserole is still under consideration as to a KEEP or FORGET. Mom says it needs something. Maybe chili powder, or garlic, or something. Maybe my change from Mozzarella to cheddar cheese was the failing.

SUNBURST GROUND BEEF CASSEROLE

SUNBURST GROUND BEEF CASSEROLE

1 lb ground beef

1/4 chopped onion. What will I do with the rest. Only 1/4 cup seems so little

1 14 oz can of green beans

2 8 oz. tomato sauce

1/4 tsp dried bail leaves Had to buy new ones, My spices are 11 years old.

1/8 tsp pepper

1 7 oz. refrigerated buttermilk biscuits The book is by Pillsbury. I predict a lot of their products.

4 oz. Cheddar cheese - cut into 1/2 in cubes Now I have 12 oz left for Mom's lunch sandwiches

2 Tbs margarine or butter, melted

1 tsp sesame seeds Thought I could get away with not buying these. Didn't mis 'em.

Heat oven o 375. In 10 inch ovenproof skillet brown meat and onions. Drain. (Do they have to tell you that). Add green beans, basil and pepper mix (What pepper mix? It said 1/8 tsp pepper)

Fold in cheese cubes.

Cut hole in center of each biscuit of ten biscuits. Pull edges of biscuit to form oval place around edge of skillet and holes in center of biscuit. Brush biscuits with margarine. Sprinkle sesame seed Bake 375 for 23 to 28 minutes.

Well, I didn't have a ovenproof skillet. Hadn't even heard of it. Don't go into too many kitchen stores. A regular skillet and glass pie dish did just fine. Especially because I never bake pies.

Number one

I began this post because I hate to cook. My favorite cook book is "I hate to Cook Cookbook". Really I hate to read recipes. Always wondering what I am going to do with the left over ingredients, etc. I decided to do the casseroles like I filled prescriptions. One at a time. Number one got a KEEP rating from Joyce and Mom. Only two ratings KEEP and FORGET.

My Experiment

After watching Julia and Julia I got the idea of tackling on recipe at a time. I bought "The One-Dish Meals Cookbook" from Amazon and plan to do the recipes in order - 300 in all.