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.