Tater Tot Enchilada Casserole

I'm sort of glad that January is almost over. For one, I haven't been around the blog much. I have been in sort of a blogging funk and I am ready to shake it off! And two, February is, after all, my birthday month. And also, January is so bleak and boring and grey. I am ready for Spring! And warmer weather, and colorful flowers popping up.

But since it is still winter, and snowy, and cold, I thought I would share something to warm the soul.

So who doesn't love Tater Tot Casserole? I LOVE tater tot casserole and if it were healthier I would eat it weekly! But this Tater Tot Enchilada Casserole brings it to an entirely new level. An amazing level!



And because it is my style, this is a very easy meal to put together. You first start with browning your burger.





I just take a handful of softened tater tots and toss them in with the burger and crush them up to make a thicker filling.



Then I add my enchilada sauce



and the soups



Mix together and add some shredded cheese



Pour the mixture into a greased 9x13 pan



Cover with tater tots



Sprinkle with cheese and bake

• 1 pound hamburger


• 1 medium onion, chopped


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 Tbsp olive oil


• 2 tsp taco seasoning


• 1 bag of tater tots


• 1 can enchilada sauce


• 1 can of Fiesta Nacho Cheese soup


• 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup


• 1 cup Mexican blend cheese


• ½ cup sliced black olives

1. Preheat the oven to 350°


2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.


3. Add onions and garlic to skillet cooking until soft. (set aside)


4. Add hamburger to skillet and brown, drain. Mix in taco seasoning and cook for another 2 minutes. Add in cooked onions and garlic and combine.


5. Pour the can of enchilada sauce and the soups into the hamburger and cook for an additional for 2 minutes.


6. Put the mixture into a 9x13 greased pan and top with tater tots.


7. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and add the olives.


8. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until the tater tots are browned.

Because I think you can never have too many tater tots, next time I will definitely add more! It could have used another layer across the top.

And that is that! Deliciousness in a hot pan!

Food for your mood with Progresso® Light Soup

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #EatLightEatRight #CollectiveBias

A New Year means a New YOU! So do you make New Years Resolutions?

Every year I set out to make the upcoming year one of my best and as part of that, I want to be the best me that I can be. Weight loss is always high on everyone's priority list, along with eating better and just in general, better health.

This year I really want to make this my best year. The year when I finally hit the weight loss goals, eating right goals, and health goals I have been working to achieve over the past couple of years.



I headed to Walmart to pick up a few of our favorite soups. My favorite is the Chicken Corn Chowder and I planned on making it for lunch the next day, but my sneaky husband got to it before I did and I ended up making the Chicken & Cheese Enchilada instead!

I wanted to make one of the kid's favorites to go with our soup. They love waffle iron grill cheese especially because it is different. We are sandwich lovers and this is just a fun way to spice it up. Plus they love that they are hot and look fun like waffles.





One of my favorite things about Progresso® Light soup is that not only is it delicious, but they help give back to our schools by placing Box Tops For Education on their labels. I save any and all that I find and even have some friends saving them for me so my kiddos can turn them into their school.



Luckily, grilled cheese sandwiches are super easy to make. Start with plugging in your waffle iron to start heating it up, then butter one side of your bread.



Place your buttered side down on the waffle iron after you sprayed your iron with cooking spray.



Start laying your goodies on. I start with the cheese so it can start melting.



Then add your turkey lunch meat, or whichever flavor you are enjoying.



Then top with your second pieces of bread, buttered side up so it doesn't stick to your waffle iron.



Close it up tight and let it cook.



While your sandwiches are cooking, heat up your soup in a small sauce pan.

In just a few short minutes you have a delicious soup and a nice, hot grilled turkey and cheese to go along with it.

• Progresso® Light Soup


• Bread


• Cheese


• Turkey lunch meat


• Butter

1. Heat waffle iron.


2. Spray your waffle iron just like you would if you are making waffles.


3. Add ingredients. Layer buttered bread faced down, cheese, lunch meat and second piece of buttered bread, face up.


4. Put lid of waffle iron down until light indicator goes on to let you know it is done.

So I am getting a food to fuel my day that I feel good about eating. The kids love helping to make the grilled cheese, they especially love eating it and we all have full bellies.

Don't forget to grab a coupon to save $1.00 on Four cans of Progresso® Light Soup through January 31, 2016.

What are some of your favorite Progresso® Light Soup flavors?

Garden Vegetable Spaghetti with Ragu

I used to not love cooking. Maybe because I didn't know what I was doing, or was intimidated by recipes and spices and mixing things I wasn't familiar with.

But at some point along the way I got over that. I started trying new things. I started mixing things that were not familiar and I got some good results. And I got some bad results! But this, this Creamy Garden Vegetable Spaghetti, is not one of those bad results. This is a very good thing. And the people in my household love any kind of spaghetti so it is a win!



I grabbed some Ragu because it has some awesome flavors. One of my most favorite is the Super Chunky Mushroom. It is delicious! One of my favorite things about Ragu is that it has no artificial sweeteners and no high fructose corn syrup.



This is the most basic of any recipe you will come across, but I promise that the flavor is anything but that.

Start with boiling you noodles and browning your hamburger.



Add the sauce in and this is the game changer... This delicious garden vegetable cream cheese is amazing! After draining the water from the noodles, add in the cream cheese.



Give it a good mix and let the cream cheese melt.





Now, add the sauce and hamburger to the noodle/cream cheese mixture and stir until blended.





Ingredients:

• Spaghetti noodles


• 1lb. Hamburger


• Ragu Spaghetti sauce


• Garden Vegetable cream cheese

1. Boil water and add noodles


2. Brown hamburger, drain


3. Add sauce to hamburger


4. Mix cream cheese into drained noodles, let melt and stir.


5. Add sauce/hamburger mixture into noodles/cream cheese and mix until blended.


6. Serve and Enjoy!

What are some of your favorite ways to spice up your spaghetti?

Bringing Tuscany to your table {Meatball Sub}

I am always looking for more Italian-inspired meals and today's Meatball Sub is not only delicious, but easy to make. You can actually toss them into your crockpot and walk away to get other things accomplished.



I grabbed this amazingly delicious Bertolli Riserva Balsamic Vinegar & Carmelized Onion sauce. Bertolli is celebrating over 150 years of food, family and friends, and I am about all three of those. Any chance I get to cook a meal for family or friends I am doing it. I really don't even need a reason. I just need good food and good company and Bertolli recipes help bring it all together.



So dump your meatballs into your crockpot and add your Bertolli sauce. Then cover with the lid and cook on high for 3-4 hours.





Cut your bun in half and butter it if you want. I put a little garlic powder on it and then stuck it under the broiler for just a moment, just long enough to toast it a little.

Then I added the meatballs and Bertolli Riserva onto the bread, sprinkled with mozzarella and a little parmesan cheese. And then put back under the broiler to melt the cheese.



Now while it is hot, eat up!



Ingredients:

• Bertolli Riserva sauce


• meatballs


• mozzarella cheese


• parmesan cheese

1. Place meatballs in crockpot along with Bertolli sauce. Cook on high for 3-4 hours.


2. Slice sub long ways to open (like a hotdog bun)


3. Butter bun if desired


4. Toast bun under broiler just until lightly toasted.


5. Add meatballs and sauce to toasted bun, top with shredded cheese


6. Put sub back under broiler just to melt cheese.


7. Enjoy your delicious sub while it is nice and hot!

Don't miss out on this coupon to get $1.50 off your own Bertolli Riserva.

Pizza Crackers for your next Big Game

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BowlTimeSnacks #CollectiveBias

Happy New Year! I'm sure that you are like me, wondering where in the world 2015 went, right? And now, here we are at the beginning of the new year planning our resolutions, vacations, etc.

Right now I am just looking forward to the Big Game and now that my team is in the playoffs, I am hoping we go for a third straight year, and bag another trophy!

I know that football parties are not everyone's cup of tea. Maybe you go for the amazing spread of food? Ya, I like that part too! So I wanted to share Pizza Crackers, one of my favorite quick, easy and super delicious snacks that is a hit with everyone.



I headed to my local Albertson's to grab the ingredients that I needed. Like I said, this is delicious, but it really couldn't be simpler to make and it has very limited ingredients! Plus, I had to grab some Coca-Cola because if you already know me, you know it is my drink of choice! And who wants to pass up Pizza Crackers and Coca-Cola? (Not me!)





You are going to start with laying out your Ritz Crackers on a lined mat.



Add a piece of pepperoni onto each of the Ritz Crackers



Add a little dollop of sauce over each peperoni sauce.



Top with shredded Mozzarella cheese



Broil for just a couple of minutes until cheese is bubbly.



Ingredients for Pizza Crackers:

• Ritz Crackers


• Pizza Sauce


• Pepperoni Slices


• Shredded Mozzarella cheese

1. Set out Ritz Crackers across a lined cookie sheet


2. Lay pepperoni slices out on each Ritz cracker


3. Put a tsp of sauce onto each pepperoni


4. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the sauce


5. Broil for about 2-3 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

So now I have shared Pizza Crackers, one of my favorite Big Game snacks, what do you like to make while you are sitting down to watch some football?