Veggie Tots

Want to eat more vegetables?

Of course, you do. 

Who doesn't want to be all healthy and stuff? (That's a rhetorical question, by the way.) Whip up some veggie tots and you can eat a million veggies in such a way that you don't even know you are eating veggies. #TrueStory

I used zucchini, cauliflower, and carrot but you can swap in your favorite if you like. For example: broccoli, or turnip, or sweet potato. These also reheat quite nicely so if you have any leftovers, simply freeze them for a later date and pop them in the oven at 375 to heat up. 

I shaped them into tater tot shapes but you could easily leave them in the cookie scoop rounds to save some time. 

Veggie Tots

Ingredients

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 small head cauliflower, grated

1/2 cup shredded carrot

1/4 cup onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 eggs

3 Tbsp shredded Parmesan

1/2 cup aged cheddar, shredded

1 Tbsp chia seeds

salt & pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400, line cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside. 

Place the shredded zucchini, cauliflower, carrot, onion and garlic in a large bowl and stir to combine. 

Place in a clean tea towel OR cheesecloth, twist towel to remove as much moisture as possible. (The more moisture you can remove the crispier the tots will be.)

When you have removed as much moisture as you can, stir in the eggs, cheeses, chia seeds, and salt & pepper. Using a small cookie scoop - or pinch off ping pong ball sized pieces - press firmly into tater tot shapes or leave in rounds. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Repeat until all the veggies are used up. 

Bake at 400 for approx 40 minutes - until tots are golden brown and the outside is crispy. Turn the tots every 10 minutes to ensure each side browns up nicely. Keep an eye on them.

When done, remove to serving plate and serve hot.

These are great on their own as an appie or snack. They also go great as a side dish with burgers or hot dogs (or sad looking lettuce wrapped turkey burgers like the one below) !

According to MyFitnessPal a serving of these veggie tots is: 146 calories, 9 carbs, 8 ft, 10 protein, 3 fiber, and 3 sugar. (This is counting the recipe as 4 servings.) A serving is about 6 - 7 tots. 

If you wanted them crispier you could deep fry them BUT that kind of takes away from the whole healthy thing and would definitely change the nutritional counts. 

Keep in mind - the insides are soft and the outsides, while a bit crispier, are not going to be crunchy. 

Also - I added chia seeds for a little nutritional boost but you can leave them out if you don't have any. 

Loaded Tatchos

So...

Let me just start by apologizing. 

I'm sorry but I'm not even sorry.

These. Are. Amazeballs.

Yeah, that's right, I said amazeballs. That's a thing.

Know what else is a thing?

Using tater tots to make nachos. 

Whyyyyyyyyyyy did no one tell me this? Oh my gosh. 

I decided to usher out 2013 with a calorie filled extravaganza as tomorrow, being the new year, will mean new resolutions, more veggie eating, lose weight, get in shape, blah blah blah. 

AGAIN. 

I know, I know...don't even get me started on resolutions. 

Yes, I make them. Yes, I do the whole new-year-new-start thing. I'm one of those people. 

Go ahead and judge me...I'll be over here eating my tatchos.

Loaded Tatchos

Ingredients

Base

1 bag tater tots

Toppings

1/2 lb lean ground beef

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 Tbsp taco seasoning

green pepper, diced 

tomato, diced

green onion, diced

Cheese Sauce

250 gr box of Velveeta cheese

1/4 cup 1% milk

Spicy Cream Cheese Sauce

4 oz Philadelphia cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp jalapeno jelly 

Directions

Preheat oven to 450. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. 

Spread tater tots evenly on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, give the cookie sheet a good shake to flip over the tater tots. Return the tater tots to the oven for another 10 - 15 minutes, until crispy.

While tater tots are cooking - place a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Cook the ground beef and onion together until the beef is no longer pink. Drain off the excess fat.

Sprinkle with taco seasoning and stir well. Keep warm.

Make the spicy cream cheese sauce - in a small, microwave safe bowl, heat the cream cheese for about 15 - 20 seconds to soften. Whisk in the sour cream until smooth. Add in the jalapeno jelly.

Whisk until smooth. Set aside until ready to assemble your tatchos.

Make the cheese sauce - in a small, microwave safe bowl, heat the Velveeta for about 30 seconds to start it melting. Add the milk, a little at a time, whisking well between additions, until smooth. You may have to heat in microwave for an additional 20 seconds or so to be able to whisk it smooth. If it solidifies too much just heat it for 10 - 15 seconds to get it melty again.

Assemble your tatchos - Place a good handful of tater tots on a plate. Top with a generous spoonful of the cooked beef.

Then drizzle with a generous amount of cheese sauce.

Top with a good amount of your favorite toppings (green pepper, tomato, green onion). 

But wait...there's more! 

Add another layer of tater tots, beef, and cheese sauce. Top with a big scoop of the spicy cream sauce.

Then, for good measure, add on some more toppings (green pepper, tomato, green onions). 

Revel in the gloriousness that is now on your plate.

I can't tell you how many serving sizes this makes. Let's just go with it probably makes way more servings than what we had. I mean, if it's wrong to eat 1/3 of a bag of tater tots covered in beef and cheese sauce and cream cheese and toppings then I don't want to be right. 

Until 2014, that is. In 2014 I will be way more judge-y because I will be on a resolution high and therefore will be able to shake my finger at the people who want to indulge in such ridiculousness. 

*tsk tsk* people *tsk tsk*

Be sure to visit - Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons

Easy Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole

I don't know about you, but I like easy. The less work I have to do, the better. 

Take this casserole for example. 

You take a few basic ingredients, stir them together, throw them in the oven, and you're done. 

*poof*

Just like that. 

You can make this up the night before, keep it covered in the fridge, and simply bake it when you are ready to eat it. Perfect for when company is over, taking to potlucks, or for holiday breakfasts (Christmas morning just got easier!)

You can also play with the ingredients and add your favorites to customize it. 

And, have I mentioned how amazing this tastes?

Yeah.

It tastes amazing. 

Like, when-no-one-is-looking-you-might-just-lick-the-dish amazing. 

Easy Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients

1 bag (1kg/2lb) frozen tater tots

1/2 lb Italian sausage meat, browned

1 can (10 oz) cream of cheddar cheese soup

1 can (10 oz) cream of cheddar and broccoli soup

1 cup sour cream

1/2 a medium onion, diced

1/2 a red pepper, diced

1/2 cup + 1/2 cup aged cheddar, shredded

1 can French's fried onions

Directions

Spray a 9 X 13 baking pan with cooking spray, set aside.

In a large bowl, gently stir together the frozen tater tots, cooked sausage meat, soups, sour cream, onion, red pepper, and 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese. Stir until well combined.

Spread evenly into prepared dish.

Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and the can of French's fried onions.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to use - up to overnight.

When ready to bake - preheat oven to 350. (I like to let the casserole sit at room temp while the oven preheats.)

Bake at 350 until casserole is bubbly and heated through, about 45 - 55 minutes.

Soooo good. So cheesy. So ridiculously easy.

You can see from the recipe how easy this would be to customize. Ie: You could use 2 cans of pretty much any cream-of soup. You could add more veggies if you wanted. You could probably use hash browns if you couldn't find tater tots - but tater tots are my favorite! You could use your favorite cheeses.

However you make it, you have to admit, it does NOT get much easier than this.

FYI - You can cook it right away if you want to. You don't have to refrigerate it after your make it if you want to eat it right away. 

Don't forget to visit Jam Hands and The Velvet Moon Baker and The Chicken Chick and Carole's Chatter for some fantastic links!

Breakfast Casseroles

Tater Tot, Ham, and Cheese Slow Cooker Casserole

So I have decided that I love breakfast casseroles. You know, the ones you put together the night before and let sit in the fridge and then all you have to do is pop them in the oven in the morning... Yeah, those breakfast casseroles. They are so easy and so tasty!

We recently had relatives up to celebrate our nephew’s graduation with us so we needed something that would be fairly quick for the morning. I found three breakfast casserole recipes that sounded tasty and were different enough from each other that there was something for everyone’s liking.

Broccoli, Ham, and Cheese Bake and Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast

Broccoli, Ham, and Cheese Bake

Ingredients

12 slices white bread, crusts removed, cut into cubes

3 cups cooked, cubed ham

3 - 4 cups cooked and cooled, chopped broccoli

2 cups shredded, aged cheddar cheese

2 1/2 cups milk

5 eggs, beaten

1 tsp dry mustard

salt and pepper

Directions

In a 9 X 13 baking dish, evenly distribute the bread cubes. Layer ham, broccoli, and cheese. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, dry mustard, salt and pepper. Evenly pour over layers.

Place in fridge over night.

In the morning, remove from fridge and let sit on the counter while you preheat oven to 350. Bake for 30 - 45 minutes. (Until set) Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole

Ingredients

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cup milk

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

5 large eggs

10 - 12 slices of french bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

4 oz cream cheese, diced into tiny cubes

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup chopped nuts

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Generously grease a 9 X 13 baking dish. Beat flour, milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs until smooth. Stir in bread cubes until well coated, then pour bread mixture into 9 X 13 dish.

Sprinkle evenly with cream cheese cubes and blueberries. In a small bowl, combine nuts, 2 tbsp sugar, and  1/2 tsp cinnamon. Sprinkle over casserole.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove dish from fridge while you preheat oven to 400. Bake, uncovered, for 20 - 25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm with syrup!

Tater Tot, Ham and Cheese Slow Cooker Casserole

Ingredients
1 lb package of frozen tater tots
4 cups diced, cooked ham
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cups shredded, aged Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
5 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp flour
salt and pepper

Directions
In large crockpot insert, layer ingredients in order: one third of tater tots, ham, onions, and cheeses. Repeat layers 2 more times.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk, flour, salt and pepper. Pour mixture over layers in crockpot insert. Cover and chill in fridge until ready to cook.
Remove from fridge and set into crockpot. Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours (depending on your crockpot).
I believe I cooked mine on low for 5 hours and it was done so I turned it to warm and it was fine for another hour.

 

 

 

I’m not sure which one was my favourite. I am partial to sweet things so I’m going to vote for the Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast, but I was also fond of the Tater tot, Ham, and Cheese Slow Cooker Casserole. I didn’t actually get to try the Broccoli, Bacon, and Cheese Bake as it was gobbled up before I had a chance to get to it.

Sue has a Wifesaver French Toast recipe that is AMAZING..... You make a brown sugar and butter caramel sauce for it...I know, CARAMEL SAUCE for breakfast!! We didn't make it this weekend but I am including her recipe here as well. If you love sweet stuff then you will have to try this.

Wifesaver French Toast

Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup butter

10 slices French bread

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

pinch salt

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Stir the brown sugar, corn syrup, and butter together in a saucepan over medium-high heat until bubbly. Pour into the prepared baking dish, then arrange the sliced French bread evenly over the syrup. Whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, flour, and salt until smooth. Pour over the French bread. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from fridge and let sit on counter while you preheat the oven to 350. Stir together the white sugar and ground cinnamon; sprinkle over the French toast. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown on top, about 50 minutes.Serve hot.

So there you have it. Four completely different breakfast casseroles to try! Let us know which is your favorite.