Tator Tot Casserole

Reason-why

There are a couple reasons why I wanted to make this tator tot casserole. I have heard my mom talk about it a lot when I was younger. She had always said how her mom (my grandma) had made it all the time when they were sick. There was one day I had slept all day because I had been up all night sick to my stomach and throwing up. I asked my mom is she would fix me some tator tot casserole for a change. Of course she made it for her sick little daughter and I have loved it ever since. Don't know why but it always tastes better when you re sick too. The other reason is that it really is an easy dish to fix all by myself with the recipe.


Process

The process is pretty easy. Not much to it.
First, you cook the beef and (onion if you want) in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until the beef is well browned, stirring to separate meat. Pour off any of the nasty fat.

Second, you stir the soup, ketchup and Worcestershire in the skillet. Spoon the beef mixture into a baking dish. Arrange the tator tots around the inside edge of the baking dish. Some people don't like that many but personally, I like to put a lot of tator tots in mine. Stick it in the oven and bake it at 425°F for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown.

Story

I decided to cook something that I have always thought sounded good but never made all by myself before. I had my mother help me make tator tot casserole. As I had said before, when she was a little girl, her mom would always make it when they were sick or not feeling well. I got really sick one day when I was about 9 years old and I told my mom that I wanted to try some of her casserole. She made it for me and then ever since that day I have never liked a meal so much by my mom. So this last Saturday, we went to the store and got a giant bag of tator tots, the meat and the other ingredients in order to make this possible and baked the meat into the skillet first. I got the recipe from my grandma which was the original one that she used when my mom was a little girl. After we took it out of the oven, I had never smelt anything so divine and good smelling. The smell lingered around the house and I swear it stayed over night. We sat down for dinner with our new recipe dinner and it was honestly the best thing I had ever tasted. And needless to say.. Ive never been the "cook" type of person so I was proud to show my mom that I can cook and it actually turned out to be something amazing that I will probably cook a lot more and cook for my children, especially when they are little sick ones at home like I was about 10 years ago.