Dinner Tonight - November 13th

Tonight we are having tater tot casserole for supper.  I am using up some bits and pieces in the freezer to make this casserole.  I have had about 3 cups of odds and ends vegetables in the freezer.  There is one container of broccoli, carrots and cauliflower and another of mixed vegetables, additional frozen beans and corn.  I never cook an entire bag of vegetables for a meal as that is too much for us.  So I put what I am not cooking back in the freezer for later use. Sometimes I take the vegetables and use them in soup, but tonight I decided to use them all in a tater tot casserole.

I also had a small ziplock bag of some frozen tater tots and shoe string fries in the freezer.  Again, I never use a full bag at a meal.  So I took 1 lb. of hamburger and browned it. I looked in the cupboard and I had 1/2 an envelope of onion soup mix and another envelope of a brown gravey mix.  I added these to the hamburger along with some water and cooked til the gravey thickened.  Usually I use a can of creamed soup, but I knew that I had these mixes on hand and needed to use them.

I poured the meat mixture into a casserole dish, topped it with all of the variety of vegetables and topped that with a mixture of the tater tots and shoestring fries.  It feels good to use up some odds and ends from the freezer.

Which, I should let you know, that is what I use the freezer above my fridge for - those leftover odds and ends.  If I put them in my big freezer, they would be lost forever.   

I still have half a loaf of cuban bread which I am again slicing, buttering and toasting in the oven.  My cuban bread recipe makes two round loaves so we have enjoyed this bread for three suppers now.  I also have some leftover apple salad from last night, so we are good to go.

I know I will have some leftover casserole but that will work great for tomorrow.  My married son and youngest son and husband are going to a basketball game tomorrow night, so I will have enough leftovers for me.  Perfect.  Even better, after church my daughter in law and I are heading to Subway for lunch as "the guys" will be on the road to the big game in Iowa City.  Go Hawkeyes!!!!