You can never tell what those kids are going to like. The other night, we faced yet one more in an endless string of “what’s for dinner?” nights, and I thought, “tater tot casserole”. As I thought about it more, I realized that I did indeed have tater tots, but since the great freezer thaw of ’09, I didn’t have any ground beef in the freezer. I did, however, have chicken, and it was already cooked and ready to be used. So, in about 2 minutes, I threw together our dinner.
–shredded chicken,
–one can of cream of mushroom soup
–one can of french cut green beans (also kind of an improvisation, as I usually use regular cut green beans, not french cut, but oh, well, that’s what I had on hand)
–1/2 a bag of tater tots
That’s all folks. Then I put it in the oven for about 30 minutes and declared dinner done.
As we sat down at the table, I was dreading the whole experience. Hubby was was not going to be home for dinner, as he was helping my parents with some sort of cable issue, so I had no back up. It’s just me trying to wrangle these 5 kids and make them eat dinner, which I knew would be fraught with complaints.
I set out the dinner, which was said tater tot casserole and some other stuff (stuff like salad and grapes, maybe some carrots for good measure). “What’s that?” one of them asked.
“Tater tot casserole!” another one said with joy.
They SNARFED that casserole down. They even asked, “Do we have to save some for Dad, or can we eat the rest?” I was in shock. I mean, I hadn’t even made it right, using chicken (which is practically a swear word to one daughter), and they still loved it. Apparently, tater tots make everything better. They raved about this casserole, eating every last bite of it (well, except for John, who when I asked if he had tasted it, said, “I tasted it once before, and I don’t like it.” It wasn’t worth the battle, so I just let him eat his apples instead).
So, every one in a while I hit one out of the park. Even without trying.
And while we’d probably NEVER hear Martha saying this, I’m going to quote her anyway..
“Tater tot casserole. It’s a good thing.”
I grew up on Tater Tot casserole (with beef, never tried it with chicken–yet) and it was a favorite. I’m not sure my own kids have ever had it though. Thanks for the dinner idea!
In my whole married life, I have never made a casserole. I need to try this crazy thing they call “casserole.”
Oh, I love the joy of the spontaneous dinner that everyone eats. In my house, it only happens once. The meal can never be duplicated properly from the making to eating point. Moral of the story, enjoy it whenever it happens!!!
I miss you!