Tator Tot Hotdish

I have lived in Minnesota for almost 6 years and have never tasted or made tator tot hotdish.  I've heard everyone talk about "hotdish" which is just a different term for "casserole."  About a week ago I was talking about cooking and recipes with my mother-in-law Jane and sister-in-law Meghan and they both mentioned tator tot hotdish.  After hearing what was in it and how easy was to make, I thought I'd give it a try on a chilly Sunday evening this fall.  I googled a few different recipes and eventually just made up my own.

Recipe
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 C. onion, diced
1 can cream of celery soup + 1/2 can milk
1 bag frozen cut green beans, steamed
1 can mushrooms, drained
1 bag frozen tator tots
1/2 C. shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef and onion in frying pan.  While meat is cooking, whisk together cream of celery soup and milk in a bowl.  Steam the green beans, and then toss together with the mushrooms.  Spray a baking pan with PAM (I used a 7x11 pan, but 9x13 would work also).  Spread ground beef evenly on the bottom of the pan.  Next, layer on the green beans and mushrooms.  Pour the soup mixture over the entire casserole.  Layer tator tots on top in rows.  Sprinkle cheese over the top of the tator tots.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes, or until tator tots are brown and soup mixture is bubbly.  Season with salt and pepper.

Comments
 - I thought there was a bit too much meat, so next time I might either use a 9x13 pan and a larger bag of green beans, or just cut the meat back to 1/2 or 3/4 pound if I use a 7x11 pan.
 - Mike topped his with Frank's Red Hot but I didn't care for it that way.

Rating
3.5/5