Mashed Potato Casserole

When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time with my great grandparents. They watched my brother and I while my parents worked. I have some wonderful childhood memories of cooking with Grandma Dorothy, my great grandma.

I remember eating lunch at her house growing up. Most days, my grandma (Grandma Dorothy's daughter) would stop over to each during her lunch break. Sometimes one of my uncles or my dad would come over for lunch too. There was always someone that stopped over.

Grandma Dorothy passed away in September at the age of 93. She lived a long life filled with family and friends. I miss her very much.

There are some foods that I like to make, but I don't think I can get them to taste exactly like she made them, even though it's the same ingredients. Or I just remember them tasting differently.

This is a simple casserole that can be made ahead of time on the weekend and just pop in the oven on a weeknight quickly.



Ingredients:

1 - 1 1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 a medium onion, chopped
mixed frozen vegetables
1 can tomato soup
1/4 cup Ketchup
5-6 shakes garlic powder
Worcestershire sauce - about 1 1/2 teaspoons
Mashed potatoes (see below)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cooking spray

You'll need a 9x13 in pan for baking

To make this recipe, I usually start my peeling the potatoes. Once they are in a pot of water boiling I brown the hamburger with the onions while the potatoes are boiling.

Spray your baking pan with the cooking spray. Transfer the browned hamburger and onions to the baking dish. Add the thawed frozen vegetables, tomato soup, Ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder. Mix well.

You'll be adding the mashed potatoes on the top of the hamburger/vegetable/sauce mixture.

Mashed potatoes -
5-6 potatoes peeled and cut into 8ths
About 1/2 cups milk
3-4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 -2 tablespoons sour cream

Boil water, then add the cut up potatoes. Boil the potatoes until they are soft / mash-able. Drain the water and place in a bowl large enough you can use a hand mixer.

First, I use a potato masher to break up the large pieces. Then add the milk, sour cream, and butter. Using a hand mixer, mix until smooth - I usually leave some lumps, but mostly smooth out the mashed potatoes.

Once the potatoes are added to the top of the baking dish, bake at 350 degree for about 20 minutes or until heated through.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

I had breakfast for dinner on my meal plan this week, but when I went to make them on Monday night, plain pancakes sounded really blah. My daughter eats quite a bit of fruit, and we had apples. Last weekend, I was on a small cinnamon and sugar toast kick. So, my small craving for cinnamon and sugar toast and having apples in the house inspired me to try apple cinnamon pancakes.

I've never made fruit pancakes, and these ended up turning out really well. They tasted really good and I was looking forward to having leftovers for work on Tuesday, either for breakfast or lunch. But all the pancakes were eaten for dinner.

To dice up the apples, I peeled and quartered them, and cut out the core. I diced them up into small pieces in my small food processor.

Ingredients:

1 cup pancake mix
2/3 cups milk
1 egg
2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2 apples peeled, cored, and diced
1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions:

To dice up the apples, I peeled and quartered them, and cut out the core. I diced them up into small pieces in my small food processor.

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Add in the apples and cinnamon and stir well.

Heat frying pan or griddle and spray with cooking spray. I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup to portion out the pancakes on the heated griddle.

Cook on one side until there are bubbles and the edges began to look dry. Flip the pancakes and cook on the second side.

Once done, I served with maple syrup and bacon.