Thursday, July 14, 2005

Tater Tots

FYI: If you live in Tulsa, OK, it takes two days to get your Netflix movies to you after they say they have shipped. I haven't decided if that is acceptable or not.

In my infinite wisdom, I bought an 8 pound package of tater tots last week at Sam's. I eat tater tots as a meal about once a week or so. Shut up! I'm single, live alone, and they are really yummy with seasoning salt and covered (that means w/cheese for those that have never been to Waffle House or listen to Bloodhound Gang). I didn't realize until I got to my apartment that 8 pounds of tater tots is a helluva lot of tater tots! The bag alone takes up about 1/6 of my total freezer space, not including the ice maker. Then I thought about Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar. Yeah, you remember them. They're the 17 member family that lives in Arkansas. I became aware of them on a show that was on TLC called 14 Children and Pregnant Again. There was a part that was devoted to how they eat. One of the things they make was Tater Tot Casserole. They even have a recipe for it on their site.

My hamster wheel begins to spin. I usually invite my family over for a Rachel-cooked meal at the rate of one/month. The meal is almost always what I'd refer to as a "creation." Read: random recipe that I came across and wanted to try but when I found out the recipe serves 15 people, I decided to call the whole family over. I'm slacking off, though. The family hasn't been over since like February when I made some nastacious baked tortellini. Also of note, Doug hasn't had a meal with my family yet. Doesn't my brewing plan have redneck written ALL over it?

8 comments:

ET said...

I thought it was "tater"...am I wrong? LT purchases them occassionally then always seems surprised when I don't eat them. Although I did try some recently and if you put enough stuff on them they are edible. I had no idea Sam's sold them...much less in some enormous bag. We have a side-by-side 22 cubic foot fridge/freezer and it is always full. My mother always hated her side-by-side because she said she had too much freezer space and not enough fridge. We are the opposite. And then we ended up with a little chest freezer in the garage as well. No idea what this has to do with tater/tator tots...

Rachel said...

It is tater, I'm just a dork. In my defense, the Duggars have it misspelled on their recipe site.

Anonymous said...

My 6-person family used to eat tater-tot casserole. Well... I guess the other 5 did. I hated it. Ou recipe has a lot of cheese in it and use hamburger meat but otherwise it seems closely related to their version.

Anonymous said...

You may want to try Tater Tots Tuna Pie(but practice before inviting your family or have a back-up meal):

- 1/2 cup Chopped Onions
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1.25 cups milk
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes crumbled
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon dill weed
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 (7 ounce) can solid pack tuna
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- 4 cups frozen tater tots

Preheat oven to 400*F. In medium frying pan, sauté onions and celery lightly in melted butter. Stir in flour. Gradually blend in milk. Add bouillon cubes, salt, pepper, and dill weed. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens. Stir in lemon juice. Fold crumbled tuna into sauce along with frozen vegetables. Turn into shallow 1.5 quart baking dish. Arrange tater tots over top. Bake 25 minutes or until tater tots are throughly heated.

Rachel said...

Thanks, Deep Throat (anon.) for the suggestion, however I dont' think I can try that recipe because I don't like 1/2 of the ingredients:

- 1/2 cup Chopped Onions
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon dill weed
- 1 (7 ounce) can solid pack tuna
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

Actually, I might like tuna, but it's probbaly been 10 years since I've had any.

Anonymous said...

Pepper?!
Who doesn't like pepper?
I think you're alone on this one.
Pepper makes everything better :)

Rachel said...

Another blunder on my behalf. I love pepper. Except when you accidentally mix it up with the sugar. Just once has that happened.

ET said...

Rachel, I don't think I would be taking any sort of advice from a family who has entered the procreation book of world records.

And I don't like pepper. I like perfumes with pepper in them, as a "note"...but pepper in conjunction with food items...NO WAY. So there, Chris ("Cabbie").

I am afraid to even ASK what tater tot casserole is. I have had tuna casserole, however (like you, probably about 10 years ago), and as I recall it is quite tasty.