A Quick, Easy Happy Family Casserole Your Family Will Adore

Recently, my son, once again, threw me under the bus with my husband. Here's how it played out:

My husband wants me to cook organic meals for the kids from scratch. Unfortunately, the kids don't want those meals – they want crap, like frozen pizza and microwaveable fried chicken. My daughter will settle for pasta (Kraft mac and cheese – as long as REAL cheese is not involved), but Junior is really picky. Half the stuff I make, he won't eat, yet, whenever Daddy's around, the kid becomes a martyr and wails, “Mom, I WANT nutritious food, Mom, but you never make it!!!” SUCH BULLSHIT!! So tonight, I came up with my easy:

Happy Family Casserole

Since it was made on the fly, measurements are approximate.  

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds of ground meat (turkey, beef – whatever the family will eat); I used lean ground turkey
• 2 cups of frozen or fresh veggies (again, whatever the hell they'll eat); I used chopped broccoli because I wanted there to be a lot of small pieces
• ¼ c of Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 cup of diced frozen or fresh onions (if they'll eat them)
• 2 cups of frozen hash brown potatoes
• ¼ cup of butter or margarine
• 1 package of shredded American cheese (again, if they like it)

Instructions:

1. Brown the meat and onions in a skillet and add the Worcestershire sauce.
2. Spray a lasagna pan (approximately 10x14) with non-stick spray.
3. Spoon the mixture into the bottom of the pan; add salt and pepper if you want.
4. Layer your vegetables over the meat and sprinkle with a handful or two of cheese.
5. Spread the two cups of frozen hash browns.
6. Using a teaspoon, drop teaspoons of the margarine over the hash browns and sprinkle the top liberally with the shredded cheese. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

What you have now looks like a pseudo-lasagna. Bake at 400 degrees until the potatoes are brown and the cheese on the top has melted.

That's it!

This dish was popular with the family for several reasons:

1. My husband liked it because it was nutritious.
2. The kids liked it because it involved meat and vegetables COVERED with cheese (always popular here).
3. I LOVED it because of its versatility. 
   
   

You can easily use shredded chicken and whatever veggies your kids will eat (or whatever you can hide among the meat).  In the future, I'll use black beans and some salsa, for a Southwest flavor. If your family is vegetarian, use soy crumbles or tofu. Got fresh veggies from your garden? Throw them in! This dish also freezes really well. 

The Happy Family Casserole will be on my list of go-to dishes and it looks nice enough to even serve company.

Try it and let me know                                  

what YOUR variations are!

Thanks for reading!