Casseroles are one of my favorite types of dinners! Combine everything in a casserole dish and bake and there you have it dinner is ready! Tater Tot Casserole is a super easy recipe to make, with only a few ingredients, its perfect for families on a busy night! 

I know we have busy nights during the week and sometimes preparing dinner isn't something I want to spend a lot of time doing. Or creating a lot to clean up either. This is where simple meals come in SO handy! Another great one is my Broccoli Cheddar Casserole. 

This Tater Tot Casserole comes together easily and is super cost effective to make. Bonus, its large enough that you might have leftovers for another meal. 

Tater Tot Casserole

PRINT RECIPE HERE

Ingredients for Tater Tot Casserole 

2 lbs ground beef, browned

1/2 small onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 - 15 oz cans green beans, drained

2 - 10 oz can cream of mushroom soup

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3 cups frozen tater tots

salt and pepper to taste

Directions for Tater Tot Casserole

1. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. 

2. Brown the ground beef and drain off the excess grease. 

3. Add the diced onion and saute until translucent. 

4. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 2 additional minutes. 

5. Add in the Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper and mix in well. 

6. Spread out prepared ground beef in the baking dish. 

7. Next add the layers, cream of mushroom soup, then green beans, then the shredded cheese. 

8. Lastly, top off the casserole with the tater tots layed out on top. 

9. Bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees F. 

10. Ready to serve. 

                This post is sponsored by the Glass Barn, Indiana Soybean and Corn Farmers, but                                                            all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings is always a good go to meal that is a family favorite! It is a delicious comfort food meal. Juicy chicken, tender dumplings, in a flavorful broth bring this recipe together for an easy, one pot meal.

Chicken and Dumplings is a great fall and winter meal. So warm and comforting on a chilly day.

This recipe starts with cutting up three chicken breasts into chunks, preparing the onions, carrots, and celery.

Combining the chicken breast chunks together with the chicken broth, vegetables, and seasonings.

While the broth is simmering, prepare the dough for the dumplings. Add the dumpling ingredients into a small mixing bowl. Using a fork, press down on the shortening until it is blended into the mixture.

Next, you'll add the milk just a little at a time to the dumpling mixture. All the milk may not be used, but you will want the dough to be soft and not sticky. Use a fork to gradually mix the milk into the mixture to create the dough.

Then move the dough to a floured surface and knead it a few times. Then using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick.

The rolled out dumpling dough is then ready to be cut into 1 inch strips. Then cut the strips into 1-2 inch strips to create the dumpling. 

Add the dumplings to the simmering pot and let the simmer and cook for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. 

Chicken and Dumplings 

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

Ingredients for Chicken and Dumplings

For the soup: 

3 chicken breasts, cut into chunks

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup carrot, julienned

3 stalks celery, thinly sliced

8 cup low sodium chicken stock

2 bayleaf

salt and pepper to taste

4 Tbsp Clabber Girl Corn Starch (optional) 

For the dumplings: 

1 3/4 cups flour, plus extra for dusting when rolling out

1/3 cup shortening 

1/2 tsp Clabber Girl Baking Powder

3/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

Directions for Chicken and Dumplings

1. Using a large stock pot, add the chicken, onions, carrots, celery and season to taste with the salt and pepper. Also add the bayleaves. 

2. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. 

3. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 60 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and tender. 

4. Meanwhile, during the simmering of the broth, prepare the dumplings. 

5. To make the dumplings, add the flour, Clabber Girl Baking Powder, salt, and shortening in a medium mixing bowl. Using a fork, press down on the shortening until it is blended into the mixture. 

6. Add the milk a little at a time. Continue to stir in the milk into the flour mixture until it well combined. You may not use all the milk, so that is ok, just so the dumpling dough is soft but not sticky. 

7. On a floured surface, knead the dough a few times until smooth. 

8. Roll the dough out on a floured surface to roughly 1/8th inch thick. Cut into 1 inch strips, then approximately 1 to 2 inch lengths. 

9. Add the dumplings to the simmering broth. Simmmer for an additional 15 to 20 minutes until the dumplings are cooked and tender. 

10. If you desire the broth to be a little thicker, add 4 Tbsp Clabber Girl Corn Starch with 4 Tbsp water and mix together until well blended.  Then add this mixture gradually to the Chicken and Dumplings and mix in until desired consistency is reached. 

This post is sponsored by Clabber Girl but my

 thoughts/opinions are always 100% my own

Hamburger Stroganoff

Simple and delicious Hamburger Stroganoff that is a flavor filled creamy hamburger sauce served over egg noodles. This meal comes together quickly and is budget friendly. Plus the whole family will love.

Do you ever have a night you get home late from sports practices, meetings, or whatever you might have going on.....and want to have a nice meal, but don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen and need meal to come together fast? This is that meal!

Hamburger Stroganoff is one of my go-to meals for busy nights! With the kids in sports and having practices several times a night as well as being busy on the farm, easy meals are so helpful! One of the great things about this meal is that I generally always have the ingredients. It definitely makes meal planning a breeze. My kids love pasta meals as well as my friend Crystal's recipe, Crock Pot Spicy Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti over at Chasing Saturdays.

This Hamburger Stroganoff is easy to prepare. Simply start boiling the water for the noodles at the same time as cooking the ground beef. By time the beef is drained and you're ready to add the remaining ingredients for the sauce, the noodles are ready to cook. Top the noodles the sauce and dinner is ready!

Hamburger Stroganoff

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

Ingredients for Hamburger Stroganoff

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup yellow onion, diced

1 tsp garlic, minced (about 2 cloves)

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup sour cream 

salt and pepper to taste

Directions for Hamburger Stroganoff

1. In a large sauce skillet, brown ground beef along with the onions and garlic until cooked thoroughly. 

2. Drain the ground beef to remove any access grease. 

3. While the ground beef is browning, cook the noodles by bringing a large pot of water to boil and cook the egg noodles according to the package. 

4. After draining the grease from the ground beef, put the skillet back on the stove and add the cooked hamburger back to the pan. 

5. Add the 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup and the sour cream to the hamburger and stir together well. 

6. Continuously stir the sauce mixture together until it is completely warmed through. 

7. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir that in well. 

8. Serve sauce over egg noodles. Pair the dish with your favorite vegetable for a complete meal and enjoy. 

OTHER PASTA MEALS

Instant Pot Spaghetti

This post is sponsored by the Glass Barn, Indiana Soybean and Corn Farmers but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Baked Cheesy BBQ Pork Taquitos

Baked Cheesy BBQ Pork Taquitos are an easy and delicious appetizer and perfect for game day or any potluck! Flavors of BBQ pork combined with cheese and chipotle, these taquitos are packed full of flavor.  Baked taquitos are perfectly crunchy and filled with BBQ pork and cheese, and then dipped in a creamy chipotle ranch sauce.

These are a great appetizer to take to a game day party, but whos says you need a Superbowl as an excuse to make these. Enjoy them for a simple lunch or dinner meal too!

These taquitos are perfect to make if you have left over pulled pork. Pair the BBQ pork with cheddar cheese, cream cheese, and a handful of Tex-Mex flavors and you have a delicious appetizer for any type of party.

We are BIG fans of BBQ pulled pork fans! So these are a fun way to enjoy it a new way. These are super easy and packed full of flavor! Another great thing is that these Baked Cheesy BBQ Pork Taquitos freeze great too, so you can make extra and have a meal for later too!

These taquitos are so simple to make! Who doesn't love simple? Especially when you are heading to a big game tailgate or a party! The pork mixture can even be made up earlier in the day and pit in the fridge. Then when it is time to start thinking about getting ready to go to your event, assemble the taquitos and put them in the oven.

Baked Cheesy BBQ Pork Taquitos

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

Ingredients for Baked Cheesy BBQ Pork Taquitos 

4 lb pork shoulder 

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 tsp chipotle chili pepper 

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp lime juice

10 taco flour tortilla shells

2 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup BBQ sauce, a sweet BBQ sauce 

1/2 tsp chili powder

For the chipotle ranch sauce: 

1/4 cup sour cream 

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp ranch dressing seasoning mix

1/2 tsp lime juice

1/4 tsp chili powder

Directions for Baked Cheesy BBQ Pork Taquitos 

1. In a small bowl combine the orange juice, chipotle chili pepper, cumin, and lime juice and mix together well to make a marinade. In a large bowl place the pork shoulder and coat all sides with the marinade. Let the meat marinate for 6 to 8 hours or overnight. 

2. Cook the marinated pork shoulder in the Instant Pot for 30 minutes. Simply add a 1/2 tsp olive oil to the bottom of the Instant Pot, place the marinated pork shoulder in and lock the lid. Press to Manual setting and set time for 30 minutes. When time has beeped, vent. 

3. In a medium bowl, combine all the chipotle ranch sauce ingredients and whisk together until it is smooth and well mixed. Refrigerate until serving. 

4. Mix together the cream cheese, sour cream, chili powder, and BBQ sauce in a large mixing bowl. 

5. Remove pork from Instant Pot and place in a strainer to remove any excess liquid. 

6. Add 3 cups of the pork to the cream cheese mixture and stir together until well blended. 

7. Add the cheese and mix until evenly combined. 

8. Add 1/4 cup of the pork mixture to each tortilla and roll up tightly. Place the filled tortillas on a baking sheet fold side down. 

9. Lightly brush each filled tortilla with olive oil. 

10. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 425F or until golden brown. 

11. Serve with the prepared chipotle ranch sauce. 

This post is sponsored by the Glass Barn, Indiana Soybean and Corn Farmers but all thoughts and opinions are my own