Juggling

Now that it is warm, (95+ everyday) I find myself not wanting to go outside as much. The problem with Chico is that it is either raining or hot as hell. There is no mild spring, it goes from raining to 85 in a snap. I took the kids to the park at 8 am the other day. 8 AM!!!! I had do, it was supposed to be 106 that day. It was already around 82 when we got there.


The weather makes us juggle our schedule. We get home, toss some sort of meal down the kids' throats, put them in their swim suits and we swim in our pool for an hour or so. Dry em off, pj's, teeth, story and bed. Then we eat. We only seem to swim later due to more shade around the shallow end plus there are 2 of us.


Meal time is more juggling. We haven't ever been meal planners. And we still aren't. Maybe it's because we both work, Andy a job with regular hours, me a job with irregular hours. We always make sure there is milk, a protein, carb, veggie, and a fruit with every meal. These kids must get tired of our tiresome meals that we give them. I spoiled them today. They had french toast and mandarin oranges for breakfast. Usually it would have been oatmeal, eggs and bananas! I keep saying I need to meal plan, but then it goes by the way side. I wish there was a website where I could type in every food I have in my pantry, fridge and freezer, spices I have on hand, etc. And would spit out a receipe that I can make where I don't have to go to the store.
I made a tater tot casserole with everything we already had.


This may turn into a cooking post.

Tater tot Casserole
1 Lb ground meat (turkey or beef or pork your prefernce)
1 small yellow or white onion diced or 1/2 a medium onion diced
1 can of green beans drained
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
milk
tater tots
sauerkraut(if desired)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup cheddar cheese grated


Brown the meat and onion until meal it cooked, drain off excess liquid

Combine meat, green beans, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, cream of mushroom soup and fill the soup container half way with milk all together in a 2.5-3 qt baking dish.

put a thin layer of sauerkraut, just enough to cover top. If you don't have any or don't like sauerkraut, no worries.

Top with tater tots. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 375. Pull out, sprinkle cheese on top, and put back in over for 2-5 minutes until melted.

Let cool for 2-4 minutes. Enjoy! I had everything in our pantry and freezer for this and it was amazing! The kids went crazy for this and I love casseroles. A win win!