The joy, reason reward of having to endure unpacking is all the incredible stuff you remember you have as you pull it out of a box. My recipes, cookbooks and all manner of kitchen meal planning necessities have been locked away in a box with no one reading them, baking them or dropping the occasional drip of butter on them for almost 2 years. Poor dears! Ok I know I am laying it on thick, like a delicious cream cheese frosting, or the perfect amount of honeybutter….mmmmm. But when it comes to talking about food there is something to be said about tried and true recipes, knowing the outcome and having that sensation of your mouth watering because you know what taste awaits you. I am going to share with you a recipe that my very dear friend Tammy gave me years ago. Now I will probably mention her again and again because before I met my dear friend- who is just like a sister and someone I don’t talk to nearly enough- I made 5 things:
1. Scrambled Eggs
2. Macaroni and Cheese-from a box
3. Hamburger Helper- also from a box
4. Cookies-PB and Chocolate Chip only
5. Boiled or Baked Potatoes
Everything else on our menu was either dumped from a can to be immediately put into the microwave or my wonderful husband made it. I was pregnant with Thing 1 at the time I met Tammy and I had no clue or concept on raising a child, cooking a meal or scrapbooking. Tammy knew all about these things, as she had a Thing 1 of her own, bragging tasters of her meals, and beautiful scrapbooks, which were also bragged about. So my hero worship friendship with Tammy was a total life saver. She helped me gain the confidence to read, prepare and EAT a recipe that I had endeavored to make from S-C-R-A-T-C-H! And not only did she do that but she shared her tasty finds with me per samples and recipe cards.
So when I unpacked my recipe recorder book (side note: Thing 1 has told me she wants this book when I die, I am a little worried she already thinks of my demise but I am flattered she likes my cooking so I overlook the death part) I found a recipe I had glued in there years ago called ‘No Peek Casserole.’
What I love about this casserole, besides the taste, is how easy and diverse it is to make. It truly can be made every night of the week with different ingredients. I made mine with Hamburger, Red Peppers, Garlic, Onions, Corn and another can of Cream of Mushroom instead of sausage, green peppers, and a can of cream of celery. I precooked the hamburger, chopped up the vegetable, opened a few cans and put it all together in this gorgeous, silver mixing bowl(sacrcasm), saran wrapped the top and popped into the fridge.
It took me all of 30 mins from start to finish when I had 30 minutes to dedicate to dinner. I wasn’t going to try to do the mad rush of dinner preparation at 3:30 pm when life gets ka-razy around here.
So at 5:30 the oven dinged, I let it sit for 10 mins, and by 6:00 little mouths as well as big mouths were being filled with this casseroley goodness!
Thing 1 had a boy over for dinner and he had two helpings so I know it was good! My husband and I like things a lil more spicy so I added a dollop of sour cream (who now has the Daisy sour cream commercial song in their head, hopefully I am not the only one) and spicy salsa.
No Peek Casserole
2 C Raw Rice
1 Large Red Bell Pepper Chopped
1 Large Onion Chopped
1 Tbsp Garlic
1 1/2 Pounds Hamburger, Browned
1 can of Corn, drained
2 family size Cream of Mushroom Cans
Mix all ingredients together, them press into a 13x9 baking pan. Cover with tinfoil and bake at 300F for two hours.
Let me know if you try this wonderful recipe and what variations you choose to make it with, who knows I might just end of loving your way better than my own!
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