Many Waters: Wild West Casserole

I have a problem. I can’t seem to follow a recipe as it is written. I found a casserole on pinterest called “Cattle Drive Casserole” and thought it looked good. So I made it, except I didn’t because I changed several things. So what started out as Cattle Drive Casserole became Wild West Casserole. Munchkin gobbled it up, so I consider it a win.

Ingredients:

1 lb frozen hash brown potatoes (I used O’Brian potatoes with peppers and onions already mixed in but you don’t have too)

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced (if not using O’Brian potatoes)

1 packet taco seasoning (or about 3 tablespoons if you’re using homemade)

1/2 cup water

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 can Rotel

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2- 3/4 cup of salsa

2 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided

2-3 green onions, chopped

Note: If you like spicy, use spicy Rotel and salsa. If you don’t want spice, use mild of both. I use an original Rotel and mild salsa so it had a small kick.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish. I used butter but you can use cooking spray if you’d like (I try to avoid it because they use butane as a propellant and I don’t want that in our food.)

2. Brown the ground beef. Drain. Add the onion and garlic (and green pepper if not using O’Brian potatoes). Let it cook for about a minute or until you can smell the garlic. Then add taco seasoning and water (I used homemade taco mix and put about 3 tablespoons in with a 1/2 cup of water.) Mix together. Simmer 6-8 minutes. Mix in the can of Rotel. Take off the heat and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, salsa and 1/2 cup cheese. Mix well.

4. Place the potatoes in the casserole dish. On top of them, spread out the beef mixtures. On top of that, spread the sour cream mixture (it can be hard to do, so just do the best you can!) Take the remaining cheese and cover the top of the casserole.

5. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes, or until the cheese is browned and the potatoes are cooked through. Sprinkle with the green onions and let stand 5 minutes.