My Nontraditional Easter Dinner

Taters and Gravy: prepared, tasted, and eaten by Hughze.
"And I'm still alive."

I had planned to go to my folk's for Easter this year but as things turned out, I ended up staying home for Easter. With no ham or turkey or any of the traditional Easter foods in stock, I decided to have an old favorite of mine, Taters and Gravy. It's quite simple to prepare and does not take long. (About an hour or so.)

First you need to decide what kind of Taters you're having and get them started. For this recipe, I'm going with mashed potatoes but you can make fried potatoes. You can make baked potatoes. You can even just boil your potatoes if you want to. Do you like french fries or tater tots? You have whatever peels your potato.

I peeled and cut up a pot full of potatoes. I put water in the pot with the potatoes until it was about 2/3 full and began heating them at about medium high.

When boiling potatoes, you'll need to turn the heat down as the water begins to boil; otherwise, your water will boil up and out of the pot. Also it's a good idea to stir them once and awhile to keep the bottom potatoes from burning.





After starting the potatoes you'll need to start the hamburger. I took the hamburger strait out of the freezer and placed it in a ten inch frying pan (Ten inch is small. An eleven or twelve inch pan is better.) with 1/2 an inch of water and about a half cup of sliced up onion. I also seasoned it with my favorite seasoning to what I felt was about right for me. Here again you can use what ever peels your potato with the onion and seasoning. I just sprinkled it on as you can see in the pictures below.






Now you let the meat and onion fry at about medium heat, stirring it and breaking up the burger every so often until the meat is done.


























Now some people like to drain the juices off of their meat after it's cooked and some don't. Once again it's up to you but if you do drain the juice off, you need to replace it again with water. Remember, you are making a gravy here. You don't want it too thick. That also goes if you evaporate all your water off during cooking. You need to replace that water. You want about enough water in the pan to be 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch deep. (By the way, watch your potatoes. Remember, they are cooking during this time as well.)


The meat's done. You have your 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch of water in the bottom of your pan. It's time to add the rest of the ingredients.

Add a ten to eleven ounce can of cream of mushroom soup (empty the whole can) to the meat. Drain (drain the juice in the can before adding it to the meat) and add the vegetable of your choice to the meat. I chose corn. You can use peas, beans, carrots, or even a mix if you like. Then add 1/2 to one cup of milk (This depends on how much fluid you have in the pan. You don't want it to run over). Mix it all together and slice Velveeta cheese and place it on top as it is in the picture below. Cover the entire mix with cheese.









Then place the lid on your pan and place it on the oven at medium low to medium heat again and let it cook until the cheese is good and melted. It will probably come to a light boil before it's done. Once again watch your heat so you don't begin to burn it on the bottom. When the cheese is melted, turn off the heat and mix the cheese into the gravy. Your gravy is ready. (See ingredients listed at the very end.)





I boiled the potatoes until they were quite soft and added a quarter of butter, 1/2 to one cup of milk, and seasoned to my taste while I mashed them and finally......

Finished!

So now that I've worked up an appetite, I'll wish you all a Happy Easter and I'll sit down to enjoy my dinner except.....

Somebody took my chair!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Taters and Gravy

Ingredients:

1 to 1 1/2 pounds of hamburger (thawed or frozen)

1- tsp of your favorite meat seasoning. (salt and pepper works too)

1- 10.5 or 11 oz. can of cream of mushroom soup.

1- 14 to15 oz can of vegetables. (can be corn, beans, peas, carrots, or mixed)

1/4 to 1/2 a cup of an onion chopped or sliced up

Water and Milk.

Potatoes.
(You can boil 'em, mash 'em, bake 'em, or fry 'em. You can use french fries or even tater tots if you like.)

The truth about this gravy recipe is it can also be eaten by itself without potatoes if you like.