Okay I’m cringing already. I can’t believe I’m actually posting this, especially right after the post about losing weight. It’s seriously kinda embarrassing. But I am a woman of contradictions and hypocrisy.
I use quotes for this one because I don’t really consider things to be recipes if the only involve opening some cans and bags. I guess I think for it to qualify as a recipe, it needs to have spices or require special equipment or something.
There are two reasons I’m sharing this “recipe”. My friend Melissa has been on my mind lately. She’s been going through some stuff, and she’s never far from my thoughts. We’ve been friends since we were seven years old, and we spent a lot of time at each others’ houses growing up. My dad introduced her to the “joy” of Hamburger Helper Stroganoff. And she introduced me to chili cheese fries. (We were obviously from two very health conscious families). I still remember her telling me how she made them using cheese in a can. We got into an argument because I knew of course that cheese comes in bags, not cans. That sounded disgusting to me. Who would put cheese in a can?
Campbell’s, apparently…
So I lost that argument. And now as an adult who knows how to make a cheese sauce from scratch, I still think cheese in a can is kind of gross. But once every couple of years I get a hankering for it that just can’t be quelled. And I always think of Melissa when I think of canned cheese.
The second reason is that this was the first thing I made after we got the new camera. And so it had to be commemorated. So here goes.
Chili Cheese Tator Tots
1 bag frozen tator tots. You can also use fries, but I like the mushiness of the tots.
1 can chili with no beans
1 can black beans
(Or you can use 2 cans of chili with beans, I just used what I had on hand at the time)
1 can condensed cheese soup
Bake tots or fries according to package directions. While they’re cooking, mix together chili and beans. Heat chili and cheese sauce separately. Once everything is hot, layer tots, chili, and cheese in a bowl. This makes a ton. Leftovers are good for breakfast the next morning.
Action shot 🙂
hclappy scraps 