Mexican Tator Tot HOTDISH.

Yes. You read that right...HOTDISH.

If I ever hear you call this a "casserole", I'll have to stop being your friend. M'kay?

Consider yourself warned.

Alright...now, on with the show!

I twittered about this HOTDISH a couple of times, and Sarah asked for the recipe...so, I figured why not give it to the entire world? (Or, ahem...you know, the 47 people that read my blog...same thing, right?)

Okay...'gredients:

Now...before I go on, I need to warn you. There is a part of this recipe that looks kinda...well, kinda gross. Dog foodish...just soldier through it. It's worth it, I promise.

Oh, and because I am a bonehead and not very good at this food blogging thing (nor am I so great at taking food photos...I blame the lack of light...or something...), I left out two very important ingredients from the above photo...hamburger and taco seasoning. *Sigh*...I'm such a rookie...

So...make your hamburger like you are going to make tacos...

Then, add in the soups...

Stir it around until it gets nice and Alpo like looking. Yeah...this is the dog food part. I'll be honest, when I first made this, I got to this part, gagged a little, and thought, "You've gotta be kidding me?! THIS is what I'm going to put in my mouth tonight?!!"...but, I did as I told you to do...I soldiered through it.

Toss some Tator Tots in the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 pan (shhhhh...do NOT tell my kids that I bought Onion Tator Tots!! Do NOT. What they don't know won't hurt 'em...right? RIGHT???)

Just as much or as little as you'd like. For the record...I used about a bag and half for this recipe...not just the single bag you see above!

Then, spread the meat over the tots. ("You gonna eat yer tots, man?" Name that movie...)

Next, because your family is most certainly as picky as mine (please tell me this is normal...) and you'd rather not hear the complaining, you only put the vegetables on one half of the HOTDISH.

Normal people would just toss the veggies right in with the meat before they spread it over the Tator Tots.

We are not normal people.

I'm pretty sure we've established that, by now.

Finish 'er off by smooshing the veggies into the meat with a spatula a little (unless, of course, you are normal and just tossed 'em in with the meat...we are not normal. Wait...I already said that. Nevermind...) and top it all off with a big bunch of tots.

Now...if I were my sister-in-law...the tots would be all arranged into nice rows and columns (she's a teacher...and seriously...after one of my kiddos were born, she brought us the most delicious pan of Tator Tot HOTDISH with the tots arranged so nicely I almost couldn't dig in. Then my tummy rumbled and I was all "nice tots" and devoured it. The end.)...but, since I'm just me, I tossed 'em on all willy nilly like.

Until it looked covered enough.

Then, I popped it into the oven...and when it was done? Pure deliciousness.

Note: Feel free to add some shredded "Mexican" cheese on top of the tots...I didn't, see above notes on picky family members for reason.

Enjoy!

Mexican Tator Tot HOTDISH

1.5 lbs hamburger (or 1 lb.)

1 packet of taco seasoning

2 cans of Fiesta Nacho Cheese Soup

1.5 bags Tator Tots (Onion or not...you're choice!)

3/4 c. frozen corn (to cover 1/2 pan...1 c or more for full pan)

1/2 can black beans (for 1/2 pan...1 can for whole pan)

Shredded Mexican Cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Brown hamburger and add taco seasoning per directions on envelope. Add in soups to taco meat. If your family isn't weird, add in veggies also. Place some tots on the bottom of ungreased 9x13 pan, spread meat mixture over top of tots. If your family is weird like mine, this is when you add the veggies to the top of the meat mixture. Top with Tator Tots. Bake for 30-45 minutes. Top with shredded cheese after baking if desired!