This dish needs help. That's where my creative juices came in. I realized this is a simple recipe for me to make and I could make it into a fake Shepard's Pie. I added garlic, more onion, did half a bag of mixed veggies (frozen with green beans, carrots, and corn), an extra can of mushroom soup, mixed cheese and worsteshire sauce. First I did the meat and mixed in the egg, worsteshire, and a can of mushroom soup. I added salt, pepper and garlic to this mix. I put this on the bottom of the casserole dish. Next I mixed the frozen veggies (about half a bag), 1 whole onion, 1 cup of cheese. I put this layer on top of the meat. Next I put on a random amount of tater tots and used a spoon to spread the next can of mushroom soup over them. I dotted them with the soup, because you want it to get soft when it bakes. I took the last bit of cheese (I did a mixed bag of "taco mix" but cheddar or anything would be good) and spread a very thin layer over the tots and soup. The effect is the meat gets lots of flavor without drying up, the veggies get cheesy, and the tots get soft almost like mashed potatoes but with texture. My mix is more hearty, not much more expensive, and feeds a lot or gives good left overs.

I started out to make this exactly as written, but I was out of Cream of Chicken soup so I had to sub Cream of Mushroom, low fat. I also was a little short on the tater tots, but in the end I think that was a good thing. The meat kinda browns at this high temp, and the flavor is good. The tater tots kinda get mushy, but the taste is good. I admit that I used a turkey baster to suck out all the grease on the edges. I will make again for a quick supper. Thanks