Beef n' Smashed Taters

I did some more Google-inspired cooking last night, whipping up a rather yummy beef and potato concoction that we had for lunch today. Let's see if I can remember what I did . . . .

Beef n' Smashed Taters

Ingredients

The Beef Part
1/2 lb ground beef
(You could use a whole pound, but would need a bigger casserole. I was also making Lazy Lasagna, which used 1/2 pound, so I used the rest on this.)

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup green bellpepper, chopped

1 can cream o'mushroom soup
(I used the 43-cent can from Aldi, and it turned out to be pretty good.)

2 oz Velveeta™
(More or less)

1/4 tsp garlic

dash pepper

The Smashed Tater Part
2 large white potatoes
(I used one largish and a couple of smaller ones, so I guess two big ones would be about the same.)

1/4 cup milk
(Totally guessing on the amount.)

2 tsp butter
(Again, this is a guestimate. I used I Can't Believe It's Not . . . . ™)

1/2 cup shredded cheese
(Or less, if you're not a cheese-fiend like myself.)

1/2 tsp garlic
(Or to taste.)

And, to top it all off
1/2 cup shredded cheese
(Yes, this is in addition to what's alread in the taters - and the beef.)

1. Scrub, dice and boil the potatoes until you can stick a fork in 'em and they're done. (I left the skins on, but that's optional.)
2. Meanwhile, cook the onions, bellpepper and ground beef in a skillet until the meat is looking not-so-rawish.
3. Add mushroom soup and Velveeta™ to beef, lower heat a bit and cook until cheese is all melty and disappeared.
4. When potatoes are done, drain and dump into a largish bowl.
5. Smash taters with a tater-smasher or whatever's handy. Lumps are ok.
6. Add milk, butter, garlic and cheese to potatoes and continue to smash and stir til it's all mixed up and as smooth as you want.
7. Put about half of the smashed taters into a greased (Pammed™) 2-quart casserole.
8. Top with beef mixture, remaining potatoes, then shredded cheese.
9. Cook til it all looks done and yummy.
   (Here's where I ran into a little trouble. I prepared this and the Lazy Lasagna last night (all but baking), and put them both in the freezer, because I didn't know which Shrike would prefer to have today and which would be for tomorrow. I put it in the fridge to thaw when we left for our walk, but it was still pretty frozen when I started cooking. I cooked it for about 40 minutes at 350 F and it looked very done and brown on top. However, when I served it, I discovered that there was still a layer of ice in the middle! I just popped our bowls into the microwave and it was fine, but I sure am glad I wasn't putting it out on the table for company. I would say that, without the freezing, 40 minutes at 350 F might be okay. But what the hell to I know?)

I also steamed a bit of broccoli for Shrike, which I present here, because as I was photographing the Beef n' Smashed Taters, she said, You should get a picture of the broccoli, too, since it's so pretty." Indeed it was.