Tater Tots

This one's for my husband.  After work today, he told me he read my blog and was very disappointed my tater tot story and recipe didn't get in.  So, I told him, I didn't want to disappoint, so here it is:

About a week ago, we had some tater tots.  Now, this is a kick HE is on, not me.  For some reason, he likes them instead of french fries.  It really all started when we had Swiss steak one evening for dinner and there was a lot of leftover sauce.  He was like, "ooh....this would be good on tater tots!  I came back with, well it's really for french fries, but a tater tot casserole would be good, what do you think?  Of course, it sounds good, but how will you make it?  I dunno.........I'll figure it out."

So, while having a cup of coffee, I came up with a recipe.   I tried it this weekend and it was OK, not my best, but everything's up for tweaking.  It kind of reminded me potatoes au gratin except with tots.  I'm sure I can figure out how to make it better at some point.  But, here's the initial recipe.

Tater Tot Casserole

1/2 bag frozen tots
1/2 green pepper, diced small
1/2 medium onion, diced small
1 cup or more cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup or more of milk
salt and pepper to taste

In a fry pan, brown the peppers and onions, get them soft.  Then add the tots, mix well.  Salt and pepper the mixture, but not too much!  In a saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour to make a rue, if it's too thick, add more butter.  Add the milk and mix the sauce until it thickens, pressing out any lumps.  Then add the cheese.  You can add more or less cheese depending on your taste.  You can change the cheese to other types if you'd like, whatever you want. 

Transfer the tots mixture to a casserole baking dish and add the cheese sauce.  Bake on 375 for about 20-30 mins until the mixture is browned a bit on top and bubbly.  Serve warm with anything you want.

Let me know!!!  And, if you think of anything I can add, or subtract to the recipe, please let me know!!!