TTC

[Cartmann99]

I agree, the cream of mushroom is unbearably vile IMHO. On the rare occasion I need one of those cream-based soups, I always use the celery or onion...or better yet, find a different recipe. But for TTC, there's no alternative that I know of.

Wouldn't a basic white sauce or cheese sauce work instead of the canned soup in TTC? I'm not saying white or cheese sauce is a health food, but at least if you make it yourself, you are in control of what goes into it. :)

[August]

What is up with cream of mushroom soup? My mother used to make a particularly vile concoction of mushroom soup, tuna and elbow macaroni that she would bake in the oven. Sometimes she would top the entire nasty mess with saltine crackers. However in my mother's defense, she was a single woman supporting three kids so I guess she just wanted to get food in us. My goodness was that sickening though :ew:

My mother made tuna mornay from scratch and it was still a vile pot of sludge.

[bananacat]

Sherbert is sort of like a cheap knock-off of both sorbet and ice cream, but I enjoy it. It's certainly not dairy-free, as I discovered when I was dating a vegan and it was hard to find a place we could both go to eat. The last dairy thing he ever ate was sherbert at Friendly's. And yes, I pronounce the second R and spell it that way too. It's just a dialect thing.

However, as was mentioned up thread, this is actually an improvement over the Duggar version as they would not have put any type of vegetable in theirs.

[August]

Wouldn't a basic white sauce or cheese sauce work instead of the canned soup in TTC? I'm not saying white or cheese sauce is a health food, but at least if you make it yourself, you are in control of what goes into it. :)

Yes, it's what the tine is a shortcut for, either gravy, or white sauce, or cheese sauce. TTC is a cottage pie reimagined by some 50's food editor to sell more cream of ... soup.

Bananacat, just as long as you don't pronounce anything but the nuns as "carmel", then you're OK.

[Mela99]

I feel like the texture of TTC would get to me. Mushy tots are wrong. They need to be crispy and crunchy and goldenlicious.

Hamburger Helper is about as adventurous as I will get with greasy casseroles.

[guidedbybobafett]

I make a "lightened up" version of funeral potatoes that I think tastes delicious, but you have to LOVE greek yogurt. My boyfriend and I really like cheesy potatoes and comfort food style stuff, so I often try to make variations of casseroles with homemade cream soup base, reduced fat cheese, and yogurt in place of sour cream.

[DarkAnts]

I make a "lightened up" version of funeral potatoes that I think tastes delicious, but you have to LOVE greek yogurt. My boyfriend and I really like cheesy potatoes and comfort food style stuff, so I often try to make variations of casseroles with homemade cream soup base, reduced fat cheese, and yogurt in place of sour cream.

I love full fat funeral potatoes. But, I eat them about once a year. I dont think I could stand them on a steady diet. Its also comfort food. I bring them to all the funerals I go because it was at the funerals I went to growing up.

[GenerationCedarchip]

I just ate TTC the other day- my boyfriend and I both think it's pretty good. Not for everyday, of course, but we make it every once in a blue moon. We're talking about ways to possibly make it healthier- maybe adding some veggies to the mix and cutting down on the cream of chicken and broccoli. I'll let ya'll know how it works out ;)

I do like Tater-tots, so I'll admit that I could see where TTC could be good, but this one was just swimming in too much grease and that just overwhelmed the taste.

Re: chickenetti - That's not just fundie; it's also kind of a mountain Southern favorite. I can probably get my hands on some pretty easily. I'll keep my eyes peeled at family functions.

I have to admit that I've made a lot of sherbet punch. It looks a little disturbing, but I love that stuff!

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

Sherbert punch has spread to other faith communities....The first (and only) time I had it was at a Purim party at my local Reform synagogue when I was in grade school.

[ADoyle90815]

I feel like the texture of TTC would get to me. Mushy tots are wrong. They need to be crispy and crunchy and goldenlicious.

Hamburger Helper is about as adventurous as I will get with greasy casseroles.

I feel the same way, as I don't like the texture of funeral potatoes as every potato casserole I've had growing up had sliced raw potatoes that cooked while the casserole was baking. My Catholic grandma's scalloped potato recipe did call for cream of mushroom soup and onion soup/dip mix, but even then, she used sliced raw potatoes. Sometimes I still make that as it's comfort food for me, and reminds me of big holiday dinners growing up. I know what I'm saying about the texture of funeral potatoes, as I have Mormon step siblings who have brought that to family dinners.

[jenny_islander]

What is up with cream of mushroom soup? My mother used to make a particularly vile concoction of mushroom soup, tuna and elbow macaroni that she would bake in the oven. Sometimes she would top the entire nasty mess with saltine crackers. However in my mother's defense, she was a single woman supporting three kids so I guess she just wanted to get food in us. My goodness was that sickening though :ew:

Cream-of soups got a big boost when women went into shift work in a big way and no longer had time to cook completely from scratch. If you have to ride the bus to the munitions factory and back, the 20 minutes or so cream-of soup will save you begins to look pretty good. To de-cream-of-soup a recipe, substitute homemade sauces, cup for cup. I posted a complete list around here someplace a while back. The most popular, cream of mushroom, can be replaced by thick white sauce with some canned or sauteed chopped mushrooms. Season the sauce with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg.

BTW, take any cream-of-soup recipe on the Campbell's Soup official site, replace with homemade sauce, and watch your dinner guests :worship: . Except the Tomato Soup Cake. You can't improve on Tomato Soup Cake.

[Shoes Grace]

What is up with cream of mushroom soup? My mother used to make a particularly vile concoction of mushroom soup, tuna and elbow macaroni that she would bake in the oven. Sometimes she would top the entire nasty mess with saltine crackers. However in my mother's defense, she was a single woman supporting three kids so I guess she just wanted to get food in us. My goodness was that sickening though :ew:

It's a very cheap, low-fat (high sodium) thickener. If you put all that stuff in a 8 1/2X11 cake pan except the cream soup, you'd have a... well, you have a disgusting mess either way, but you couldn't cut slices out of it. You could probably use heavy cream or a sausage gravy just as easily, but you'd be replacing the sodium with fat, so it's kind of a toss up on the health scale. The trouble behind making this thing "healthy" is that no one in their right mind would ever eat mixed canned vegetables and hamburger unless they were hidden under shredded cheese and tater tots. At least not without adding tomato to the mix and calling it chili.

I suppose you could have hamburger (or skirt steak, if it's on sale), canned black beans and corn and cut up an onion: pseudo-fajitas. Same process- brown meat, slice one vegetable (if they're putting in garlic, they can slice onions), open veggie cans, spice and bake the whole thing in the oven, apply to tortilla, sprinkle cheese on top. No cream soup involved. If they get brave and put in a couple of peppers, so much the better.

[gypsygirl22]

What is up with cream of mushroom soup? My mother used to make a particularly vile concoction of mushroom soup, tuna and elbow macaroni that she would bake in the oven. Sometimes she would top the entire nasty mess with saltine crackers. However in my mother's defense, she was a single woman supporting three kids so I guess she just wanted to get food in us. My goodness was that sickening though :ew:

My mom made this but topped hers with crunched up potato chips. This was back in the 60's so the chips were high fat, high sodium. The only thing worse was her round steak with tomato sauce on top dish. Ick.

[nelliebelle1197]

Actually, one of the best things I have ever eaten is sour cream and cream of mushroom soup mixed together and poured over a layer of dried beef and chicken wrapped bacon, baked for hours then served over a bed of rice. It is processed and insane. I love it.

Oh, and you can make a good white sauce that kicks CoM's ass in many recipes. Whole Foods also has its own version and it is pretty good.

[jenny_islander]

Oh, what the heck, I'll retype it, since my experiments have changed my opinions somewhat:

Cream of Mushroom: white sauce with mushrooms

Cream of Asparagus: ditto with asparagus tips

Cream of Broccoli: ditto with minced broccoli florets

Cream of Celery: I think you get the picture

Cream of Onion: And again

Cream of Potato: You can stir cubed leftover potatoes into white sauce, or thin mashed potatoes with white sauce

Cream of Chicken: chicken velouté

Creamy Chicken Mushroom: ditto, with mushrooms

Golden Mushrooms: I suggest putting 1 thread of saffron into the freshly made hot white sauce and letting it heat and turn golden, but I haven't tried this yet

Cream of Shrimp: white sauce with chopped shrimp (press out the water if using canned shrimp)

Cream of Tomato: sauce aurore, or a thick tomato sauce--check the recipe (except for cake!)

Cheddar Cheese: simple cheese sauce--hot white sauce with grated cheese stirred into it

Broccoli Cheese: cheese sauce with broccoli florets

Nacho Cheese: cheese sauce either made with pepperjack or spiked with chili powder

You can sauté finely chopped raw vegetables in the butter and then make the roux for the sauce without removing the vegetables. Always taste and adjust the seasoning.

Oh, and if you're making a white sauce for a casserole, here's a shortcut that saves about 15 minutes. The sauce will be coarser, but unless you're trying to make quenelles or something, nobody will notice. This is for a roux-based white sauce.

Use your favorite proportions of butter, flour, and milk. Replace 1/4 of the flour with whole wheat flour or use 100 percent "white whole wheat" or whole wheat pastry flour. This makes the sauce more filling, which if you are trying to feed a hungry family is an important consideration. The sauce will be tan colored, but who cares? Make the roux, whisk in the milk, and then, using a wooden spoon, turn the heat all the way up to High (yes, I know, :cray-cray: ) and stir without stopping, keeping the spoon in contact with the bottom of the pot and going all over the pot, until the sauce boils up like a mudpot and feels thicker against the spoon. Immediately take off the heat, add any other ingredients, taste, and season. This will not hold--you have to make it right before you add it to the casserole or what have you.

[Stephanie66]

I have to confess to making tater tot casserole :embarrassed: My kids actually adore it. DS, who thinks ketchup is the base of the food pyramid, also coats it in the stuff.

I do use ground turkey and fat free cream-of-crap soup, so at least it's not as unhealthy as this one sounds. But garlic, oh yeah, baby. Pile it on.

I usually have some soup or salad instead while they ingest this stuff.

I have made it as well, but mine was hamburger, cream of whatever soup, and lots of frozen veggies, then a layer of tots. More of a modified shepherd's pie, I guess?

The kids do love it. I haven't cooked it in YEARS, as I don't eat that way anymore, but it was really pretty good.

[already hungover]

My ultra-Midwestern granny never made tater tot casserole (grandpa would never in a million years eat cream of anything soup or green beans), but she does make this AWESOME hotdish with ground beef, onion, Lipton Noodle Soup (the powder kind), condensed tomato soup, and rice. You eat it on a buttered baked potato and feel your insulin spike. None of the other North Dakotan/Minnesotan hotdish fans I know have ever heard of it. She calls it "Spanish Rice" because she's adorable.

She'd have a fit if she knew that I make it with brown rice. Haha.

[YPestis]

Tater Tot casserole just sounds so disgusting the way the Duggars make it. I think it could taste pretty good if they cut back on the cream and cheese and maybe add some veggies and REAL potatoes. Otherwise, I can't imagine the amount of grease in that dish!

[Rescinded and Mended]

I think I'd rather have ten variations on Mormon Funeral Potatoes than the many different types of jello salad that seem to turn up at all the southern funerals I've attended.

Years ago, when my father died, there were mountains of food served at the funeral, and I counted at least 6 different types of jello salad on the table, some with chicken and tuna. Yuck!

On True Blood, I think even Lafayette comments on how funeral food is 'Bad Ju-ju,' especially the jello salad.

[already hungover]

I think I'd rather have ten variations on Mormon Funeral Potatoes than the many different types of jello salad that seem to turn up at all the southern funerals I've attended.

Years ago, when my father died, there were mountains of food served at the funeral, and I counted at least 6 different types of jello salad on the table, some with chicken and tuna. Yuck!

My grandma also makes a Jell-o salad with stuff in it. It's lime Jell-o, sliced green olives, finely minced celery, and shredded carrot. You put Miracle Whip on top. Ew.

[nelliebelle1197]

The worse thing is the canned pear half with a dollop of mayonnaise on it. It is the worst thing in the world.

[lilith]

I made Tater Tot Casserole as per the Duggar recipe last year, just to see what it was like.

It was so salty I couldn't eat it, and I didn't add any salt at all. My daughter found it in edible too. But Partner and my sons LOVED it.

[Rescinded and Mended]

My grandma also makes a Jell-o salad with stuff in it. It's lime Jell-o, sliced green olives, finely minced celery, and shredded carrot. You put Miracle Whip on top. Ew.

:lol:

My stepmother used to do something similar. She'd make lime jello, then add cheese and shredded carrot. Some sort of vegetable juice or oil was squeezed over it. We'd get this for dessert after eating her watery cabbage casserole with saltines and about two tablespoons of ground beef in it.

Meanwhile, she'd cook chicken and rice in gravy for her dog's dinner. :shrug:

[Stephanie66]

Minnesota funeral hot dish. (It's really pretty good, but I haven't made it in years.)

Boil egg noodles and cook hamburger.

Mix the noodles and hamburger with one can of cream of mushroom soup and one can of condensed tomato soup, one onion, and about 1.5 cups of celery.

Bake it at 350 for about 45 minutes.

I made this one a LOT when I was working and had a family. It's quick and dirty.

[DarkAnts]

:lol:

My stepmother used to do something similar. She'd make lime jello, then add cheese and shredded carrot. Some sort of vegetable juice or oil was squeezed over it. We'd get this for dessert after eating her watery cabbage casserole with saltines and about two tablespoons of ground beef in it.

Meanwhile, she'd cook chicken and rice in gravy for her dog's dinner. :shrug:

Jello with shredded carrots and cottage cheese was a staple growing up :disgust: