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Genesis Healthy Heart Kitchen: Dottie’s Casserole

Good morning! Eric Sorensen in for Ken Croken this morning. Before today’s recipe, a quick story. Growing up on Old Chapel Road, south of Rockford, Illino...

Good morning! Eric Sorensen in for Ken Croken this morning.

Before today's recipe, a quick story. Growing up on Old Chapel Road, south of Rockford, Illinois our next door neighbors were Dottie and Bob Blythe. They moved in when I was a small child and were from a far-off, distant place of Bettendorf, Iowa. Twice a year, my mom worked as an election volunteer. On those days, Dottie would make our family a casserole. We never really knew if it had an official name so we named it "Dottie's Casserole" after her.

Back in the 1990s, my folks moved away and I heard through our former neighbors that Bob and Dottie moved back to Bettendorf. I reached out to Dottie earlier this year and while Bob has passed away, she is doing well here in the Quad Cities.

So now that you have the back story, here is the very yummy (and optionally heart healthy) "Dottie's Casserole."

Ingredients:

One pound of ground turkey (or hamburger to for a cheat day)

One can of tomato soup

Worcestershire Sauce

2 cups of steamed or 2 cans of green beans

4 servings of mashed potatoes (leftover or boxed work just fine)

1/2 cup of Corn Flakes (you can replace the cereal with a cup of shredded cheese if you'd like)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, brown ground meat. Drain all fat from the pan. Add the can of tomato soup, along with a few tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce to taste. Put that mixture into the bottom of a casserole dish. Today, we added a little Sriracha Sauce to kick it up a notch!

Next, drain the green beans and pour onto the top of the meat mixture. Then, spoon the mashed potatoes on top of the green beans.

On top of the casserole, for a heart-healthy crunch, add a half cup of crushed corn flakes. For the more glutenous version, a cup of finely-shredded cheddar cheese.

Since all of the ingredients are pre-cooked, now is the time you can put the casserole into the refrigerator (as Dottie used to do for us). If you're ready to eat, put the casserole in the oven uncovered for 30 minutes. If the casserole is refrigerated, put aluminum foil on top of the casserole for the first 30 minutes in the oven, taking off the foil for another 30 minutes in the oven.

Let me know what you think! This has been a staple in the Sorensen household for the better part of 30 years now.

-Meteorologist Eric Sorensen

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