Hamburger Corn and Pea Bake

I made a casserole recipe from my SIL Mary's blog for dinner one night a couple of weeks ago. I had thawed some ground beef for something else, but then realized I was missing a key ingredient that I thought I had on hand, so I needed something else to make for dinner. I had some store-bought egg noodles that I needed to use up and some crusty bread that I had used to make up a batch of sausage stuffing to freeze for an easy side dish later on. I browsed through some recipes I had bookmarked a while back and came across Mary's recipe for  Hamburger Corn Bake.  I knew it wasn't very healthy, but then decided to modify it to use healthy ingredients.  I have posted the recipe as I made it below - you can click the link for the original version of the recipe on Mary's blog. I did keep the cream soup because I make my own homemade and can it. If I didn't have this on hand, I'd have just mixed up some milk and arrowroot powder with some seasonings to replace it with. I also have never ever bought cheddar cheese soup, as called for in the original recipe... I didn't even realize they made it. So I just added some shredded cheddar cheese and some milk. My mixture was pretty thick, or I'd have also added some arrowroot powder, but I didn't think it was necessary.

This turned out really well. We all really liked it a lot. I wasn't so sure I'd care for it, but I knew Kevin and Carson would. I ended up liking it quite a bit, though. Its not something I'd make a lot, but its a good winter comfort food. And its much healthier for you this way than using the MSG and preservative loaded canned soups from the grocery store.  I used up the small amount of store-bought egg noodles I had and added some of my homemade soaked whole wheat noodles, as well.  The homemade noodles were awesome in this! 

Hamburger Corn and Pea Bake

1 pound ground beef, grass-fed/finished is best
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 pint cream of mushroom soup, homemade if you have it (or 1 1/2 cups milk + 2-3 T arrowroot powder + your fav. seasonings)
1/2 - 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 - 3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups egg noodles, homemade is best
1/2 cup torn up bread or crusty bread
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the noodles. I used some remaining store-bought egg noodles that I needed to use up, plus some homemade soaked whole wheat noodles.

Meanwhile, cook the meat with onion until done. Stir in corn, peas, soup, cheese, and milk. I use homemade cream of mushroom soup. If you don't have homemade, you could use organic if you'd like, or else just add some extra milk, arrowroot powder, and your favorite seasonings. Mix well. Stir in noodles.

Put in 2 qt. casserole dish. Mix bread and butter. Sprinkle on top. (I forgot the bread was supposed to go on top and I stirred it up in the mixture. Oops. I used crusty bread (like you'd use for stuffing) and it turned out really tasty.)

Bake at 350 for 45 min. - 1 hr., until hot and bubbly. Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.


This is posted as part of Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday.