Sloppy Joe Casserole

I have a confession to make. I served this for dinner on April 10th but saved it until today to post. Yes, I pulled out the Halloween decorations in the spring just for these photographs!

A Halloween tradition in my house is to have Sloppy Joes before going out Trick-or-Treating. Last year I posted a recipe for Turkey Sloppy Joes and thought it’d be fun to post a variation of the Sloppy Joe for my blog’s second Halloween. Tonight I’ll be making another fun variation on the sloppy joe – Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes!

But why did I make it in April? The answer to that question is simple: I was pregnant. There were two things I was craving – yellow mustard and tater tots. I saw this recipe for Sloppy Joe casserole on Pinterest and instantly had to have it. Instead of using the suggested Manwich Sloppy Joe sauce I used this recipe to make my own. This sauce recipe includes yellow mustard. Two birds – one stone!

This is our first Halloween with our little one and my little man will be a pumpkin. As he isn’t yet four months old we aren’t exploiting him for free candy, but we’ll be handing out our own to the neighborhood trick-or-treaters. (I just couldn’t resist putting him in an adorable little costume!) This is also our first Halloween in Ohio and we’re living in a great family neighborhood – there’s a bus stop right outside our house – so I’m anxious to see if we have more visitors than we ever got back in the Florida Panhandle.

Sloppy Joe Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped (or any color you like, but as it’s Halloween!)
3/4 C ketchup
1 tsp yellow mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp brown sugar
1/4 C cream cheese
1 can (15 oz) corn, drained
2 C shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb tater tots
chives, for garnish (optional)

Steps:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat brown ground beef. Add onion and pepper. Cook until the beef is cooked through and drain any fat.
In a small bowl whisk together ketchup, mustard, garlic, powder, and brown sugar. Add to the beef and simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Melt in cream cheese. Stir in corn. Season to taste with S+P.
Pour the beef mixture into a 9×13″ baking dish. Top with shredded cheese. Place the tater tots in a single layer on top of the cheese. Bake 20 minutes until bubbly and tater tots are golden.

*This recipe is adapted from Karly at http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2013/08/19/sloppy-joe-tater-tot-casserole-2/ and Tamara at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sloppy-joes-ii/ *