Despite washing my hands a kazillion times and always keeping hand sanitizer nearby, I’ve managed to catch my first official cold of cold and flu season. Either that or it’s allergies. It’s hard to tell the difference sometimes, and it seems like allergy season never ends down here!
Regardless of the cause, right now I’d love to just snuggle up in my PJ’s, grab a cup of tea, get cozy, and eventually, take a nap. Sadly, that’s not happening. As all of us know well, life must go on, even when we have a cold.
When I was thinking about what I was going to post for today, I couldn’t help but think back on an easy slow cooker casserole that I made a couple of weeks ago. It’s comfort food in its simplest form, which is great for an under the weather day like today. It’s also great for an “I’m perfectly healthy, but running around like a crazy lady” day, which is when we had it for dinner.
I’d never baked a casserole in the slow cooker before, but when I came across this on Six Sister’s Stuff, I figured it was worth trying. It was definitely easy enough to put together, and it was so mild-mannered, I knew it wouldn’t scare away my kids.
In a large bowl, I stirred together a bag of frozen shredded hash browns, some reduced fat sour cream, a batch of my “Cream of Anything Soup Substitute” (or you could use a can of condensed Cream of Chicken soup), about two cups of ham, some cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, and spices.
Once it was mixed together, I dumped the whole bowl’s worth into my slow cooker, that I’d sprayed with nonstick spray.
I took a box of herbed stuffing mix and sprinkled some on top, until it looked like it was evenly covered with crunchies. I didn’t use the whole box, because that just seemed like crunchy overkill. Then, before I turned the slow cooker on, I drizzled a bit of melted butter over the top.
That’s it! Done. I walked away.
I cooked it on LOW for about 5 1/2 hours and served it with some of my favorite roasted brussels sprouts. In all honesty, it took longer to prepare the brussels sprouts than it did to throw this together in the Crock Pot. That’s how simple this one is!
Is this a fancy, knock-your-socks-off dinner worth sharing at a fancy dinner party? No, certainly not. It’s just simple, cozy, yummy, comfort food that’s good for busy nights, or grumpy sick days, when you just need a food hug. Everyone needs a little hug sometimes, right?
Adapted from Six Sister’s Stuff