Monday Meal Makeover!!!

This morning I took a small roast out of the refrigerator that I had bought the other day at Publix because the size and the price were just right for our little family.  I drizzled olive oil in a pan and turned the heat to high,  seasoned that piece of meat very generously, and then seared it until the outside was just how I like it.  I chopped up some onion, sweet potatoes,  and regular potatoes; opened a bag of carrots; pulled out the garlic, sea salt, cream of mushroom soup, and Worcestershire sauce (which I did not know how to spell until I just now googled it, good grief) and put everything in my crock pot to happily cook the day away.

I love cooking roasts in the crock pot.  Yum.

I wanted to make a casserole type dish to go along with this meal, and I had found a recipe in my new Point of Grace cookbook (yes, the Christian singing group put one out - I bought it recently at a ladies event at our church).  It was called Swiss Vegetable Casserole...I modified it just a bit, but let me tell you, it was really good and a nice change from the usual side dishes I tend to always make.  Jimmy, Madi, and I all thought it was a hit so I thought I'd share in case any of you out there are needing a fresh change of pace at mealtime!

16 oz California blend veggie mix thawed and drained (this was perfect because I had one in my freezer that had been sitting there forever but I had no motivation to use it...sometimes veggies are like people, every once in awhile they need to be taken out and dressed up or things get boring) P.S. I also added a bag of frozen peas I needed to use because oddly enough my family likes peas


1 can cream of mushroom soup (I used cream of chicken because it goes over better with the kiddos)


1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (I think the Swiss is one of the things that makes this dish unique, but I used the whole bag because come on people, one cup of cheese??)


1/2 cup sour cream (that I borrowed from my friend Miss Linda because I did not want to go the store again)


4 oz jar pimentos (that I left out because I would be the only one who would like them, sigh)


1 can (2.8 oz) French Fried Onions (except I used the big daddy 6 oz can because when it comes to French Fried Onions, I say go big or go home)


Preheat oven to 350.  Combine veggies, soup, 1/2 swiss cheese, sour cream, pimentos (if you're lucky), and 1/2 the onions (oops, I just saw this, totally did not do that...now how on earth were they going to cover this casserole with half of a 2.8 oz can of fried onions????).  Pour into 1 qt baking dish.  Bake covered for 30 minutes (also missed the memo on covered, but didn't seem to matter).  Uncover and top with remaining cheese and onions.  Bake uncovered 5-10 more minutes or until top is brown.

When you are done it will look like this...

And you will hopefully have happy eaters!

We sat down to this...

....along with some garlic breadsticks and grapes and applesauce for the kids.

We had a meal where everyone pretty much ate everything (except my 3 year old who didn't want to try the casserole which I understood), no one cried, no one had to be punished or forced to eat, and all was well with the world for once at dinnertime, lol!  Yay!.