Hamburger-Corn Casserole

This is one of my favorite times of year. The weather is finally cooling down and we start thinking about food for cooler weather. One of my favorites is a Hamburger-Corn Casserole. It is easy to make and it freezes very well. I usually double the recipe so I can put half of it in the freezer for a later time when I am too lazy to cook.

The restaurant supply grocery stores have aluminum deep-dish pie pans with lids that work great for freezing the casseroles. The price is reasonable and I like to keep some of the pans on hand for recipes that I like to put in the freezer.

If you decide to double the recipe and put half in the freezer be sure and label the container with what is in it, and the date, before you freeze it. When you want to serve the casserole from the freezer, remove the lid and bake at 350-degrees for 30-45 minutes. You want the casserole hot all the way through.

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 12-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 cups dairy sour cream
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 cups medium noodles, cooked and drained
6-7 slices of bread, cut off crusts, cut into one-inch cubes
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

Preparation
In a skillet, add ground beef and onion. While the meat and onion are cooking add the garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until the pink is gone from the ground beef and the onions are tender but not brown. Drain the grease from the hamburger and onion and put the hamburger mixture into a 4 or 6 quart casserole dish that can go into the oven like Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Enameled Cast Iron 5-1/2-Quart Oval Covered Casserole, Cardinal Red .

Add corn, soup, and sour cream to the pan and mix well. Stir in cooked and drained noodles and set aside.

Cut the crust off of 6-7 slices of bread then cut the bread into one-inch cubes and toss in the melted butter. Sprinkle the cubed bread over the top of the casserole. Take a paper towel and wipe off any of the casserole mixture that is on the side of the pan so it does not burn.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Did you know…
When measuring egg noodles, a cup of dry noodles equals one cup of cooked noodles. I also measure noodles with one handful equals about one cup and one extra handful for the pot.

You can use frozen whole kernel corn, just cook the corn before adding to the casserole.

Dry the left over crusts on a cookie sheet in the oven at 250 degrees. When cool put the crusts in a bag and take a glass or rolling pin and crush the crusts into crumbs. Label and freeze the bread crumbs for later use.

Enjoy!