Tater Tot Casserole

Sometimes, swapping ingredients for what you have on hand works like magic and sometimes things don't work out well.  For me, choices I make for swaps in this situations don't work well, so I don't know what I was thinking when I tried to make some changes to this recipe for a recent recipe swap.

First, I used shredded potatoes I had in the freezer.  Next, I made my own condensed cream of mushroom and condensed cream of chicken soups. The result was something pretty terrible.  I feel so bad that I bombed a recipe so much for a recipe swap, and I'm really sorry for screwing up Amy's recipe!  It's a definite make another time, THE RIGHT WAY, though, because it sounds like a great recipe, and I'm not really sure why these changes didn't work out

Here's the original recipe, shared by Amy:
Tator Tot Casserole Source:  Amy

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
tater tots
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Brown ground meat with onion and some salt and pepper
2. Line a 9 x 13 casserole dish with frozen tator tots
3. Mix soup in with the meat and pour over the tator tots.
4. Sprinkle top with shredded cheese.
5. Put in 350' oven for about 45 minutes