Celebrating anniversaries…
First date…
My Mom and Dad had a very simple but sweet first date. My Dad was a young guitar-playing yankee sailor from Wisconsin. My Mom was a blonde beach-going gal who was born in Alabama and living in Pensacola, Florida. My Mom was supposed to go out on a date with a friend of my Dad. That dude cancelled on my Mom so my Dad swooped in and took advantage of the situation. Being the dashing and suave man he was, he took her to McDonald’s for dinner. Big spender my Dad is. 😉
For My parent’s anniversary a couple of years ago, I took photos of them and made them a canvas wall-hanging. Of course we had to throw in some funny photos…because that’s marriage, right? The bottom right photo was taken around their 15th anniversary.
Throwback meal
So, I thought in honor of their first date, I would make a fun meal based on their very first romantic dinner at Mickey D’s. My folks are not fancy people by any means so I knew they would love this idea. Cheeseburger and Fries Casserole! Y’all, this turned out so good! I used my favorite Eggland’s Best eggs to not only add flavor (and superior nutrition) but to make it really hold together into a delicious casserole. Speaking of Eggland’s Best eggs, they are celebrating an anniversary too! Eggland’s Best eggs is celebrating 25 years of providing the only egg with better taste, variety and better freshness. In total, Eggland’s Best has sold more than 30 billion nutritionally superior & better tasting eggs. That’s enough EB eggs to circle the earth 38 times! What?! 
Eggland’s Best has committed to continuously improving their eggs to ensure they remain the leader in nutrition, taste and freshness. Most recently, they announced that all EB eggs now have 6x more vitamin D than ordinary eggs and are an excellent source of vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) and vitamin B5.
Let’s eat!
So I am taking these delicious eggs and using them in this anniversary celebration meal. It turned out perfect! You could even keep this low carb by removing the french fries from the topping and it will still taste amazing! Happy Anniversary to my Mom and Dad, to me and my hubby, Gene, and to Eggland’s Best eggs! May we always keep getting better!
1 pound ground beef
salt and pepper
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped dill pickle
3 Eggland’s Best eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup half and half
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 bag frozen french fries, any style
diced tomatoes
Thousand Island dressing
ketchup
mustard
Directions:Spray a 2 (or 2 1/2 quart) dish with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350f degrees. In skillet, brown ground beef with onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Drain excess fat from the cooked ground beef. Mix the pickles into the ground beef.
Spoon the mixture into a greased 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.
Whisk together Eggland’s Best eggs, mayo and half and half.
Pour egg mixture over beef mixture.
Sprinkle 1 cup shredded cheese over beef mixture.
Season again with salt and pepper. Top with frozen french fries. Season french fries with salt, pepper and a sprinkling of garlic powder.
Bake for 35 minutes or until french fries are cooked and crispy. Note: Place dish under the broiler for a few minutes if you want your fries a bit more crispy. Top with remaining cup of shredded cheese. Return to the oven until cheese is melted.
Slice and serve topped with shredded lettuce and tomato.
Optional: Drizzle a little Thousand Island dressing on top or ketchup and mustard!
Enjoy!
Cheeseburger and Fries Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1/4 cup chopped dill pickle
- 3 Eggland's Best eggs
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 bag frozen shoestring french fries
- garlic powder
- Optional toppings:
- shredded lettuce
- diced tomatoes
- Thousand Island dressing
- ketchup
- mustard
Instructions
- Spray a 2 (or 2 1/2 quart) dish with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350f degrees.
In a skillet, brown ground beef with onion, garlic, salt and pepper.
Drain excess fat from the ground beef.
- Mix the pickles into the ground beef.
Spoon the mixture into prepared baking dish.
- Whisk together eggs, mayo and half and half.
- Sprinkle 1 cup shredded cheese over beef mixture in pie pan and pour egg mixture over the whole thing.
- Season again with salt and pepper.
- Top with frozen french fries.
- Season french fries with salt, pepper and a sprinkling of garlic powder.
Bake for 35 minutes or until french fries are crispy. Note: If you want your fries to be crispier, just place the dish under the broiler for a few minutes.
- Top with remaining cup of shredded cheese.
- Return to the oven until cheese is melted.
Slice and serve topped with shredded lettuce and tomato.
- Optional: Drizzle a little Thousand Island dressing on top or ketchup and mustard!
Recipe Notes
It's really important you season all the layers with salt and pepper. It will make all the difference!
Happy Anniversay to you and your parents!!…Great Dish!!!
So sweet – thank you Renae!
This looks amazing. I think I’m going to fry up some bacon and add that to the mix! Thanks for the recipe and sharing your cute parents story:)
Thanks Lurena!! Hope you love it!
This looks so good! We just celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary. Back then we didn’t have much money, well hardly any money at all, and the only thing we could afford to eat on our wedding night was cheeseburger baskets and frosted mug root beers. The little drive-in that we stopped at to eat had a special of buy one cheeseburger basker, get one free and the root beers were only 15 cents, so that’s what we ordered to eat. Now on every anniversary (even on our 50th) we always have cheeseburgers and fries and Diet Cokes instead of the root beers because we can no longer find the frosted mug root beers! I might add that we eloped and he was in the Army so that’s why we didn’t have much money. LOL! Anyway, thanks for letting me share my story and thanks for the recipe, it really brought back a lot of memories.
Love, love, love your story! I think the simple and sweetest stories often are the ones that go the distance! Happy Anniversary you two kiddos!
Hi, Brandie’s dad here. I just want to say how very humbled and proud we are of our daughter, the Country Cook. I mean, come on, how many people have the honor and privilege of having a dish created in memory of their first date? So thanks, Kiddo, and to everyone else – TRY THIS RECIPE – you WILL love it!
This sounds SO good! Not exactly health food but it sure brings back lots of memories! I will definitely make it.
Can I make the night before?
Sounds GREAT!!!!!!!
If dad is a true Wisconsin person aka Sconnie – ask him to make a Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet!
I’m a Wisconsin girl, so I am going to need to try this…. 🙂 just because!! My parents celebrated their 45th last weekend as well! That’s a long, long time!!! haha.