Counting On star Michelle Duggar has to feed 19 kids (and counting), a husband, and grandkids on the reg. So I assume she knows a thing or two about food. I decided to make her recipes for my own family. I went to the store armed with a shopping list of two popular Duggar recipes: one for tater tot casserole and one for something called Grandpa Duggar's Favorite Banana Cake.
Since I am not Michelle Duggar and didn't have everything on hand, I had to go to the store and pick up ingredients.
I don't know about you guys, but I personally believe there is no finer food in life than tater tots. Whatever brilliant scientist decided to invent something that was almost like a French fry, but also sort of like a mashed potato and a hash brown had a baby, deserves the Nobel prize.
And for the banana cake, here's what I purchased ...
I was sort of creeped out by using a boxed cake mix, but whatever, if it's good enough for the Duggars, it's good enough for me. I followed all the recipe instructions, and then it was time to feed my family. My husband conveniently had a work dinner, so he didn't come home, and that may have been because I happily announced on social media that I was planning on making a Duggar dinner.
Here's what the end result of the casserole looked like, with a healthy pull of wine for me.
The Duggars have no recipes for any vegetables other than pickles online, so I steamed some green beans. They are also big fans of Olive Garden breadsticks, so I made some frozen breadsticks to go along with the meal. The casserole is so not attractive, which may be why my daughter basically refused to eat it, other than to try it. She said, _"_I thought it could do without the soup because it made the tater tots soggy and that's just sad."
My middle kid who is 13 finished his dinner and gave this review:
"It was food. It was pretty good, I guess."
When I asked if he would eat it again, his response was:
"Do I have a choice?"
Okay then!
My college kid, my most verbose critic of the crew, had this to say:
"Do you know the first Transformers movie? It's sort of big and loud and just there, and it's not a bad movie. I mean, you probably wouldn't turn it off if you were sitting on the sofa and it came on, but it, like, doesn't have a lot going on up there — it's not a very smart movie. This casserole is like the Transformers movie. It's okay, it's not the greatest movie ever, but it's not offensive. This casserole isn't offensive."
I was hoping for better luck with the cake.
Both of my younger kids said it was FINE. I personally thought it was too sweet. My college kid said:
"So this cake is pretty dope. This is like, okay, so I am in sixth grade, right, and this guy in my class asked me to his birthday party, and I didn't wanna go because it was on a Saturday and I just wanted to play video games with my friends. But I felt kinda guilty so I went to his party. And I didn't know him super well so I just got him a gift card. Anyway, the party was super boring and I didn't know anyone else there but I felt bad because this kid, like, personally invited me. But then they served this cake and it made the party way better. So that's what this cake is like."
I don't know how Michelle Duggar deals with the food critics in her family.
So there's your Duggar dinner review. The casserole is like the first Transformers movie, and the cake is the highlight of a lame birthday party you would attend in sixth grade.