Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole - (Late) Favorite Recipe Friday

Wow, I really suck at this blogging thing, huh? Mea culpa. In my defense, the circumstances that had me out of the house from 6 am to 8:30 pm yesterday are fairly rare. It's not every day that I go directly from work to an ultrasound appointment an hour and a half away. And call me crazy, but I feel guilty blogging on my work time (assuming I'd even get the chance)

Enough excuses! Today's Favorite Recipe is wonderful winter comfort food, and can be easily vegetarianized, if that's your thing. If you live in the South, this will probably remind you of what older ladies like to call "funeral potatoes." This would probably convert to the crock-pot fairly easily, but I haven't tried it yet.

Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

1 pkg shredded hash brown potatoes (I think the packages I usually get are 28 oz.)
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese (I highly recommend sharp white cheddar)
2 10.5 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup (you can substitute other "cream of" soups if desired)
16 oz. sour cream
8 oz. chopped ham (optional)
4 oz. shredded Parmesan cheese (the real stuff, not the stuff in a can)

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl (really large) mix all ingredients except Parmesan. Spread in a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle Parmesan evenly over the top. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until mixture is bubbly around the edges and Parmesan is all melty. Eat hot. Reheat leftovers for as long as they last (good luck :)

For our family of two adults and one toddler, we usually get about 1 to 2 meals worth of leftovers out of this, depending on how starving we are.