Loaded Smashed Taters

I intended to use red taters but I forgot to buy any :(



Loaded Smashed Potatoes

3 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
Seasoned Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup cubed cheddar cheese
6 slices of bacon, cooked, drained and chopped
1 scallion

Boil your taters until fork tender. Drain. Smash with potato masher while adding milk, sour cream and butter. Once smashed to your desired consistency (i like mine chunky,kyle likes his creamy and the kids will eat any kind of potato) toss in bacon, cheese, seasonings and scallion. Serve.

Revisiting Broccoli/Rice Casserole

Oldie but goodie!

http://sugardumplins.blogspot.com/2008/05/broccoli-rice-casserole-my-girls.html

Ranch Baked Potato Casserole

6 medium to small russet potatoes (i would prefer red potatoes but i didn't have any)
6 Bacon, Cooked & Crumbled
1 1/2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese, probably could use more but i ran out, hey its close to grocery day!
1 cup Green Onions, Sliced
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
1/4 cup Ranch Dip (i was out of sour cream so i used this instead)
1/4 cup butter (i used country crock since it was already soft so i could mix it)
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoons Black Pepper


Preparation Instructions
Peel, cube and cook potatoes until just tender. Drain and place in a large bowl to cool slightly if making the casserole right away. If you are going to make this to reheat later, let the potaotes cool thoroughly. Combine the remaining ingredients and mix into the potatoes. Transfer to a 4-1/2 quart baking dish. Bake, uncovered for 30 mins or until bubbly and brown at 400°F. Add 15 minutes to the cooking time if the casserole has been refrigerated.

Cheesy Squash

This is a super easy dish that is super creamy and yummy! We have an abundance of squash this year so this is a great way to utilize it.


Cheesy Squash
2 to 3 medium squash cut into half moons
4 oz velveeta
1/4 of a small onion
3 tbs butter
1 drizzle of the pan of canola oil
salt & pepper to taste

Add your squash and onion to the pan you've drizzled with canola oil. Salt and pepper it to taste. Place little pinches of butter all around the top of your squash. Sautee until soft and tender. When cooked add your cubes of velveeta and stir until melted. Serve.

Homeade Spanish Rice..yes again..

A must have!!



http://sugardumplins.blogspot.com/2008/05/easy-peasy-spanish-rice.html

Squash Casserole

I usually use Paula Deen's recipe but I didn't have all the ingredients so I just decided to wing it. This is one of those receipes ( you know me, i rarely measure so when i write a recipe i estimate for you guys ) that I just tossed in.. So you may have to adjust the quantity. I apologize for this being such a rough estimate!

Before Oven


Easy Squash Casserole


2 large squash sliced thin
4 oz of velveeta, sliced in tiny cubes
4 tbs butter, cubed into tiny pieces or I ended up using country crock since I'm out of stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 small onion
1/3 cup or so italian dressing
salt, pepper

Spray 9x13 with pam. Layer thin slices of squash with onion, salt and pepper, dot with butter here and there, add tiny cubes of velveeta, drizzle with italian dressing and repeat layers. Drizzle milk over the top to make sure it has some standing in bottom of casserole.

Cover with foil and bake at 400 for about 20 to 30 mins. When its bubbly and the squash is tender.

Geen Beans Italiano

My oldest would not eat green beans no matter what. My other 2 love them but she wouldn't. One day I drenched them with italian dressing (my girls love salad and love italian) and she tried them and loved them and kept coming back for more. So now she won't eat them any other way. It's become a tradition in our house.

In a rush we have canned green beans a lot. Sometimes fresh if I have time but we like ours super soft so we stick with canned alot.

I open 2 cans and pour in about 1/4 of a cup (lil more or less depending on how much you like) of Zesty Italian Dressing over the top.

Viola!

An easy way to jazz up a canned staple.

Pan Fries

Kyle greatly prefers these to mashed taters and so I thought I would do that as a special treat for him. Plus we had mashed taters last night.



Pan Fries

4 large raw Russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/8-inch thick)
1/2 of one large onion, or 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp or more of canola oil
Seasoned Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Dash of garlic powder

Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a medium to large skillet on medium high heat until sizzling. Place a single layer of potato slices on the bottom of the pan. Add a light layer of sliced onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add another layer of potatoes, another layer of onion slices, sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Keep layering until you've used up your potatoes and onions

Lower the heat to medium and cover the pan. Let cook for about 10 minutes, until the potato layer at the bottom is nicely browned. You can move aside a little bit with a fork to see if the bottom edges are browned

Gently flip the potatoes over, a section of the pan at a time, so that the layer that was on the top is now on the bottom, and the browned potatoes are now on the top. Add another Tbsp of oil. The oil will help the browning. Cover and let cook for another 5-10 minutes, until the bottom layer is now browned

Once the bottom layer is browned, remove the lid of the pan and let continue to cook for 5 more minutes.

Serves 5

Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes

First let me say that mine do NOT look near as glamorous as hers but they were all the while tasty! And red potatoes are my absolute favorite. This is the perfect combination of crispy, crunchy, soft, salty and yummy!!



Use as many small red potatoes as you have. Boil until fork tender. Drizzle sheet pan with olive oil. Take your potato masher and gently press down on the potato until it slightly mashes. Then rotate the masher 90 degrees and finish flattening it. Of course, you don’t want to absolutely smash it into the pan—you want it almost to resemble a cookie. Repeat until all are flattened. brush the tops rather generously with olive oil. Season with kosher salt, black pepper and herb of your choice. She used rosemary but the fresh I had really smelt like a pine tree and I couldn't make myself use it so I went with Oregano. Bake at 450, and cook them for 20-25 minutes…

Here's her witty post and step by step. I hope you love her as much as I do and as much as I love these potatoes.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/crash-hot-potatoes/

Easy Peasy Spanish Rice

We are HUGE mexican food eaters and Kyle and I both don't like dry spanish rice. So in the restraunt we always mix our beans and rice. But when I make it at home I always make mine moist. If you like yours dry then take away a cup of broth. It's so good and easy and it takes the same amount of time to cook on the stovetop as it does for your enchiladas to cook in the oven.



Easy Peasy Spanish Rice
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1/4 of a small onion
1/4 of a green bell pepper
1 1/2 cups rice, not cooked. I always buy the boil in a bag kind so I just cut open one bag and toss it in.
Vegtable oil to coat the pan
1 small can of tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth or water
salt and pepper to taste

In sauce pan, I use my spaghetti pot, heat oil over medium heat and add onion and bell pepper. Saute for a minute or two until softened and then add your garlic. Stir in dry rice. Stir and coat with oil and cook until the rice is golden brown. 4 or 5 mins.

Add your broth and tomato sauce in slowly to the veggie/rice mixture. Add a dash of salt and a dash of black pepper to your liking. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and cover. Simmer until the rice has mostly soaked up the liquid. About 15 minutes or so. Give or take. If you don't use as much broth then you wouldn't cook as long.

Viola! Moist spanish rice. MMMM..

Broccoli Rice Casserole (My girls' favorite)

This is a huge hit in my house. If we have steak, we almost always have this and I make it for every special holiday too. Thanks to Mimi! I do mine a little different but I got the basic recipe from her.



Broccoli Rice Casserole

1 bag of frozen brocoli
4 oz of 2 % Velveeta Cheese, cubed
1/4 of an onion chopped
2 Tbs butter
1 can fat free cream of mushroom soup
1 bag of boil in a bag rice, cooked
1 small can diced green chilis
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

While the rice is boiling (according to box) which is usually 12 minutes.. I take the brocoli and steam it on the stove with the onion and a little bit of water.

Then I put the cubed velveeta, butter, soup and green chilis and cook in the microwave 2 minutes until the cheese is melted.

After the broccoli is tender, I drain off the water and put the broccoli and onion in with the soup. Stir till blended and once the rice is finished cooking, toss it in as well.

Put in an 8x8 casserole sprayed with pam, sprinkle cheese on top and bake at 350 until the cheese is bubbly or about 15 minutes or so.