Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole

What is more delicious than mashed potatoes? Well that's easy....mashed potatoes with cheese and bacon! You could probably put bacon in almost anything and it would be amazing. Yeah, I'm going to stick to that last comment and say it's a fact, NOT an opinion. I don't even have to mention what cheese does to any dish....if you need convincing, you just aren't right.

Ingredients

5-6 cups of mashed potatoes (about 12 potatoes)

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

8 ounces sour cream

8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/4 cup butter

8 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/4 cup milk (approximately)

Salt & pepper

Garlic powder

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil potatoes until tender. Mash potatoes, then add cream cheese, sour cream, butter and enough milk to get the creamy consistency you would like. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Add 1/2 the cheese and 1/2 the bacon to mashed potatoes. Place into a casserole dish and top with remaining cheese and bacon. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. *You could also broil for a minute or two at the end to brown the cheese more.

These were delicious! What would make them even better you ask? The almighty cholula, green onions and French's fried onions!!! Do not judge, it is so good! 

Enjoy!

Sausage & Potato Casserole

Are we noticing a pattern here? Maybe you aren't but I know I am, and it's not a big surprise. I am a true potato lover. Yep, I admit it. Mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, baked potatoes....just smother all my food in potatoes, please?!?

Back when I was a teenager like yesterday I worked at a restaurant that served a warm smashed potato salad. It was AMAZING! A bed of fresh local greens and vegetables topped with a heaping load of scrumptious mashed potatoes, hot sauce and balsamic vinaigrette. Well I'm pretty sure it wasn't written like that but it doesn't matter.

My husband doesn't believe me that a restaurant served this. He doesn't understand why I would eat it every.single.meal if I could. I don't really care, it is fantastic. Try your own version, I do...it's a sin if you do not.

Moving on with the point of this lovely potato introduction, I give you my latest creation.

Ingredients
3 cups of boiled potatoes (skin removed and cut into cubes)
3 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp white sugar
2 cups sliced onions
1 lb skinless smoked sausage
2 tbsp flour
2 cups skim milk
12 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp dried parsley

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel potatoes and place into pan covering with water and boil until a fork is easily inserted into potato. (Do not overcook, you do not want potatoes falling apart.) Heat 1 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp of olive oil in large saute pan, add onions and white sugar, caramelizing onions for approximately 15-20 minutes. Cut sausage in half moons, add to onions and brown sausage. In a saucepan melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat, adding flour to make a roux. Slowly add milk into pan, whisking continuously. When milk is heated and slightly thickened, reduce heat to low and add 8 ounces cheese while whisking until smooth. (You do not want to add cheese into very hot milk, you will get a grainy cheese consistency.) Add black pepper and garlic powder. When potatoes cooked, allow to cool a few minutes and then cut into cubes, placing into a baking dish coated with nonstick spray. Add caramelized onions, sausage and cheese sauce, mixing all ingredients well. Season top with paprika and dried parsley, topping with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until top lightly browned.

Serves 6 at around 446 calories, depending on the type of sausage you use. We had a salad on the side, but this meal would taste good mixed with cooked vegetables as well. It's pure comfort in a bowl and must be good if the husband goes back for seconds!

Enjoy!

Pierogi Lasagna

When I was little, my grandma use to make pierogis and they were delicious! I remember sitting at the table with the big bowl in front of us with both of my grandparents, who I miss dearly. While we still enjoy pierogis in our home, I decided to take a different approach and make a lasagna! It is a great recipe and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Ingredients
12 cooked lasagna noodles

2 cups ricotta cheese

2 eggs

2 cups grated cheddar cheese, 

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

*2 1/2 cups mashed potatoes (prepared to your liking)

2 cups caramelized onions

12-16 oz diced ham

1 tsp onion powder

salt & pepper

Bacon- crisp & crumbled for topping (You can also use bacon bits)

*I prepared my mashed potatoes with a little salt, black pepper, garlic powder and milk. It was just the right amount of seasoning.

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook lasagna noodles according to packaged directions. Prepare mashed potatoes. In a saute pan, caramelize onions. In a bowl mix ricotta, eggs, onion powder, salt & pepper. Mix cheddar and mozzarella cheese together. Mix mashed potatoes with onions, ham and 1/2 cup cheese. Layer lasagna...noodles, ricotta, noodles, potatoes, and cheese. Repeat ending with noodles and topping with cheese and bacon. Bake for 30 minutes until cheese is golden brown.

Enjoy!

It's SpRiNg!

And there is snow on the ground....again.

At least there is an end near with the winter blues. When I took a walk the other day with my dogs, I did find some green sprouting through and the first flowers in our yard! This is what makes me happy.

What also makes me happy today is being able to spend time with this guy. He leaves for a work thing tomorrow in Ohio for a few days. I have to say for someone that is in the restaurant business, he sure has traveled A LOT in the past 3 years. If only it were for pleasure and not work, huh?

Today was a good day to have a nice warm meal. The kind of meal that sticks to your stomach and makes you happy. Yes, the kind of food that is referred to as comfort. The comfort of knowing you are having a hot and scrumptious meal when outside is so dreary and cold. I was planning on a salad but crispy lettuce and cold veggies didn't make my heart skip a beat, it actually made me shiver. So today is all about mashed potatoes with succulent pork and sweet caramelized onions. I have an addiction to caramelized onions, they are just that good. Oh yeah, and potatoes.

Source

There are so many ways to make mashed potatoes. Everyone thinks that they have found the best way and they might have, for them. It's all about preference and for me the perfect mashed potatoes are made with potatoes, salt & pepper, garlic, butter, sour cream and milk. The sour cream addition stems back from my childhood and a tip from my mama. It makes them extra creamy and that is exactly how I like them! I've definitely changed this up a bit, adding different cheeses and seasonings, because potatoes are very versatile. Sometimes though, the basic recipe is your best bet.

Soon you will notice a theme in tonight's meal...butter.

Sometimes when you are hit with a big blow it just takes the little things to bring it up a notch!

Dinner was an absolute hit. I have been craving perogies for the past week but instead of going out to buy more things I didn't need at the grocery store, I opted for option number two. I do have a wedding to pay for here, and at the moment things aren't looking so wonderful. But my motto for now, just gonna keep it positive.

After Dinner Snack

Being that I am home a lot by myself, it causes me not to want to cook or bake all the time. I do love to cook for others, to feed their hungry bellies. When it's only me, it looses its luster. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook by myself when I know someone is coming over to eat it! Today I decided that it didn't matter if no one else was going to be home for hours, I was going to cook and bake.

I tried out a new recipe for chicken. I had some chicken thighs and looked online to see what I could do with them instead of just a little seasoning and bake them. I stumbled upon a recipe that would use the rest of my bread crumbs up, so why not?

I used this recipe but tweaked the ingredients by adding crushed red pepper, salt & pepper and some garlic powder.

 

Review: The topping stayed too mushy for my liking. It did have some good flavor though. Next time, I'll just stick to what I know, eggs & flour- scratch the butter. You win some, you lose some. I would say definitely try this coating because it's good, just don't completely follow the recipe.

What did knock my socks off, like it always does are my favorite roasted potatoes! Now when I give you the recipe, I don't really measure anything when I cook. I get it from my personal chef DG. So, basically the amounts are just to your liking.

Ingredients

Potatoes (any kind that you like)    

salt & pepper

olive oil

paprika

cayenne pepper

dried parsley

parmesan cheeese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut up potatoes (small into quarters, big into 6 or 8 pieces). Place on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and add all seasonings and parmesan cheese to your liking. Mix well and then place in oven for 1 hour. You can turn potatoes after 30 minutes. If you like them crispy you may want to cook them a little longer and turn them another time.

These potatoes are great. I mean you could do anything with a potato if you like them and it wouldn't be bad. Minus the whole eating them raw. I use to know someone who did that, not right.

After dinner, I felt like being nice to my DG and baking something so I searched my cabinets and found a box of brownie mix. I could have made him brownies from scratch. If in the mood to get really down and dirty, try these Cookie Dough Brownies by Mels Kitchen Cafe. They are AMAZING! Very rich but totally worth it! Instead I opted for the easier option, still made with much love. Chocolate Fudge Brownies with caramel drizzled on top.

Is it bad that even before I've mixed all the ingredients, I'm picturing myself eating the batter?

Or that as I melted the caramels, I drooled?

DG seemed to enjoy the finished product. Eaten in about three bites.