Loaded Potatoes!

Last night we headed over to our friends' house for dinner and to meet their new baby, Kaylee. I offered to bring a potato dish and decided on this loaded red potato casserole that I saw in my Taste of Home magazine. I knew there would be no way to go wrong with it. And, I was right! Absolutely delicious and very simple to make. Of course I got it all finished and then rushed out of the house so we would be on time...and I forgot to take a picture. So, this picture is from Taste of Home, but it pretty much looked the same (except their picture is way better than mine would have been).

Loaded Red Potato Casserole
Source: Taste of Home

16 small red potatoes (3lb bag of petite red potatoes)
1/2 cup milk (I used fat free)
1/4 cup butter, cubed (I used light)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups (6oz) shredded cheddar, divided (I used 2%)
1/2 cup crumbled cooked bacon (I used 4 slices of turkey bacon)
1 cup (8oz) sour cream (I used fat free)
2 tbsp minced chives

Place potatoes in dutch oven (a.k.a. big pot) and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain.

Mash potatoes with the milk, butter, salt and pepper. Transfer to a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese and the bacon.

Dollop with sour cream; sprinkle with chives and remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Yields 9 servings.

Goal for the New Year!

One of my goals for the New Year is to update my blog regularly. Going along with that is to plan a weekly menu of meals each week - and 2 meals should be new recipes that I've never tried before...since I have hundreds of recipes that I've pulled from my cooking magazines and printed from online sources. So, I did pretty well the first week of the new year.

My weekly plan was:

Monday - DYOD (do your own dinner) since we were both working later

Tuesday - Nut Crusted Tilapia, brown rice and roasted baby carrots - NEW

Wednesday - Tacos (with ground chicken)

Thursday - Sweet Mustard Chicken, zucchini and corn on the cob (all grilled) - NEW

Friday - out to dinner with friends

So, here are the recipes for the 2 new dishes. First up....

Nut-Crusted Tilapia

Source: Prevention Magazine

1 cup of finely chopped pecans

4 tilapia fillets (about 1 1/2 lbs)

milk (used fat free)

flour (used whole wheat)

salt and pepper

canola oil

Season both sides of fish fillets with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour first, then milk, then coat thoroughly with pecans. Heat a thin layer of canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook fish until just done, turning once (about 5 mins total).

Serves 4

Roasted Carrots

Source: Lani - Pleasure Cooker

Toss with olive oil until lightly coated. Add salt, pepper, and rosemary (or thyme). Spread out on baking sheet. Bake on 400 for 20-25 minutes or until desired tenderness.

Everyting Jamaican Mon!

Terrible title for the post, I know. What really matters is the recipe so please try to ignore that title, ok? I had this meat dish recently at my friend Brooke's house. It was so different and I was excited to try it out. This was the last dinner I made for our guests and it really went over well...I love how the different flavors come together. I served it with crashed hot potatoes and broccoli with cheese. Delish!

Jamaican Steak

2 lbs beef flank steak

1/4 c packed brown sugar

3 tbsp orange juice

3 tbsp lime juice

1 piece (1 1/2" x 1") fresh ginger, minced (I used 1 tsp of ground ginger)

2 tsp grated orange peel (I omitted)

2 tsp grated lime peel (I omitted)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cloves

Combine sugar, juices, garlic, ginger, peels, salt/pepper, cinnamon and cloves in baking dish. Add beef, turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate to marinate.

2 options for cooking (I chose to grill):

Grill for 6 mins on each side or

Bake on 375 for 40 mins then let sit for 10 mins

Crashed Hot Potatoes

Source: Pioneer Woman

small, round potatoes with skin left on (red potatoes or small Yukons work well)

olive oil

salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 450. Add the potatoes to a large pan of salted water. Bring to the boil. Simmer briskly for 15 minutes or until potatoes are almost cooked. Remove potatoes from the pan and place on a baking tray. Using a masher or the back of a big spoon, gently squish each potato until they are half intact, half broken up. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a very hot (450) oven for 20 minutes. I added some shredded cheddar cheese about five minutes before they were done, and served with sour cream.

Zucchini Boats

Let me start by saying that I love zucchini. But we typically grill it and that becomes boring. As soon as I saw this recipe, I promised myself I would make it sooner than later. I made these on Sunday night to go along with our grilled burgers and fresh corn on the cob. They were awesome! They were even good leftover, as I had one the next night alongside a salad. Really, delicious! Do yourself a favor and try these. Maybe you can get them to photograph better than I could. I have to admit we were starving and I really didn't feel like messing around with it much. I found this recipe on one of the blogs that I check out regularly, Big City Cooking. Oh, and I think these would be a nice appetizer for your next dinner party as well.

**I used 3 zucchinis so I just tripled everything except the chicken stock and the butter. I found that the amounts given below were plenty even for 3 zucchinis.

Zucchini Boats

originally adapted from Cooking for Fun

1 zucchini
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp chives
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chicken stock/broth
salt & pepper
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp Ricotta cheese
2 tbsp marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out the insides, leaving about 1/4 inch as a shell. Sprinkle with olive oil and place in the oven for 15 minutes, or until done.

Chop pulp and garlic. In a skillet saute the zucchini and garlic in butter for 3-4 minutes until soft. Add broth and marinara sauce. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until liquid has evaporated. Season to taste.

Mix both cheese, chives and the zucchini mixture and stuff the zucchini shells. Then place under broiler for 5 minutes or unitl lightly browned.

Mac&Cheese is good for you...

Warning: This is not a healthy recipe. My aunt gave me this recipe awhile back but hers apparently used less cheese. When I wrote the recipe down, I somehow thought she said more cheese. Anyways, now Mike won't let me use less cheese because he said it's too good this way and we shouldn't sacrifice. haha. If you are feeling brave, go for it...you will enjoy!

Mac & Cheese

3/4 lb of noodles

1 small velveeta block (cut into small chunks)

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

1/2 stick of butter (I did use light!) (cut into 4 pieces)

1 cup of shredded cheddar

salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Cook noodles as directed on package. In a sauce pan, heat evaporated milk on medium. Add in butter to let melt. Slowly add in chunks of the velveeta, stir and let melt before adding more. Stir occasionally so the cheese does not burn onto the bottom of the pan. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Once noodles are drained, pour into 9x13 baking dish. Pour melted cheese mixture over top and stir throughout. Bake on 350 for 15 mins (until cheese is bubbling in pan). Top with shredded cheddar and return to oven. Bake until cheese on top is melted and browning...about 10 minutes. You don't want the cheese in the noodles to thicken too much so that it will still be creamy.

Thanks to you, Lins!

We spent this past weekend in Charlotte for my friend, Ashley's, wedding. My best friend, Lindsay, opened her home to us and we spent 3 awesome nights there. On our first night, she prepared an easy but great meal for us. So, when we got home, we made it again ourselves. Using Ken's honey teryiaki marinade, we marinated 3 chicken breasts.... they marinated most of the day but she suggested doing it overnight and I agree, hers had more flavor than ours. We grilled those up along with some pineapple. And I roasted a vegetable/potato medley in the oven....using a Hidden Valley Ranch packet for seasoning. I chose red potatoes, a sweet potato and zucchini. Easy and delicious meal. Thanks, Lins, for the inspiration.