Garlic Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

Garlic Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

These were SO good!  They were great to compliment the Cranberry Apple Pork we made for our Easter dinner.  I only had Russet potatoes on-hand, so that’s what I substituted for the Red Potatoes.  They turned out perfectly fine; just remember you don’t need 8-9 potatoes if you make the same substitution, since Russet Potatoes are much bigger than Red Potatoes.

Ingredients:

8-9 Red Skinned Potatoes 

1 1/2 Cups Freshly Shredded Parmesan Cheese

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 Teaspoon Dried Parsley

1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt

1 Teaspoon Black Pepper

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and cut your potatoes into bite-sized cubes and place them into a large bowl. Add your seasonings and oil and mix. Add your Parmesan cheese and mix until it coats all of the potatoes. Place potatoes on a cookie sheet and bake 35-40 minutes, until nice and browned. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese and parsley when serving, if desired.

This recipe can be found here.

Bacon Potato Salad

Joe needed a side dish for a BBQ-themed work luncheon.  Once again I decided to pull out some of my Tastefully Simple seasonings for this easy recipe.  This is another recipe I found from the Tastefully Simple recipe database.  We really liked this potato salad, and although the Fiesta Party Dip Mix can be a little spicy, it made this salad delicious.  I don't like spicy at all, and I liked this salad.  Next time I’d use less than a whole onion since I think it was a little overpowering.  All in all, it was a great recipe to try! 

If you don't have Tastefully Simple brand seasonings, you can still play with the ingredients.  You could use a bag of real bacon bits and any fiesta-type seasonings.  The mixture of mayo and other ingredients was really good with this recipe.  

Bacon Bacon Potato Salad

Ingredients
5 large red potatoes (I used Russet since it's all I had.)
½-1 small diced onion (I used 1 whole onion and thought it was too much.)
2 cups real mayonnaise
1/4 cup mustard
1/4 cup Bacon Bacon™
1-2 tsp. dry Fiesta Party Dip Mix™
Ground black pepper to taste

Directions
Boil potatoes in water until tender; cool and dice. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl; fold in potatoes. Refrigerate 1-2 hours. Makes 6-8 servings.

Variations:  The original recipe calls for dill pickle relish.  It would also be good with some diced hard boiled eggs.

I apologize that there is no easy way to make a photo of potato salad look appetizing. 

Recipe adapted from here.

Potato Soup

So it's Tuesday which means it's a Crock Pot day in our house.  We haven't made this soup in quite some time, and it's chilly outside, so what better time to revisit a family favorite?  I can't wait until dinner time and it's only 10am!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

6 large baking potatoes, peeled, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1 large onion, chopped
1 quart chicken broth
3 cloves garlic, minced (or pressed)
1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup cream or half-and-half cream
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 cup sour cream (optional)
8 slices bacon, fried & crumbled
cheese, for sprinkling

PREPARATION:

1.      Combine first seven ingredients in a large Crockpot; cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours (potato should be tender).

2.      Mash mixture until potatoes are coarsely chopped and soup is slightly thickened.
Stir in cream, cheese and chives.  (I let this bake for 30 mins. more after adding cream.)

3.      Top with sour cream (if used), sprinkle with bacon and more cheese.

Now, here are a few things I do differently:

·         I usually cook on low for 8ish hours.

·         I use green onions if I don’t have chives available, which is most of the time.

·         Instead of making bacon, I use a whole bag of Oscar Meyer/Kroger real bacon bits.  I add this in  about ½ way through the cooking time so the bacon flavor cooks in well. 

·         To make a whole crock pot full (approx. doubling the recipe), I use a whole bag of potatoes, 1-2 onions, 2-2.5 quarts chicken broth, 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, and more salt/pepper as desired.

Adapted from www.cdkitchen.com.