Glorious Mashed Potatoes

The title and picture says it all! By far, this is my absolute favorite mashed potato recipe TO DATE (and I eat A LOT of potatoes)! The best part is that there is no need for gravy...they are THAT good! Mmmmm! I served this glorious side dish during our Sunday dinner of roasted garlic chicken, green garden salad, french bread, and warm peanut butter jumbo cookies with milk for dessert. Yumm-o!!!

INGREDIENTS

8-10 potatoes, peeled (Idaho spuds are my fav)
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 white onion, diced
4 cups chicken broth/stalk

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter
1/2 cup milk (may need up to 1 cup)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (I used 1/2 cup)
parsley
salt
pepper
garlic powder or garlic salt

DIRECTIONS

Place potatoes, carrot, celery, onion, and chicken broth in a large pot. Fill the pot with enough water to barely cover all the potatoes. Boil for about 30 minutes (I have also done it where I boil just the potatoes for 20 minutes and then the last 10 minutes I add the vegetables....this gives it more texture).
Drain the water leaving just a little bit in the pot.
Mash it all with a potato masher.
Add the butter, milk, soup, cheese. Mix and add more milk (a little at a time) until desired consititency. Spinkle in parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to your liking. Serve! :)

Yummy Breadsticks

There is no better companion to a hearty bowl of soup or spaghetti and meatballs then BREADSTICKS! I wanted to try something new and after an online search I found these DELICOUS, QUICK, AND EASY babies! They make about 25 breadsticks and they all dissappeared VERY QUICKLY in our home last night! My three year old even asked if he could have more for breakfast this morning! The only adaptation I will make next time will be to add some extra melted butter to the top of the breadsticks before I sprinkle the herbs and cheese.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 Tbl yeast

2 Tbl sugar

3 1/2-4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

3-6 Tbls melted butter (for baking sheet)

Topping:

melted butter (optional)

garlic salt

basil, thyme, rosemary (any combination of the three, whatever you like)

paremsan cheese

Directions:

Mix warm water, yeast, sugar, flour, and salt in a bowl and knead for 3 minutes. (I used my Kitchen Aid and let my dough hook do all the kneading for me) Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. In the meantime, spread the melted butter onto baking sheet(s)...I used two sheets so each sheet had 3 Tbl melted butter spread on the bottom. On counter or bread board, roll out the dough into a rectangle about 1/4-1/2 inch thick and cut into strips with a pizza cutter. (I cut the dough in half and made 10-12 strips per half) Place each strip onto baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart and, if desired, spread some more melted butter onto each piece. Sprinkle with garlic salt, rosemary, thyme, and/or basil (whatever herbs you like) and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let rise for 30 minutes and bake in 375 degree preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until nicely golden. Enjoy!

Cheesy Potato Casserole

On Sunday we decided to make a delicious ham dinner. I love ham dinners during Christmas time (especially the leftovers) and it gave me the perfect opportunity to experiment with side dishes. After searching through my numerous cookbooks, I came across a recipe given to me by a lady in our first married ward. It seemed very easy and our mouths were watering with each bite! I can't believe I waited this long to give it a try! The green onions made this dish extra yummy!

Ingredients:

1 large package of hash browns

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 pint of sour cream

1 cube butter/margarine

1/4 cup chopped green onions (or 2 Tbsp onion flakes)

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp melted butter

1 cup crushed cornflakes

Directions:

On the stove mix soup, sour cream, and cube of butter. Heat and stir until well mixed. Add onions and cheese, stir until melted. In a 9 by 13 baking dish, layer the potatoes and soup mixture. Top with crushed cornflakes that have been mixed with the melted butter. Cover and store in refrigerator until ready to bake or bake immediately at 350 for 30 minutes.

Roasted Potatoes

This is my FAVORITE way to make potatoes lately!  The onion soup mix adds so much FLAVOR and color to the potatoes.  This recipe is really super EASY but tastes like it was much harder to prepare because of the YUMMY flavor!  

Ingredients:

2-3lbs potatoes (I like using red)

1/3 C oil

1 envelope of dry onion soup mix

Fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Wash and cut the potatoes into chunks.

Place potatoes in a zip lock bag.

Add the oil and soup mix.

Close the bag and mix until potatoes are fully coated in mixture.

Place on lightly greased pan (either 9x13 or jelly roll).

Bake in oven for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from pan and top with fresh parsley.

 

Garlic Bread on the Grill

This is my ABSOLUTE favorite way to make garlic bread!  My hubby even claims that it is the BEST garlic bread he has EVER had. I don't know what it is but EVERYTHING seems to taste so much better off the barbeque.  Grilling the bread gives it more of a sweeter flavor. Anyways, this would make for a perfect accompaniment if you are ever grilling chicken, steaks, shish-kabobs, pizza or really anything on the barbeque.  

Ingredients:

1 loaf of french bread

1/2 C buttered, softened

1/2 t garlic powder

Rosemary (fresh or dried)

Parsley (fresh or dried)

Directions:

Mix the butter, garlic powder and seasonings in a bowl.

Without cutting through the bottom, cut the french bread loaf into 1 inch slices.

Spread butter mixture on both sides of slices.

Wrap in foil and place on top shelf of grill.

Grill about 10-15 minutes.   

Twice Baked Potatoes

I love mashed potatoes and enjoy jazzing them up a bit! Yesterday I made a roasted whole chicken (recipe will be coming soon) and served these as a side dish. Not only do they taste delish, they look quite tasty too! This picture is courtesy of Kraft Foods because I completely forgot to take a pic before we ate...we were starving! :)

Ingredients:

baking potatoes

butter

milk

garlic salt

pepper

sour cream

parmesan cheese (or whatever you have on hand)

Directions:

Clean the potatoes and bake in preheated oven (350 degrees) for an hour. (you want to bake them just until a knife can slide thru them...try not to overbake) Remove them from the oven and slice lengthwise. Carefully scoop out the inside of the potatoes leaving about 1/4 of an inch still intact to the skin. Place all the scoopings in a bowl and add some butter, milk, garlic salt, pepper, cheese, and a dallop of sour cream. I don't do measurements with these ingredients so just add what you think. If you like other things in your potatoes, add those too....whatever you like! Mix until all smooth with a hand mixer and carefully scoop back into the potato skins. At this point you can place them in the fridge covered, and wait until you are ready to serve. About 30 minutes before serving, place them in the oven at 350 for about 30-40 minutes, or until warmed and browned. This also works well with red potatoes.

Yummy Salad

I am not quite sure where this recipe originated from, but this salad is a MUST when my big family gathers together for a meal. It is VERY, VERY YUMMY and light! Even the youngsters love this dish and if you aren't fast, it tends to vanish very quickly! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 bag iceburg lettuce

1/2 bag baby spinach

1 small can of drained mandarin oranges (not pictured...I forgot to add those)

1/2 red onion sliced

1 cup craisins

1/4 cup sliced honey-glazed almonds

1 package sliced swiss cheese (cut into chunks)

1 bottle poppyseed dressing (our favorite is Brianna's)

Directions:

Add all the ingredients and toss together. Serve immediately. If you want to prepare this the day before, mix everything together minus the oranges and dressing. Right before serving, toss in the dressing and oranges.

Mama Taylor's Baked Beans with a Twist

These baked beans are a staple when it comes to family get-together's and barbeque's at my mom's house.  I love this recipe because it is super SIMPLE and VERSATILE.  Mama Taylor's recipe just calls for the basics (beans, brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, green pepper and onion) which is great and ALWAYS tastes YUMMY.  I like to add a few extra ingredients just for a little extra spice and excitement.  Hope you enjoy!  

 Ingredients:

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 1/2 T butter

1 (53 oz) can pork and beans, undrained (remove the fat from top)

3/4 C brown sugar

1/4 C ketchup

2 T mustard

1/4 C barbeque sauce

1 T molasses

2 t chili powder

1 t salt

1 t pepper

Directions:

Melt butter in a pan then add the green pepper and onion.

Saute for a couple minutes just until tender.

Empty beans in a large bowl.

Add the green pepper and onions.

Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Place in a lightly greased (cooking spray) dish.

Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour.