Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes

Oh man! This side dish is absolutely one we will be keeping around! It’d be really good on the smoker too! I do feel like it’s missing some seasonings so the next go around we will play with adding in some smoked paprika and garlic too! 

Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes

Ingredients 

8 medium russet potatoes, thinly sliced

2 medium onion, sliced into rings

salt and ground black pepper to taste

6 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups milk

3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

 

Directions 

Gather all ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a 2-quart casserole dish.

Layer 1/2 of the potatoes in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish; season with salt and pepper.

Layer onion slices over top, then top with remaining potatoes. Season again with salt and pepper.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Gradually whisk in flour and salt and cook, whisking constantly until raw flour flavor has cooked off, about 1 minute.

Gradually add milk, about 1/4 cup at a time, whisking well after each addition to incorporate; the gradual addition and whisking of milk will help avoid lumps in your sauce.

Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture has thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir in cheese all at once; continue stirring until melted, 30 to 60 seconds.

Pour cheese sauce over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Bake in the preheated oven until potatoes are tender and sauce is bubbly, about 1 ½ hours.

Instant Pot Potatoes

 Never again, and I mean NEVER again will I cook potatoes on the stovetop! What in the world was I thinking not trying this sooner!!! Let’s go!

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes 

Ingredients 

3 pounds of potatoes, peeled and sliced

Water (enough to cover the potatoes)

2 tsp salt; divided

1/4 cup butter; melted

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 milk

heavy cream as needed

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions 

Peel and slice your potatoes and put them in your instant pot. Cover your potatoes with water, just enough to cover them.

Add in 1 tsp of salt.

Pressure cook on manual for 8 minutes.

Once done, shut down your instant pot and immediately release the pressure. 

Add in your butter, milk, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Mix it up either by hand with a masher or use a hand mixer. If it’s as smooth as you like it great, if not add in some heavy cream. 

Ranch Potatoes

If you like cheese and ranch, you’re going to love this side dish as much as we do! It takes a little more work and prepping but it’s soo worth it! Especially if your husband doesn’t mind cooking 😜

Ranch Potatoes

Ingredients 

9-10 red potatoes 

1/2 C. ranch dressing

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 C. cheddar cheese, shredded

1/4 C. chives, chopped

Directions 

Preheat oven to 400*

Slice potatoes in half lengthwise then slice each half lengthwise 3 times and across 4 times to cube

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and drop in chopped potatoes, cook 10 minutes

Drain potatoes and mix in ranch, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until nicely browned 

While still hot, mix in cheddar and chives

Allow to cool for 5 minutes 

Serve warm and enjoy!

Crockpot Cheesy Potatoes

 Ok ok ok! I know, MORE CHEESY POTATOES?!? YES!!!! We are huge fanatics and love our cheesy potatoes! Here is the crockpot version we are hooked on! It’s a super great recipe for while camping too to prepare an easy delicious side dish! 

Ingredients

1 - 32 oz bag frozen diced potatoes
1 medium onion diced
1 cup sour cream
1 - 10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
Salt and pepper
4 Tbs butter melted
2 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions
1. In your crockpot add a liner and spray it well with non-stick spray, add your potatoes, onions, sour cream, soup, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, butter and 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Give it a good stir to mix well or pre mix in a bowl then dump in the crockpot.
2. Place lid on and cook on low for 4 hours.
3. Remove lid and sprinkle with remaining cup of
cheese and cover again for about 15 minutes until cheese is melted.

Cheesy Potato Casserole

 It’s been brought to my attention that I have yet to post my cheesy potato recipe. It’s our favorite! Here you go! 

Cheesy Potato Casserole 

Ingredients 

1 - (32 oz) package frozen hash browns, thawed (I use cubed)

1 cup melted butter, divided 

1 - 10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken soup

12-16 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1 - 8 oz container sour cream

1 tsp. salt

1/2 Yellow Onion, diced

2 cups corn flakes cereal

Instructions 

Preheat oven to 350*

Lightly grease a 9x13 dish 

Place potatoes in the bottom of the dish 

In a bowl mix 1/2 C melted butter, diced onion, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, salt and shredded cheddar

Spread the mixture over the potatoes

Top evenly with corn flakes

Drizzle remaining 1/2 C melted butter over the corn flakes

Bake uncovered for 45 - 60 minutes or until it is bubbling 

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

 Only the BEST mashed potatoes around! These are from the Pioneer Woman and we’ve made them once and I was hooked! It’s more work than I put into our usual mashed potatoes but it’s worth it. Her recipe makes a LOT so if you’re not feeding a baseball team maybe half it. I will be halving it for our family of 6 the next time we make these. We never really use leftover mashed potatoes so they end up in the trash. If you’ve got any great ideas for left overs I’d love to hear them!

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

5 lb. russet or Yukon Gold potatoes

3/4 c. butter

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. (to 3/4 cups) half-and-half

1/2 tsp. (to 1 teaspoon) Lawry's Seasoned Salt

1/2 tsp. (to 1 teaspoon) black pepper

Directions

-Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.

-Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.

-Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash, mash, mash! Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.

-Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through. 

My Favorite Potato Salad

 I’m not sure how I haven’t posted this here yet. It’s legit my FAVORITE potato salad! It’s not too mustard-y and I’m often asked to make it for potlucks/get togethers/etc. It truly is a summer staple too. Yes I went there. I know it’s a few months away yet but I’m dreaming of warmer weather and sunshine and camping!!! 

This is so well loved that I drove to TN for my best friends oldest daughters graduation and made this for her because she too LOVES it! I mean it’s not the only reason I went to see them! My Bug graduated! That makes me a proud bonus mom! It would also be a lie if I said I didn’t take every opportunity to see my bestie and her girls!

Ok, ok! Get on with it already! Right?!? Yeah yeah I hear ya!!

Mary’s Potato Salad

Ingredients

• 2 pounds yukon gold potatoes (about 6 medium)
• 1 ½ cups mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 3-4 tablespoons chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 4 hard boiled eggs, roughly chopped

Instructions

• Peel and dice potatoes into cubes. Place potatoes into a large pot of water.
  
• Boil for about 20 minutes (or until fork tender.) Take care not to overcook your potatoes – you don’t want them overly mushy.
  
• Mix mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, chicken stock and salt and pepper in a large bowl.
• Add potatoes, celery, onion and stir gently.
• Stir in chopped eggs.
  
• Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours to blend flavors and chill.

One of my favorite pasta salads!

 If you’re anything like me you can sit down and eat a good pasta salad as your main course! I mean what’s not to love?!? Some carbs, some veggies, some poultry, and sometimes a pasta salad will even have some fruit! 

This particular pasta salad came into my life a few years ago when (for all intents and purposes) my sisters mother-in-law made it for my sisters pregnancy announcement party. Or maybe it was for the baby shower.. who knows anymore! Hahaha! Either way I was hooked! It’s got a sweet hint and is scrumptious!

The last time I enjoyed this pasta salad was for my dad’s funeral luncheon. On December 13, 2021 at exactly 0515 my dad’s heart stopped beating after a very long battle with Covid. There was a MASSIVE bowl made as we expected a good turnout. We are still heartbroken and trying to navigate life without him! Fast forward to today, I just had my 2nd back surgery (1/20/2022) and after, all I wanted was this pasta salad! So my sister did me a solid and got the recipe and shared! 

Ok enough babbling for now and onto the recipe!

Chicken Salad

1- 16 oz box noodles: large rings

4-5 cooked chicken breast; cubed into small pieces

1 onion; diced

4-5 stalks of celery; diced (personal preference)

2 C. Mayo (Hellmans for us northerners or Dukes if you order it like I do!)

1 C. packed brown sugar

2 tsp. vinegar

1 C. slivered almonds (optional)

Cook and drain noodles.

In a large bowl, mix together the noodles, chicken, celery and onion.

In a separate bowl blend together brown sugar, mayo and vinegar. Toss in with the pasta mixture.

Add almonds just before serving 

Best Spanish Rice

The past few weeks we have been without an oven so we had to get creative with meals for our family of six.. We only order food in twice in this time frame.. I am super proud of us. During our journey of stove top/grill/crockpot only cooking we (and by we I mean my wonderful hubby) made a delicious Spanish rice. He made some modifications based on what we had here at home (we hate running to the grocery store) and then our oldest teenager made her own modification when it was all done and on their plates. Keep reading for the recipe ....

Best Spanish Rice
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 C. uncooked white rice (NOT Minute/instant rice)
4 C chicken broth (Chicken stock if you want more flavor) 
2 C chunky salsa (the hubby didn't have quite 2 C so he used a can of Ro*tel) 

Heat butter in large skillet over medium heat
Stir in onion, cook until tender
Add in the rice, stirring often. 
When rice begins to brown, stir in chicken broth and salsa.
Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the moisture is absorbed.

Now this special trick my teenager did (which turned out delicious) was splashing a bit of
Food Network's Cilantro Lime Dressing over her rice. Not too much because it is a vinegar dressing but just enough to add a bit of bite to the rice.

I kid you not, it was awesome! Maybe I really haven't had the worlds BEST Spanish rice yet but it was a hit in our house.

We did have this rice with grilled chicken breasts that were marinated in Mojito Lime marinade and thinly sliced along with some re-fried beans. So yummy and we will most certainly be making this meal again.

In other news, I had an eye exam last week.. when the Dr asked me to cover my left eye and read the screen I became very startled as I realized that I couldn't read a darn thing. After I gasped, he assured me it was okay and that I have an astigmatism and would be needing new glasses. whoa.. maybe it's because I am getting older or maybe its because .. oh who the heck knows or cares! Either way, I ended up with a hefty bill and new specs. He wasn't kidding when he said it would take a while to get used to the new Rx. I put my new glasses on, drove home and took them off to find the measurements so I can order a cheaper back up pair and I again panicked and had to blink a few times to adjust my vision. I just cannot fathom how "blind" I was before getting the new Rx. Like how did I live like that?! Dramatic much? Yup! Seriously though, it's a night and day difference. My new specs are plastic and don't have the nose pieces. I instantly felt relief. My other glasses seriously were leaving the bridge of my nose bruised. So, with all of that said I am now shopping for a backup pair of glasses. Yay me!