Hashbrown Casserole

If you like Cracker Barrel's hashbrown casserole then you are going to love this dish! It's a great alternative to baked potatoes and is ready in a flash.

2 lbs frozen hash browns, shredded or diced
1 (10 1/4 ounce) can low fat cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 cups 2% shredded cheddar cheese
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 11 x 14 baking dish with cooking spray.
Mix the above ingredients together in large bowl and place in prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until brown on top- stirring about half way through cooking.

TIP OF THE DAY: To insure that your potatoes aren't too watery, thaw hash browns in microwave before making this dish. Dump them out on a paper towel and pat dry before putting them into bowl for this recipe. Also, to make this a complete meal, add a cup and a half of diced ham and you have a complete dinner!

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Baked Potato Soup

Madison LOVES soup- specifically baked potato soup. Because every potato soup recipe that I have ever seen makes very large amounts of soup, I have adjusted this one to make a much smaller amount.


2-3 large baking potatoes
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup flour
4-6 cups milk
3/4 t salt
1/2 t pepper
4 slices pepper bacon, cooked, crumbled
2 green onions, chopped
1 cup 2% shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream


Bake potatoes in oven or microwave. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out pulp. Throw away potato skins. Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add flour and stir until smooth. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thick and bubbly. Stir in potato, salt, pepper, bacon, green onions, and cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated but do not boil. Stir in sour cream and heat. Sprinkle top of soup with remaining bacon, onion, and cheese.


TIP OF THE DAY: To make the soup come together quickly, heat the milk in the microwave before adding it to the butter and flour mixture.


Tomorrow's Daily Special: White Chicken Chili

Rosemary Potatoes

I try to cook red potatoes fairly often as they are a healthier choice than white potatoes. This is a recipe I use often that goes great with a pork roast.

10 small red potatoes
cooking spray
1 T Parmesan cheese
1 T fresh rosemary, finely chopped (dried works fine too)
garlic powder
pepper
salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and quarter potatoes. Lay quartered potatoes large cookie sheet and spray well with cooking spray. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, rosemary, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Bake for 40 minutes or until potatoes are done.

TIP OF THE DAY: When making recipes like this one, I usually line my cookie sheet with foil for quick clean up. Anything to save a bit of precious time!

Tomorrow's Daily Special: Crunch Top Apple Pie

Tony's Taters

These potatoes are a nice change from baked potatoes and twice baked potatoes. My family, especially Tony- LOVES LOVES LOVES them!






5 -6 large baking potatoes
6 green onions, diced
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
5 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 T flour
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and dice potatoes and place in large pot covered with water. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until potatoes are tender and fall apart when poked with a fork. Drain potatoes. In large bowl mix together sour cream, milk, flour, 1 cup of cheddar cheese, green onions, bacon, salt, and pepper. Stir in potatoes and mix well. Pour in 9 x 13 inch pan sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.


TIP OF THE DAY: Instead of buying regular bacon, buy peppered bacon for extra flavor. To make a small amount of bacon for a recipe such as this, instead of cooking it on the stove in a frying pan- dice bacon before cooking and place on a heavy duty paper plate. Cover with a paper towel and cook in the microwave for 4 minutes or until done.


Tomorrow's Daily Special: Crock Pot Ribs and Beans