Mushroom Ranch Potatoes – Slow Cooked Potatoes Exploding With Flavor!!!

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Cheese, cream of mushroom, crockpot, onion, potatoes, ranch dressing, slow cooker, southern hasbrowns

Life has been a little crazy lately, so I was looking to make a fairly easy dinner for the family last night. These Mushroom Ranch Potatoes filled the bill! It was as simple as chopping a little onion and dumping my ingredients in the slow cooker! The pay out was great tasting potatoes though! The cream of mushroom soup and cheese gave it creamyness and the ranch dressing mix and onion gave it wonderful savory flavor. This was good enough to serve as a holiday side dish and would be easy to increase for a crowd. It would also be good topped with some panko or bread crumbs!

I served these with a Beer Butt Chicken (Yes, you read this right!) and some local, organic corn on the cob. Mmmm! It was a delicious dinner!

Mushroom Ranch Potatoes

1 – 32 oz bag of frozen southern hash brown potatoes

1 – 14 oz can low-fat cream of mushroom soup

1/2 white onion, chopped

1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix

1/2 cup shredded low-fat cheddar cheese

1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Before opening the bag, break up the potatoes by throwing down bag or using a meat tenderizer to pound the bag. You want to be able to stir the potatoes with all the other ingredients. Spray a slow cooker pot with non-stick spray. Add all ingredients and stir until mixed. Cook for 5-6 hours on low.

Enjoy!

Healthy Hash – Spicy, Hearty and Healthy!

Tags

Carrots, Cooking, ground turkey, Hash, healthy, potatoes, ranch dressing, recipe, spicy

  

It was one of those nights, where I didn’t have a specific plan for dinner other than using stuff I had on hand that needed to be eaten! I hate wasting food, so this used some fresh veggies I had on hand and the ground turkey that needed to be used. It turned out to be a delicious, hearty dinner that had a nice amount of spice to it. It would be a great meal for a chilly evening. As tasty as it is, the ingredients are pretty basic, so chances are you’ll have them on hand and most people will enjoy this dish. You can always dial the spice up or down depending on your tastes.

Hearty Hash

4 russet potatoes, diced

2 carrots, peeled & diced

1/2 medium white onion, diced

1 pound ground turkey

1 packet ranch dressing mix

1 – 14 oz can diced tomatoes

1 – 6 oz can tomato sauce

Salt and pepper

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (These could be left out to dial back the spice quite a bit.)

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried parsley

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray. Pour diced potatoes into pan and spread In single layer. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes.

Spray a frying pan with non-stick spray, brown ground turkey with onions and carrots. One the meat is cooked through, add ranch dressing mix, tomatoes, tomato sauce, peppers, paprika, parsley and potatoes. Stir and cook until veggies are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Corned Beef and Cabbage – Better Late Than Never!!!

Tags

Carrots, Cooking, Corned Beef and Cabbage, Food, potatoes, recipe, Slow Cooking, St. Patrick's Day

  
My youngest daughter’s birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day and she wanted to go out that day, so our traditional dinner of corned beef and cabbage was put on hold. But that’s OK!!! Corned beef can be kind of pricey and I was happy to get it on sale after the holiday. It tasted just as good a few days after the holiday! Better actually! Since it was Sunday, not Thursday, I had all day to pamper this meal. This particular version was the best version I’ve ever made. Tons of fantastic flavor and beautiful colors!

One difference you’ll notice, is that I choose to use red cabbage. Our German family, loves pickled red cabbage, so I kind of go that route with this dish. As I’ve mentioned in numerous posts, I’m not a huge fan of cooked carrots, so I opted to cook my carrots separate from my corned beef and cabbage. I did use some of the liquid from the corned beef, so I got the same fantastic flavor, but everything else did not take on the flavor of the carrots. I just simmered these in a separate pot. They took on the great flavors of the liquid!

I also chose to serve mashed potatoes. I had a large group, so the corned beef and cabbage filled my slow cooker. This is why I opted to go with mashed that I could cook in a separate pot. I actually included a couple of turnips too. I just boiled those right along with the potatoes and the mashed them all together with some fat free sour cream, fat free milk, fresh garlic, salt and pepper.

You’ll also notice the wedge of Irish soda bread. I blogged that recipe yesterday. It was incredibly good and so easy to make!!!

Slow Cooked Corned Beef and Cabbage

4 pound corned beef brisket with seasoning packet

3 1/2 cups beef broth

3 bay leaves

3 garlic cloves,pressed or diced

1/2 yellow onion, sliced

1 1/2 heads red cabbage, shredded

3 cups fat free chicken broth 

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp pepper

In slow cooker, add corned beef, garlic, onion and beef broth. Put seasoning packet from corned beef and bay leaves in cheese cloth packet or herb infused and submerge in broth in slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours. Add red cabbage and chicken broth. Continues to cook for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, uses a slotted spoon to transfer cabbage to another pot. Spoon in about 1 1/2 cups of liquid from the slow cooker. Add vinegar, sugar and pepper to cabbage and simmer for a few minutes. 

While cabbage simmers, remove corned beef from slow cooker and slice against the grain. We like to serve our corned beef with various types of mustard. I really liked mine with a Hawaiian Honey mustard we had on hand. Dijon is really good too!

Enjoy!

The Goal is Scrumptious: Zuppa Toscana

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Bacon, Cooking, potatoes, recipe, sausage, soup, spinach, the goal is scrumptious

  

When I saw this post I knew it was something I would have to try. It sounds fabulous and I have been all about the good soups this winter!

Recently we sampled a version of zuppa toscana, a type of Italian cream soup, at a friend’s house.  One of our hosts was the first to taste it.  After one bite he apologized.  “Oh, sorry guys.  It’s a little spicy.” Still crunching away on my salad, my reply was, “No worries!  We like spicy.”  This is true.  My husband, […]

https://quirkyandwonderful.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/the-goal-is-scrumptious-zuppa-toscana/

Thanksgiving – Tips, Tricks and Recipes for a Stress-Free Holiday

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Cooking, Dressing, Food, potatoes, recipe, recipes, salad, Sweet potatoes, Thanksgiving, Tips, Turkey

  
Thanksgiving is right around the corner and it is not too soon to start your preparations. This is a reminder that I have been posting a series of posts that can help you have a stress-free holiday. Please look back over these posts starting November 4 that include tips on menu planning, dish planning and preparation and recipes for all the basic (and not so basic!) Thanksgiving dishes including…

1. Barbecuing and brining your turkey
2. Cornbread Chorizo Dressing – This stuff is the BOMB!!!
3. Sweet Potatoes and Apples – Always a crowd pleaser!!!
4. Curried Carrot Soup – A delicious, healthy first course
5. The Joy of Mashed Potatoes!
6. Green Bean Casserole – Made from scratch with all fresh ingredients! Delish!
7. Festive Green Salad – Pear, apples and a homemade poppyseed dressing make this a tasty different green salad
8. Cranberry Salad – This may not be the healthiest salad, but with cranberries, green apples and mini-marshmallows it is so pretty!
9. Hummus – A light, healthy dip to keep your appetizers light and leave plenty of room for the main meal!
10. Platte County Pie – Like pie? Like chocolate chip cookies? You’ll love this pie!

I even covered some ideas for your leftovers!

• Making your own stock from your turkey carcass
• Layered Thanksgiving Lasagna

It’s not to late to review these posts and get your Thanksgiving dinner planning underway! I wish all of you a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving! Please feel free to send me comments with your questions. I’ll try and make time in all my cooking to get back to you ASAP. I am so thankful to all of you that take the time to read my blog!

Please let me know how your Thanksgiving dishes turn out!

Roasted Potatoes and Carrots – Delicious and Healthy Side Dish

Tags

Carrots, Cooking, Food, healthy, low-fat, potato, potatoes, recipe, side dish, vegetable

 

As you can see by my photo, I’m still getting the hang of this food blogging thing. For example, I need to take pictures of the delicious food BEFORE my family devours it! Or I can keep posting pictures like this one to prove my family really does like my cooking!

Anyway, what’s not adequately shown here are the roasted potatoes and carrots that I made the other night. I was grilling some nice, big sirloin steaks, rubbed with my basic barbecue rub (See earlier blog entry for recipe) and was trying to decide on a good side dish.

Our family loves potatoes; mashed, baked, twice baked, barbecued! Love them all! Since we like them so much, we tend to eat them a lot, so I was trying to think of something new to do with them. I also always serve some sort of vegetable with dinner, even if it’s just a salad. I’ve always tried to stress the importance of balanced eating with my kids. It must have worked pretty well, as both of my girls are not terribly picky eaters.

On this particular night, I had organic carrots on hand again, so I thought why not combine the two! I don’t much care for cooked carrots (I seem to be cooking them a lot lately though!) and my younger daughter isn’t either. I thought this combo might make the carrots more palatable for both of us, and sure enough, it did!!!

Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

5 Russet or 7 Red potatoes, washed and cut into bite-size pieces (I left the skins on)

5 carrots, washed, peeled and sliced

2/3 of a white onion, diced

Salt and Pepper to taste

Olive oil spray

Spray a baking pan with olive oil. Add potatoes, carrots and onion to the pan. Spray ingredients with more olive oil and toss. Season with salt and pepper and toss some more. Roast in a 400 degree oven. Toss mid-way through cooking. Make sure potatoes and carrots are fork-tender before removing from oven.

Classic Potato Salad – It Wouldn’t Be Summer Without A Delicious Potato Salad!

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barbecue, classic, entertaininng, outdoors, picnic, potato, potato salad, potato salad recipe, potatoes, potlluck, recipe, recipes, salad, side dish, summer

  
A decade (or two!) ago I first made a Best Foods Mayonnaise potato salad recipe and eureka! I had found the potato salad of my dreams! Over the years, I made it so much I kind of had it committed to memory, so I quit referring to the recipe and made it on the fly. Depending on how many people I was feeding, the quantities went up and down, so I started tasting as I went and adjusting ingredients accordingly. My friend Vickie, suggested I blog about my potato salad, so I figured I better work on putting a recipe together.

As time went on, I started experimenting with my creamy potato concoction! Tried it with dijon mustard. Husband didn’t like it! Tried adding dill. He didn’t like that either. I like to think paying attention to his opinions is one of the reasons we’ve been married almost 30 years!

As I mentioned in yesterday’s Mexican Pinto Beans post, cumin is my all-time favorite spice, so at some point that made it into the recipe and everyone would ask about that pleasant, but “different” flavor. Am I in a spicy mood? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, so if I am I will add some hot sauce or crushed chili flakes. (Here’s where a confession comes in: Today’s potato salad will not be made spicy! I made my Mexican Pinto Beans and I didn’t notice the can of diced green chilies I added were labeled “hot” and then I added jalapenos on top of that! I think that’s enough fireworks for one 4th of July!)

Another change I made to the potato salad recipe over the years as I struggled with my weight, is to use low-fat or fat-free mayonnaise. This is a big way to lower the fat and calorie content. I’m still happy with the taste and I still get lots of compliments, so it works for me, but you may be a mayo purist and want to stick with the full fat version.

If you haven’t found your favorite potato salad recipe, I hope you’ll give mine a try. Let me know what you think! 

You all have a wonderful, safe and flavorful Independance Day!!!

Kel’s Classic Potato Salad

7 medium russet potatoes, peeled, washed and halved

2-3 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped – I sliced one to add to the top

1 cup mayonnaise (If you use regular mayo, also add a tsp of sugar. I find low-fat/fat-free mayo to be sweeter, so I pass on the sugar)

1 medium red onion, chopped

2/3 cup sweet pickle relish

1 tbsp yellow mustard (I sometimes use Sweet/Hot Mustard)

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tbsp vinegar (use white or apple cider)

1 small can of chopped olives

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Optional: 2 tsp hot sauce or crushed pepper flakes

Boil potatoes for about 20 minutes and then remove from water and cool. Cut up potatoes into bite-size pieces. In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients and refrigerate. I think this is best served cold, so it will need a couple hours in the fridge. This is one of those dishes that is even good made a day ahead as it improves as the flavors mingle.