what we’ve been eating

1.  Parmesan Roasted Potatoes.

We’ve had a lot of little potatoes from the CSA lately and I needed a yummy new way to fix them.  This is IT!  They were devoured.  Crunchy and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  Delicious.

5 medium potatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

2.  Bacon appetizers.

The Pioneer Woman strikes again.  These are meant for parties, but I made them one Sunday since I had all the ingredients.  Do NOT do that!  We demonstrated absolutely no control and ate them all.  Then we had tummy-aches.  For a party full of people – YES.  For 2 adults – NO!  (and two napping kids – I’d like to count them because 4 sounds way better than 2, but clearly the sleeping children didn’t help eat them.)  They were sooo good.

3.  Mozzarella sticks.

OK – I have a thing for appetizers.  so what.  🙂  (You should see my food pinboard…..it’s basically all the same delicious color – the color of cheesy fried things!)  But, these are baked not fried!  Whoohoo.  Wonton wrappers and string cheese.  GENIUS!   And things I almost always have.  (hint…when the wonton wrappers are on manager special I buy a bunch and keep them in the freezer – they are AWESOME for all kinds of things.)  And FYI – my sister brought these to a big party my parents just had.  And they were gone FIRST.  And talked about all night.  I brought these.  They were all gone too – but much much later.  🙂

4.  Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole.

This was so good that we almost forgot to take a picture!  Every bite is like a loaded baked potato.

Crowd pleasing comfort food at it’s best.

6 cups mashed potatoes (about 7 large baking potatoes)
1/4 cup cream

1/4 milk
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

chopped green onions (don’t forget to keep the bottoms for perpetual green onions)
8 slices bacon crispy cooked and crumbled (or take a short cut and buy 1/2 a cup of bacon from the salad bar!)

Preheat oven 350 degrees.
Peel, cube, and boil the potatoes for 15 minutes or until fork tender. Drain potatoes and return to the pot for a few minutes to evaporate any water left in them.  Mash with a potato masher or beat with a mixer until smooth. Add cream, milk, cream cheese, sour cream, parsley, garlic salt, and nutmeg.  Mix until creamy and smooth. Add salt to taste.

Transfer to a baking dish that has a drizzle of olive oil in the bottom.  Top with cheddar cheese and bacon. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional few minutes or until the cheese is melty.  Top with green onions and serve.

5.  Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas.

These were delicious.  One recipe even made enough for me to freeze half!  The whole family loved it!

6.  DIY Taco Seasoning

I love knowing what’s in it!  No MSG or other strange chemicals that I can’t pronounce.  You only need 2 tablespoons for a pound of meat and it makes really delicious tacos!  I might try it for chili next time.  Seems like all the same ingredients.  🙂

7.  Crack Bread  I made this for the football game last Sunday and there was NOTHING left.  It really is awesome.  I’ve never had crack – but this appetizer was amazing!  🙂  (Hint – Sometimes when a recipe calls for bacon, I buy it from the salad bar.  Then I don’t have to cook it and make a mess and smell up the house.  The bonus is that since the salad bar cost is based on weight and bacon is really light the amount I used for this bread only cost about 50 cents!)  (And the sourdough was on manager special too!  SWEEET!)

8.  Corn and Chicken Chowder

This was SOOO good.  I used fresh corn from the market and it was perfect!  (I used half of the milk that the recipe called for and added water instead because we don’t like super creamy soups.)  Ideal for fall.  I made some fresh bread to go with it for my husband who doesn’t consider soup a meal…. and he loved it!  (Buns in my Oven’s husband also doesn’t consider soup a meal….crazy guys!) (and bacon from the salad bar makes another appearance!)

• 6 ears of fresh corn, cut from the cob (or 1-30 ounce can corn and 1-15 ounce can cream corn)
• 6 slices bacon, chopped (yay for the salad bar!)
• 4 green onions  (yay for forever green onions!)
• 4 medium potatoes
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cream
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 small can chopped green chiles
• 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• handful of grated cheese and more green onions and sour cream and bacon, for garnish

1. In a large pot, fry the bacon pieces until crispy. Remove from the pan, leaving the drippings, and set aside.  When I use salad bar bacon, I always throw them in a hot pan and do this too.  They are already cooked, but I like to crisp them a bit.
2. Peel and chop the potatoes into bite-sized cubes. Slice the green onions.  Reserve the green tops for a garnish.
3. Place the potatoes and white scallion pieces into the pot and cook over medium heat until the onions have softened, 2 or 3 minutes.
4. Sprinkle the flour on top of the potatoes and onions and cook, stirring constantly, for 1or 2  minutes.
5. Pour the cream, water, broth, seasonings, salt, and pepper, stirring well. Bring to a low boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
6. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Add corn, chicken, and green chiles. Cook over low heat until heated through, about 5 minutes. Garnish with reserved green onions, bacon, sour cream and cheddar cheese.

9.  Asian Chicken salad

This was great.  So easy and delicious.  The kids and Kevin ate it right up!  I didn’t have the dressing that the recipe called for so I kind of made my own with rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and Sriracha.

It was really good.  I also didn’t have a bag of cole slaw mix, but I shredded up a red cabbage and some carrots.  It was perfect.

1 package of ramen noodles

1 pkg. of coleslaw mix or shred up your own cabbage and carrots.  (I used a red cabbage).

Break noodles into small pieces and place in a large bowl. Add shredded cabbage and carrots, chicken, onions and nuts.

Mix lightly. (You don’t need the seasoning packet from ramen.)

Add dressing and cilantro to salad.  Toss to coat.  Enjoy.

Asian Toasted Peanut Sesame Dressing

10.  Healthy Granola Bars

A chewy NO BAKE granola bar without a strange list of ingredients.   The coconut oil makes them firm and chewy since its solid at room temperature.  The kids love them and I love giving them as a treat.  So easy to grab on the go and filling from the almond butter and oats.  I added some flax seeds too.

11.  Banana chocolate cookie bites

These little cookies are great.  They weren’t very sweet which I loved.  A fantastic little chocolatey treat.  But I think the kids wished they would be sweeter.  Maybe my bananas weren’t extra ripe enough?  They were really good, and were eaten up by everyone……but maybe next time I would add a dash of honey or maple syrup or sugar?  Maybe I should name them Chocolate Monkey Bites – then they would devour them!  They really liked helping me make them.

12.  Spicy Asian Green Beans

I loved these.  Kevin loved them too.  The bean ate them right up – but they were a little too spicy for the bird.  Which was kind of sad because she loves green beans.  I would add less spice next time, but they were delicious.

13.  Sausage Egg MuffinsWe love these things.  I’ve been making variations of them for years.   I like to keep them on hand in the fridge.  It’s such a great easy breakfast and you can add anything you want!  They are great alone or wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla and they are the perfect shape for toasted English muffins.

14.  Chocolate cupsAnd  last but not least – the infamous chocolate cups!  My sister and I made these for my nephew’s birthday a few months ago.  They were a huge hit and actually way easier than I thought they would be.  You really just melt chocolate and dip a balloon in it and then put them in the freezer.  You have to carefully pop the balloons and pull them out, but they really did come right out.  My sister bought milk chocolate because she and the kids prefer it.  We think that dark or bittersweet would hold up better because the cups got a little melty once we started eating them.  But they do look SO very cool and fancy!

So, there you have it.
I love finding new recipes on Pinterest!

My sister is on a crazy, fall, pumpkin, nesting kick right now and has tried these pumpkin recipes that she found there too!  She made me a pumpkin spice latte and pumpkin cream cheese on graham crackers yesterday.  DELICIOUS!

pumpkin cream cheese
pumpkin pancakes
pumpkin pull apart bread
pumpkin spice latte
butternut squash gratin
(not pumpkin – but close enough!)

Have you tried out any new recipes lately?  Let me know if you would like an invite to Pinterest.  But, enter at your own risk – it’s kind of addicting!  🙂