Homemade Spicy Man Fries

Another one of Nicks creations.  Super yummy!

Ingredients:
8 Potatoes (we used small/medium sized ones)
2 Egg whites
1 1/2 tsp Chili powder
1 1/2 tsp Cumin
1 1/4 tsp Paprika
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 1/4 tsp salt
Vegetable oil

Directions:
*Pre-heat oven to 430*F.

*Peel, wash, then dry the potatoes.

*Cut your potatoes into 1/2 inch square pieces.  You want your pieces  to be pretty close in size.

*Put all the potatoes pieces into a bowl.

*In a small bowl, break the eggs and only keep the egg whites.  Here is a picture to show you how to get just the egg white.  You need to be careful when you break the egg not to open the yolk part.  Then, flip flop the yolk back and forth between the two shell halves.

*Lightly beat the egg whites with a whisk.

*In a different bowl, combine all the spices.

*Coat the potatoes in the egg whites.

*Sprinkle the spices over the potatoes.  We did NOT use all of the spices.  Toss the potatoes well so they are all coated.

*Put a layer of veggie oil onto the baking sheet.  We lined ours with tin foil first.  Use a good amount...these suckers STICK!  We used baking spray.  I don't suggest it because they still stuck.  So put a good amount of oil to coat the bottom.

*Place the coated potato wedges on the cookie sheet.  Spread them out.

*Put them in the oven for 5-7 minutes.  Take out of the oven, move them around, flip them up.  Drizzle with a bit of oil if they are sticking...ours did a bit.

*Put back into the oven and bake for 40 minutes total, flipping every 5-8 minutes throughout the cooking process.

These were SO good.  They were such a fresh taste on homemade fries!  We served them with homemade fish sticks that were fried.  I'll post the recipe in a minute!

We got the recipe from here: http://zoomyummy.com/2011/11/09/man-approved-spicy-oven-fries/

Crock Pot Potato Soup

I found this recipe on pinterest.com  the other day and had to make it!  Actually...I lied.  Nick found it on pinterest and requested that I make it.  :)  I am so glad I did though because it was so yummy!  While it was cooking I smelled so much garlic and kept thinking "this can't be good."  I was amazed though, it wasn't overly garlicy to taste!  It was...well...perfect!  I also thawed some bacon out of the freezer (okay, another lie...I actually put it in the microwave to dethaw it because I forgot to de-freeze it...) and cooked it up at the end to top the soup.  PERFECT!  (To cook microwave fast, and mess free put about 6-7 paper towels on a microwave safe plate.  Put your bacon strips on it.  Now cover them up with another 1-2 paper towel sheets.  Put in the microwave for 8-12 minutes.  They will cook a little once the microwave stops too.  SUPER crunchy, best used to top soups and such.  Not the best way to cook if you are wanting to eat it plain).

Ingredients:
5 lbs Russet potatoes (washed, with skins on)
3/4 of an onion, diced into tiny pieces
4 large garlic cloves, diced really really small
6 Cups chicken broth (1 of the big containers)
2 teaspoons salt
Pepper to taste

Directions:
*Dice up your potatoes into small bites (about 1/2 inch pieces).  (Look at the very bottom of this blog post to see how many potatoes and the size's I used for a good estimate...I think I used a little less than 5 pounds because they wouldn't all fit into my crockpot!)

*Spray down your crockpot with baking spray.

*Put all of the potato pieces into the crockpot.

*Add your garlic pieces and onion pieces into the crockpot.

*This is  the big chicken broth I used in the next step:

*Pour your chicken broth over the potato mixture.  No need to mix since the onions will float once they start to cook.  But if you are like me you will have to stir it regardless, sigh*

*Sprinkle the salt over the mixture.

*Cover your crockpot and turn cook on HIGH for 6 hours, or low for 10 hours.  I did the 6 hour one...

*After the 6 or 10 hours, remove half of the potato/onions from the crockpot and put it into a blender with 2 packages of cream cheese.  I had to do 1 package of cream cheese with 1/4 the potatoes, then a second batch in the blender with the second block of cream cheese.

*Pour it back into the crockpot and mix well.

NOTE:  Originally I scooped out a bunch of the liquid because I thought "this is going to be a sloppy, overly liquidy soup.  If you want to you can do  this too...BUT, I eventually poured every single drop of the liquid back in and it was the perfect consistency!  hah!

*Mix it up well, stir in pepper to taste, and serve with your favorite toppings!

Here is the sized potatoes I used.  BUT please note that I didn't have enough room in my crockpot for the top 3 in the lefthand corner...So I used all the others except for those 3.  So I used 6 big, 1 small/medium for the soup.

I adapted my recipe from the one found here: http://www.mamalovesfood.com/2009/06/baked-potato-soup-slow-cooker-style.html
(her's didn't dice up the garlic cloves until the end and I used 2 cups less broth than she did.  Also, I used less salt and only 3/4 of an onion.)

Hasselback Potatoes

I have seen these countless times while recipe searching online.  I've had them saved in my "to do" file for years too!  Funny thing is, the second Nick saw them he decided they looked delish and wanted to make them.  Tonight he cooked dinner, and these were on his menu.  I'm sorry I haven't made them sooner!  They were so easy, and they were so so so good!  Nick and I both agreed that these are a "must make again."

Ingredients:
2-4 Russet Potatoes (depending on the number of people you are cooking for)
2 Tbsp butter
2 Cloves of garlic (fresh cloves are so much better in this one than garlic pwdr)
2 Tbsp garlic oil
Sea salt
Pepper

Directions:
*Clean the skins of your potatoes.

*Take your potato and cut a bit of one side off so that it lays flat if need be.  If it doesn't need to be trimmed don't worry about it.

*Take 2 wooden spoons and place one on each side (long ways) of the potato.

*Take a sharp knife, and cut the potato every 3-4 centimeters so that it is in small slices, but still all attached at the bottom part.  This is what the spoons are good for; ensuring you don't cut all the way through.

*Spray a baking sheet with baking spray.

*Put your potatoes on the baking sheet.

*Put the butter over the tops of the potatoes.

*Cut your garlic into tiny slices.

*Stick the garlic slices into the potato slices here and there.

*Take your oil and spread it over the tops of the potatoes.

*Put salt and pepper over the tops of the potatoes.

*Bake in a pre-heated oven at 425*F for 40 minutes.

*After 40 minutes, broil the tops for about 5 minutes in the oven to make them a bit crunchier.  So yummy!

Sweet Potato Crisp

Do you hate sweet potatoes?  ME TOO!!!  Thats why you HAVE to try this one!  My entire family loves sweet potatoes, but I can't seem to get past the part of a potato being sweet...and having to eat it instead of a regular potato.  That's why this recipe is perfect!  This is like a sweet potato dessert, so it is TOTALLY allowed  to be sweet!  Its amazing!  Another recipe thanks to my friend Susan!

Ingredients:
1 Pkg Cream Cheese (8 oz pkg)
1 Can sweet potatoes (40 oz) or 2 Medium/large peeled, then cooked sweet potatoes
3/4 Cup firmly packed brown sugar, divided (or more if you want them sweeter)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Cup chopped/diced apples (peeled first).  I used 1 whole golden delicious apple
2/3 Cup chopped cranberries (I used craisins...found by the raisins at the store)
1/2 Cup flour
1/2 Cup old fashioned quick-cook oats, uncooked
1/3 Cup butter (cold or room temperature)
1/4 Cup chopped pecans (if you want...I didn't have any and it still turned out delicious!)

Directions:
*Pre-heat your oven to 350*F

*Beat cream cheese, sweet potatoes (if you are using canned ones, make sure you drain them first), 1/4 cup of the brown sugar, and ground cinnamon with an electric mixer until they are well mixed.

*Put this mixture into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish that has been sprayed down with cooking spray.

*Put your apples and cranberries on top of this mixture.

*Mix your flour, oats, and remaining brown sugar in a bowl until well mixed.  Now add the butter.  If you want a very crispy top, use room temperature butter (because it will coat the ingredients now while you are stirring).  If you want a lighter topping, use cut up pieces of cold butter.  The cold butter won't mix as easily now meaning all of the topping won't get super coated.  Its up to you how you want your topping.

*Stir the pecans into the oat mixture.  Now pour this mixture on top of the apple/cranberry mixture.

*Put your sweet potato crisp into the oven and bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes.  Remove and let cool at least 5-10 minutes because it will be super hot!

Onion Soup Mix Potatoes

We make these ALL the time!  Perfect as a summer side!  These are so incredibly easy and they are really, REALLY good!  I got the recipe on the back of a lipton soup mix box, but you can use any onion soup mix (it doesn't have to be liptons).

Ingredients:
2 lbs potatoes (I always use red ones with skins on.  Just enough to cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan)
1/3 Cup oil
1 Pkg onion soup mix

Directions:
*Pre-heat your oven to 425*F.

*Cut your potatoes up into bite sized pieces.

*Spray down a 9x13 glass dish with baking spray.

*Put your oil, potatoes, and onion soup mix into the baking dish and mix it all up.

*Bake for 35-40 minutes in the oven, stirring once halfway through.

Sweet Potato Fries

Here is another one of my husbands recipes:  Sweet potato fries.  He LOVES sweet potatoes (I don't, but these aren't too bad coming from a non-sweet potato lover).

Ingredients:
2 Sweet potatoes
1/8 cup oil (just an estimate)
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Directions:
*Cut the potatoes into fries.  We make ours fairly thick in size.

*Put the fries into a big bowl and pour enough oil on top.  Mix them up so that they are all coated thinly in oil.

*Pour the fries onto a baking sheet that has been lined with tin foil.

*Salt and pepper your fries.

*Pre-heat your oven to 425*.  Now bake your fries for about 20 minutes (check them after 15 to make sure the tops aren't burning).  Flip the fries, and continue cooking another 10 minutes or so to crisp the other side.  These aren't super crispy fries since they are baked, but they are healthy, easy, and tasty.  We have made them this way a few times now and there is never any leftover.  My friend sprinkles Parmesan cheese on top of hers once they are cooked so that is an option too if you want to try those!

Shepherds Pie

My moms recipe.  I grew up on this one!

Ingredients:
3-4 medium/large potatoes
1 lb ground beef
1 bag frozen vegetables of your choice (all corn, mixed veggies, etc...)
1 can of creamed corn
1 brown gravy sauce packet

Directions:
*Boil potatoes until cooked

*Brown meat on stove while potatoes are cooking

*Cook frozen veggies.  Mix them with the cream corn, and cook in a bowl for a few mins until all are warm.

*Once the potatoes are cooked, mash them.

*Put the meat on the bottom of a round of square baking dish.  Pour all the vegetable mixture on top of the meat.  Now, put all the potatoes on top of the vegetables.  Flatten out the top of the potatoes.  You can sprinkle some cheese on it too if you would like.

*Put in the oven at 350 until the cheese melts (about 5 mins).  If you don't put cheese on top you can cook it for up to 30 mins in the oven so the flavors mix together, its your choice.

*Cook gravy packet as directed on its package on the stove.

*Serve the dish onto your plate and pour gravy on top.

(Nick likes gravy on his, I eat mine without.  Its so easy, a very British dish!)