Baked Potato Casserole! **Bonus Some Family Photos!

I cherish the memories of days gone by and time spent with loved ones.  

I am started to update a lot of my previous posts.  The recipes are the same but since I have so many cherished recipes I felt it was time to go over them and share them again with those who have possibly just started to follow my blog.

Old recipes to some are new to others.  Please enjoy the recipe and some great memories from 7 years ago.  M.j. 

Today we celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary with our children and grandchildren at our home for an easy family  dinner.. I made our family favorite dish Porketta and I also decided to try a new recipe for a side and I was super pleased at the results!  Baked Potato Casserole!!  It was posted on Facebook a few days or so ago and I thought today was a good day to try it since we were having an easy, very relaxing, anniversary dinner with the children and grandchildren.  

Super delicious and special were peanut butter and chocolate fudge and marbled brownies were our dessert along with fresh fruit salad.  It was a great day! A lot of laughs and funny jokes from the grandchildren as well as good conversation.  A plus were looking through old photos.  That is bound to get a chuckle or two or three or four!  
Here is the recipe along with some photos of the beautiful day spent with family.

July 22, 1967

June 2004

June 25, 2013

Baked Potato Casserole

8 medium potatoes (about 2 ½ to 3 lbs total weight, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks)

1 cup 2% milk

½ cup light sour cream

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (divided)

6 slices bacon (cooked until crispy and crumbled)

sliced green onions
Eliminate bacon if you want a meatless dish.

Place the potato chunks in a large pot. Fill with enough water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil. Cook over medium-high heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain. Preheat the oven to 350⁰F. Grease a 2 ½-3 quart casserole dish. Return potatoes to the pot. Add evaporated milk, sour cream, salt and pepper. Beat with a hand held mixer until smooth. Stir in 1 ½ cups of cheddar cheese and half of the bacon. Spoon the potato mixture into prepared casserole dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through. Top with remaining ½ cup of cheddar cheese, remaining bacon, and green onions. Bake for an additional 3 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Family Favorite....Porketta

7/21/13

11/15/14

Easy Pierogi Lasagna Casserole: Busy families will love this!!

***Update: 6/15/2022

I used 6 medium skin removed potatoes ( cut in cubes and boil until tender in salted water.

When tender , drain add 2 T butter, approximately 3/4 cup or more milk and 2 cups cheddar cheese.  Beat until smooth. ****( easy short cut store bought mashed potatoes).

Save 1/4 cup for garnish.

I am working very hard at making some easy meals for all  busy families.  Today I was thinking about how Mom and Nana worked tirelessly making homemade dough for their Pierogi and as much as I love making their recipe; today I am making a Pierogi lasagna using Barilla pasta.  Using a few short steps you'll find this recipe to be a keeper.  Here goes!  You are going to love it!

You can substitute store bought mashed potatoes to make it more convenient.

A breeze using Barilla no boil noodles

Lay  noodles in warm water in a pan for approx. 5 minutes.  Drain well.  I pat each with paper towels before placing in dish.

Layer with butter, Barilla noodles, cheddar potatoes until all in box is used (13 x9) pan

Remove and pat to dry

Saute butter with onion until tender.

Layer

Ready to bake!

Happy Baking and Cooking from my kitchen to yours,

1 box(9 oz.) Barilla no boil lasagna noodles

1 pkg. refrigerated (22 oz.) Bob Evans Cheddar mashed potatoes(cooked according to directions)
Note:  For a fuller casserole use two pkgs. cheddar potatoes or you can cube 6 potatoes, boil until tender and season to your liking.

1 onion sliced thin

2 sticks butter or margarine
shredded cheddar cheese 

Place Barilla lasagna noodles in warm water for approx. 5 minutes.

In a sauce pan place butter and onion. Sauté until onion is tender.

In a 13 x 9 inch baking pan place 1/4 of butter onion mixture. Remove 3 sheets of noodles from water. Pat dry slightly. Place noodles in pan and top with 1/4 cheddar potatoes.**(Illustrations below) Continue layering and adding more cheddar potatoes and noodles until all is used. *Note: 1 box of  Barilla no boil noodles will make approximately  a 13 x9 inch pan.

Top with the remainder of butter onion mixture. Sprinkle some shredded cheddar on top and cover.

 Bake 350 degrees approx. 20 to 30 minutes. Set for a few minutes and enjoy!!!! 

Serve with a side salad if desired!!

Making Sweet Potato Gnocchi Video

6 small to medium sweet potatoes

3 1/2 to 4 cups all purpose flour

2 eggs

Pinch salt

Pinch nutmeg(optional)

I’m a large pot place potatoes making sure to completely cover with water.

Bring to a boil and continue boiling until potatoes are fork tender.

Remove and drain potatoes.  Allow to cool completely.

Once cooled skin should remove e easily,

Cut potatoes in half and put potatoes through potato ricer.

Once riced add pinch or two of salt and optional nutmeg.  If you like nutmeg it does add nice flavor but be careful of amount.  It can overpower your taste of potato.

Video will show the steps.  

Freeze Gnocchi on floured cookie sheets.  Once frozen bag in freezer bags until ready to use.

When ready to use in a large pot place water, add some salt.  When water reaches a full boil add gnocchi slowly stirring so as to not stick.  Allow gnocchi to rise to top on a slow boil.  Cook several minutes (5 to 10). Drain and serve with sauce if choice.

I use a brown butter sauce or even a sage butter sauce.

Homemade Potato Pancakes! A family Favorite

Any Day is a great day for Potato Pancakes.

Being raised in a family who were Slovak potato pancakes were an easy meal to make.  Mom learned how to make them from her mother and her mother from her mother.  Simple as that.

I used to grate the potatoes and didn't like doing it at all but the end result was a few knuckle scrapes but wonderful fluffy and delicious fried pancakes.

Here's my version(I used my blender) for convenience but go ahead and grate if you want to feel more authentic.

5 or 6 peeled and cubes potatoes.  I use white potatoes

1 tsp.+ salt

1 medium onion cut in cubes

1 tablespoon of flour

1 egg(optional) 

Note: sometimes I add an egg and somedays I don't.  They taste fine both ways and fries well too either way.

vegetable or canola oil  

Place cubed half of cubes potatoes and half of onion in blender.  Pulse on grate until you see the potatoes start to chop up.  Add more potatoes and onion as well as flour and continue to pulse on grate leaving it on grate and giving the blender a little shake to get the potatoes to move.  Remove top of blender and stir mixture until mixture is smooth.

In a large frying pan place sever tablespoons of vegetable oil on medium heat..  When you see oil start to separate it should be hot enough to place scoops of potato mixture into the pan. Allow edges of pancake to start to brown then flip gently over.  Cook slowly until browned on both sides.

Enjoy!  

Serve with sour cream or applesauce or both.  Yummy!

German potato salad

Once and for all I knew sooner or later I was going to make German Potato Salad.  I just had to be in the right frame of mind and felt a craving for it.  I was planning on making some barbeque chicken tonight's dinner so what a great side dish this will be..   

I had a large bag of potatoes that needed to be used before they would start going bad and I had all the other ingredients necessary so here's my adaptation of an allrecipes.com recipe.  Enjoy!

I Adapted the recipe to our liking from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 3 cups diced peeled potatoes
• 4 slices bacon(cut in pieces to cook quicker)
• 1 small onion, diced(I grated the onion)
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons sugar 

• 1 teaspoon salt
• pinch of black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley(I used  1/2 tsp. dried parsley)

Directions

1. Place the potatoes into a pot, and fill with enough water to cover. Salt water and Bring to a boil and cook  until easily pierced with a fork. Drain, and set aside to cool.
2. 
   
3. Place the bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Fry until browned and crisp, turning as needed. Remove from the pan and set aside
4. .
5. Add onion to the bacon grease, and cook over medium heat until browned. Add the vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pepper to the pan. Bring to a boil, then add the potatoes and parsley. Crumble in half of the bacon. Heat through, then transfer to a serving dish. Crumble the remaining bacon over the top, and serve warm.

Soup's On: Easy Baked Potato Soup

 

My third day of posting soup!  There must be something in the air.  I LOVE Soup!!  How about you?

This recipe has to be one of the easiest soup recipes and it has to be one of my favorites.  I love potatoes and when I saw this recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook I just had to make it.  I've made other potato soup recipes but this took little time and basic ingredients..(I had the evaporated milk and potatoes).   Enjoy!  Happy Cooking!

1/4 cup butter
1/4 chopped onion
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 can 14 oz. chicken broth( low sodium if available)
1 can 12 oz. Carnation Evaporated Milk
2 or 3 medium baking potatoes(baked or microwaved)Note: I microwaved them)
salt and pepper to taste
4 bacon strips (I used  Hormel real bacon bits)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons sliced green onion optional

**Note:  I haven't tried this but if you would like to try it a bit healthier you can cut back on the butter to 2 T , use fat free cheese and milk and eliminate the bacon bits.

From my kitchen to yours,

 

M.J.

Cut up the other leaving skin on if you so desire

Topped with cheese, bacon and scallion..Delish!!!!!

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion, cook for about 1 to 2 minutes or until tender.
Stir in flour. Gradually stir in broth and evaporated milk.  Scoop potato pulp from one potato, mash.  Add pulp to broth mixture.

Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture just comes to a boil.  Dice remaining potato skin and potatoes; add to soup..Heat through.  Season with salt and pepper.. Top with bacon, cheese and green onion..  Serves 4  Note: We used it as a meal..  It is filling  but add a small salad if you desire.  Happy Cooking!



9/17/12

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Italian herb seasoned Roasted Yukon gold potatoes

Hi:

The other night I made chicken romano and I just wasn't feeling the pasta as a side so I decided the 2 lb. of small yukon gold potatoes I had bought would be a good choice.

Here's the recipe:

I washed my potatoes.  Since they were small I just put them in a pot of water and rinsed them several times.  Rinsed and dried with a paper towel and cut them in half.

In a large bowl I placed the potatoes, 1/3 cup olive oil 1 tsp. Italian herb seasoning,1 tsp. dried parsley, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. onion powder and 1 tsp. salt. Tossed them well to make sure they were all covered with ingredients.

Set my oven to 350 degrees and then placed the potatoes with seasoning in a medium to large roasting pan uncovered.

Every 15 minutes I checked them and shaked the pan until potatoes were fork tender.   It took about one hour+.  Note: you an bake them at 375 if you are in a hurry.  They might cook a little faster.

Delicious as a side.  Of course if you LOVE potatoes you're sure to love these. 

Baked potato casserole

Hi and Good Day to all my foodies!

Here is a great side dish that you can possibly use for Easter this coming year.  Great with ham but can also be enjoyed with your favorite entree.  This side dish can be made earlier in the day for convenience or even the night before.  If you do decide to make it the night before refrigerate it overnight and take it out about 1 hour before baking it.  Taking the chill out of it a bit will allow it to bake through quicker.

Enjoy!

If you love potatoes this would be a great addition to most meals.  It is certainly a favorite of mine.

You can make it earlier in the day and just pop it in the oven or microwave to reheat. Great for family gatherings. Enjoy!





Baked Potato Casserole

8 medium potatoes (about 2 ½ to 3 lbs total weight, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks)

1 cup 2% milk

½ cup light sour cream

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (divided)

6 slices bacon (cooked until crispy and crumbled)

sliced green onions Eliminate bacon if you want a meatless dish.

Place the potato chunks in a large pot. Fill with enough water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil. Cook over medium-high heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain. Preheat the oven to 350⁰F. Grease a 2 ½-3 quart casserole dish. Return potatoes to the pot. Add milk, sour cream, salt and pepper. Beat with a hand held mixer until smooth. Stir in 1 ½ cups of cheddar cheese and half of the bacon. Spoon the potato mixture into prepared casserole dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through. Top with remaining ½ cup of cheddar cheese, remaining bacon, and green onions. Bake for an additional 3 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Steakhouse Potato Salad! Need I say more~~~~~

Re post 👍. 6-30-17

Another new cold salad recipe!  Yummy!  Great anytime!  A cookout favorite.

This is a wonderful recipe.  I couldn't stop eating it!  It's a little different option to regular potato salad and it would go well with steak, grilled chicken or ribs.  Yum YUM!  Enjoy!!

Happy Cooking!
As always,

M.J.

3 lb. small red potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup mayo with olive oil reduced fat mayonnaise or Miracle whip dressing( I used Miracle Whip Light)

1/4 cup classic Ranch dressing

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled( I used real bacon bits)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 green onions sliced thin

Place potatoes in microwaveable dish

Add water; cover with lid and microwave on high 12 to 15 minutes or just until potatoes are tender; drain .  Place in large bowl and cool in refrigerator until completely cooled.

Mix dressings.  Add to potatoes with remaining ingredients; mix lightly.

Adapted from Kraft recipes.