Creamy Mashed Potatoes

This recipe is from Pioneer Woman. Absolutely the best mashed potatoes EVAH!!!

Ingredients

5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes
¾ cups Butter
1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened
½ cups (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half
½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Lawry's Seasoned Salt
½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Black Pepper

Instructions

Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.
Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.
Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash, mash, mash! Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.
Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through.
Note: When making this dish a day or two in advance, take it out of the fridge about 2 to 3 hours before serving time. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until warmed through.

Funeral Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 package (around 26 Oz.) Shredded Frozen Hash Browns Or 6 Medium Potatoes (Peeled, Cooked, Cooled And Grated)
• 1 can Cream Of Chicken Soup
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• ½ cup Milk
• 1/2 cup To 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 whole Small Onion Chopped
• 2 cups Bread Crumbs
• 1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• ½ cups Butter, Melted

Mix together the potatoes, soup, sour cream, milk, cheese and onions. Spread it into a greased 9 x 13 dish.
Mix the bread crumbs and Parmesan with the melted butter. Spread it over the top of the casserole.
Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until bubbly.
This freezes well, too. Make it in two 8 x 8 pans and freeze one.

Recipe linked here.

Colorful Cupcakes

I just posted about our April Fool's Day Dinner here. So, I thought that I would post the recipe that I got from FamilyFun. Can I just say that these are delish! I don't really do meatloaf but I have made these a couple of times and used ground turkey instead of beef and they turned out SOOOOO good!! Enjoy!


RECIPE INGREDIENTS:

Meat Loaf
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Potato Frosting
3 cups mashed potatoes
Food coloring

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 muffin tin cups with foil bake cups.

In a large bowl, mix together all of the meat loaf ingredients until well combined. Divide the mixture evenly among the lined cups (the liners should be about three quarters full).

Place the filled muffin tins on cookie sheets and bake the cupcakes for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Divide the mashed potatoes among three small bowls and stir a few drops of food coloring into each batch to create blue, yellow, and pink pastel frostings. Spread a generous dollop on each cupcake. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Cheesy Potatoes

Ingredients:
32 oz. package of Hashbrowns
1 can chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
1 stick margarine
2 T. minced onion
12 ozs. Cheddar cheese

Directions:
Mix soup, sour cream, margarine, onion and cheese. Layer potatoes and mixture alternately. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until bubbly in center.

Sausage and Roasted Potatoes

I noticed that all my recipes are baking recipes, so here is one that I love that isn't really baking although it is roasted! It is so easy and quick. I got it from Got2Go cookbook that Kathleen Hanna, the author, put in her book. I saw her at a group that I belong too. She has a lot of great quick recipes that are yummy and kid friendly. Here you go!

2-3 pounds of russet potatoes
1 lb of Italian sausage (I like a mix of hot and regular)
2 onions
2 green peppers
2 Tbls olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cut potatoes to be about 1 inch squares and put in a 13X9 baking pan. Cut up Italian sausage into half inch thick disks and add to pan. Cut up green peppers and onions to about 1 inch strips add to pan. Pour olive oil over top, then sprinkle salt and pepper and stir. Bake at 400* for about 50 minutes or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork (or fork tender). Make sure you stir it a couple of times during cooking to get an even roast throughout dish.

Enjoy!