Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

This is one of my favorite side dishes-- totally not healthy, but oh so yummy!

Ingredients
5 large baking potatoes
1/2 c. milk
2 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c. (8 ounces) sour cream
2 t. dried parsley
1 t. garlic salt
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
8 slices bacon crispy cooked and crumbled

3 green onions, sliced

Instructions
Preheat oven 350*.
Peel, quarter, and boil potatoes for 15-20 minutes or until soft. 

Drain potatoes and and beat with a mixer until smooth. 

Add milk, cream cheese, sour cream, parsley, garlic salt, and nutmeg. 

Beat at a medium-high speed until nice and creamy. 

Add salt to taste keeping in mind that the cheese and bacon will add a little salt later.
Spoon into a 8x8 baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. 

Top with cheddar cheese and bacon. 

Cover and bake for 30 minutes. 

Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese melts.
Top with green onions.

Glazed Carrots

I'm usually not a huge carrot person, but I accidentally ordered them in my bi-weekly Door-to-Door Organics order. 

I decided I wanted to make sweet ones, they are my favorite. I even have canned carrots in the pantry, I have been meaning to try this recipe with! 

Ingredients
1 pound of carrots, pealed, rinsed, and cut (you can also use baby carrots)
1/2 stick of butter
2 T  of light brown sugar, packed
1/4 t. of ground cinnamon
1/2 t. of honey

Directions

Boil carrots in salted water until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain well; set aside.

In a small sauce pan, add the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. 

Bring to a slight boil. 

Add carrots to the pot and toss until well glazed. 

Scalloped Cabbage Casserole

I had this a few years ago at a St. Patrick's day party. When St. Patricks day came around last year, and I couldn't find a cabbage recipe that sounded good, I requested this one! 

Scalloped Cabbage Casserole

Ingredients
8 c. shredded cabbage (3/4 head)
1 t. salt
pepper to suit
1 t. sugar
3 T butter
2 T flour
1/2 c. grated american cheese
1 c. whole milk
1/3 c. bread crumbs

Directions
1. Cook cabbage in boiling water about 15 min. then drain. Place 1/2 of butter in casserole dish coating it.
2. Mix together salt, sugar, pepper and add mixture to the cabbage in casserole dish, then add flour, cheese and the remaining butter.
3. Pour milk onto casserole and sprinkle top with bread crumbs.
4. Bake at 400 about 35-40 minutes until browned.

makes 6 servings.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Garlic Aioli

Brussel Sprouts are one of those foods that I have always thought of as EWW! My mom NEVER made them for us, I never had really ever tried them.  I finally tried them at a nicer restaurant and thought that the roasted ones were actually pretty good. (And not bad for you!)

Ingredients for Brussel Sprouts
1 bag frozen Brussel Sprouts cut into wedges
Canola Oil
Salt & Pepper

Directions For Brussel Sprouts:

Place brussel sprouts on a baking sheet and drizzle with canola oil. 

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Mix around brussel sprouts on pan to ensure they all get nicely coated in the oil. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown on at least one side.

Ingredients For Aioli:

6 T. mayonnaise
1/4 t. minced garlic
1 t. lemon juice
1 T. flat leaf parsley chopped 

Directions For Aioli:

Mix together mayonnaise, garlic, parsley and lemon juice. Serve in a ramekin or drizzled on top.

Sweet Potato Chips

I love my food processor! It saves me so much time when it comes to chopping, slicing, dicing, mixing, etc. I had some sweet potatoes from my Door to Door Organics order, and sweet potato chips sounded good. I really wanted some like the ones from Cheeseburger in Paradise, however those are fried. 

Ingredients: 

Sweet potatoes

olive oil 

salt & pepper

Directions: 

Slice sweet potatoes in food processor (tip- press firmly on potatoes as slicing in food processor for thinner chips), or slice with a knife very thin. 

Toss with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Line baking sheet with foil, and spray with cooking spray.

Place chips in a single layer.

Bake at 400* for 20-25 minutes, flip half way.

Crispy Parmesan Potatoes

My friend Megan made these for us a few weeks ago.  They were so perfectly crisp that I knew I had to make them again! I did add a little Penzey spice to them to cheese it up without a lot of cheese! 

Ingredients: 

2 Red potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

1/4 cup butter (melted)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 

salt

pepper

1 t. Penzey's Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle

Directions: 

Preheat oven  450*.

Melt butter in 9x13 inch pan. (I used the preheating oven to melt the butter). Make sure butter is spread across the bottom.  

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese, and seasonings over the butter. 

Place potato slices face down on the butter and seasonings. Sprinkle a little more seasoning on top so all sides are covered! 

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes, to allow the Parmesan to stick. Serve with sour cream for dipping.

Feta & Dill Cucumbers

Cucumbers, Cucumbers, Cucumbers! My cucumbers are going crazy! Here is another way I made them.

Ingredients: 
1 English cucumber, cut into quarters lengthwise and then crosswise
2 T red wine vinegar
2 t. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 t sugar
1/4 t kosher salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 ounce feta cheese, crumbled (about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon dill

Directions: 
Place cucumber in a shallow dish. Combine vinegar and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle vinegar mixture over cucumbers; sprinkle with cheese and dill.

Adapted from: Laraine Perri, Cooking Light
AUGUST 2013

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Quinoa

Between my garden, the block party, and random food I have cooked in the past few weeks, I had a lot of veggies to use up.  In my quest to find recipes for cucumbers, lots of my friends said to make quinoa.  So I gave it whirl.  The measurements in this really don't matter, whatever you like the most, put more of that in! I think it turned out pretty good!

Ingredients: 
1 cup quinoa- rinsed
cucumber
tomatoes
kalamata olives
yellow pepper
red onion
salt & pepper
feta cheese
lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
2 T olive oil

Directions: 
Cook quinoa according to package.
Chop all veggies (about 1/4 cup of each).
Once quinoa is cooled, add the veggies, olive oil, lemon juice, feta, and salt and pepper. Toss together.


Let marinate for a few hours.  This makes A LOT!

Bacon Green Beans

Bacon. Beans. Butter. Brown Sugar. Who knew those 4 ingredients together could be so yummy!? I wish I didn't make the chicken to go along with these. I could have made this my meal!

Last week, I was at the farmer's market and couldn't pass up fresh green beans for $2.  I have been wanting to make the bacon wrapped green beans again, but then I found a simpler way to make them.


Ingredients:
1-2 pounds fresh green beans
6 pieces bacon
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. brown sugar
garlic salt, to taste

Directions:
In a large skillet, fry the bacon over medium heat until done. Drain grease, and slice bacon into smaller pieces.  Add butter and brown sugar to pan.  Once the brown sugar has dissolved, add the green beans and bacon to the pan.  Cook for 5-8 minutes.  Enjoy!

Roasted Broccoli

Earlier this summer I went to Vegas, and had this AMAZING broccoli at the Social House.  While, this isn't exactly like it, it is pretty close.

Ingredients: 

Broccoli Florets

olive oil 

garlic 

fresh lemon juice

salt & pepper

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425*

Open the bag of broccoli and pour in 5T of olive oil, salt and pepper, and 4 cloves of garlic. Shake it up. It is important to start out with dry broccoli, so it gets nice and crispy! 

Line a cookie sheet with foil and dump the broccoli on it. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Drizzle a little more olive oil over it and squeeze lemon juice. 

You can top it with parmesan cheese if you would like, or some bread crumbs, but I thought it was delicious with just the lemon juice! 

Zucchini Fries

I made these using fresh zucchini from my garden, before the dreaded squash bug ate all of my plants! If anyone knows good ways to keep those darn bugs away, let me know! The last 2 years, I have had about 2 weeks of tons of squash, then they all die! 

Ingredients: 

Zucchini- sliced into "fry shape" 

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs - I used Italian seasoned

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

cooking spray 

Optional dipping sauce- I used the new Kraft Miracle Whip Kickin' Onion Blossom Dipping Sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 425° and cover baking sheet with foil.

Slice zucchini.
In a bowl beat egg with a fork.
Put the breadcrumbs and cheese in a bowl and mix well.
One by one, dip the zucchini sticks in the egg whites and roll into the bread crumb mixture, to coat well and place on the baking sheet.
Spray fries lightly with cooking spray.
Bake for about 20 minutes, turning over half way through. Cook until crispy and golden brown. Serve with dipping sauce or marinara.

Baked Tomatoes

Apparently, there is a tomato shortage this year, but not at my house! My garden did really well the month of July, leaving me with over 50 tomatoes! August, is leaving me with lots of green tomatoes, but no red! 

I made these to go along with a pasta dish, just to figure out a way to use them up! 

Ingredients: 

tomatoes

provalone cheese

parmesan cheese

oregano (I used fresh)

basil (I used fresh)

salt

pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 450° F.
Place tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet. Top with cheese, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil and bake until the tomatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

 

Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

I love fresh green beans! I love them even more when they are sweet and wrapped in bacon! I made these as a side dish to go with some grilled chicken. They stole the show!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh green beans
• 10-12 slices of thick-cut bacon
• 2 T butter
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 t garlic, minced

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash and dry green beans. I also snapped off the ends. Bundle together about 5-8 green beans. Using a slice of bacon, wrap it around the center of the beans to hold it together. Lay the bundle bacon seam side down in a 9x13 pan, sprayed with cooking spray, to hold it together. Repeat with remaining beans.

Heat a small saucepan over low heat. Add butter, brown sugar and garlic and stir until melted and combined. Pour the mixture over top of the green beans. Cover the bundles with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10-15 minutes more.

I'm sure you could do a version of this on the grill, but I haven't tried it yet!

Adapted from: http://www.howsweeteats.com

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

I needed a quick and easy side dish to go with my roast. This is what I came up with! They were SOO good, and I had everything on hand!

Ingredients: 

4 potatoes, cut in quarters (I used baking potatoes, but could use red)
1t. Italian seasoning
1t. garlic powder

1t. garlic salt
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Sprinkle of pepper
Olive oil

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Wash and cut potatoes into quarters 

In a bowl, place your potatoes and drizzle with olive oil.  

Add seasoning, cheese, and garlic. 

Toss until coated well. 

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with Pam.  

Spread out potatoes on baking sheet, making sure that they are not on top of each other. You want them to get nice and crispy! 

Bake 20 minutes, and give them a stir. 

Bake and additional 20 minutes, or until they are crispy! 

Adapted from: http://www.tablefortwoblog.com

Sweet & Spicy Coleslaw

I have to give Kent credit for finding this coleslaw.  We were trying to find a recipe to make coleslaw where we had all of the ingredients on hand.  This one was the winner, and I have made it many times since then.

Ingredients: 

1 bag of coleslaw with 2 cabbages and 1 carrot
1 medium onion, diced
1 jalapeno
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup yellow mustard
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
salt & pepper for taste

Dice onion and jalapeno and combine with coleslaw mix.  

Mix sugar, mayo, mustard, apple cider vinegar, Cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper together with whisk to make dressing. 

Add dressing to the slaw mix. 

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

Enjoy! 

Recipe adapted from Food Network