Potato Skins

Welcome to Round #2 of the potatoes. To be honest, if the Overloaded Twice-Baked Potatoes and these Potato Skins got into a match to determine which was the best, it would be a barnburner.

I've always enjoyed the potato skins you can get at restaurants, but it's nice to make a healthier, nongreasy version and get to enjoy them in my pajamas :-)

The following recipe is based solely on the potato tops from the baked potatoes from the previous recipe. However, this recipes is EASILY adaptable to accommodate any number of potatoes and/or mouths to feed.

INGREDIENTS:

- 4 leftover tops of potatoes
- Canola oil
- Salt
- 1 cup of shredded cheese
- 3 pieces of turkey bacon, cooked, crumbled (SIDE NOTE: Bacon does really well in the freezer. We never eat enough of it at one time (don't get me wrong...we definitely COULD!), so I keep it wrapped in the freezer and use slices as needed)
- green onions/chives

DIRECTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- Cover a baking sheet with foil (makes clean up so much faster)
- Brush both sides of each potato skin with canola oil
- Sprinkle with salt
- Place potato skins on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes
- Remove the baking sheet from oven, flip the skins, and bake for an additional 10 minutes
- Once baked, put ~1/4 cup cheese and ~1/4 of the bacon crumbles on each potato skin
- Return the potato skins to the oven for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted
- Top with green onions (you can add sour cream, etc. if you so choose)

TAHDAH! Easy way to use up the remains of another meal without it going to waste. I served the potato skins as a side with a meal of sausage and Ranch Style beans. That was about 30 minutes ago. Am thinking that I wish we had more...

Overloaded Twice-Baked Potatoes

Recipe adapted from Eating Well.

I have a confession. I could eat baked potatoes every day. In fact, one of my FAVORITE things to do this summer has been to meet my mamma at a local restaurant here for a big baked potato and a massive glass of iced tea. Oh man...if I could do that every day.... When I first got all of my food allergies figured out, I had to avoid potatoes for a while. CHAD (Crushed Hopes And Dreams). Need I say more? Potato was one of the very first reintroductions I made!

A good baked potato is just hard to beat. Here's the problem with them though...I don't like bites that include only dry potato. I like when everything is mixed up together so you get all the flavor AND it's not too dry. These twice-baked potatoes are the answer to the quandary created by regular ol' baked potatoes and those dry, tasteless bites! You're welcome! *big grin*

I won't lie...these do take a bit of effort; however, they are more than worth the time put in. The best part is that you'll have plenty of leftover "potato guts mix" (that's right...you read that right) to eat the next day!

INGREDIENTS:

- 4 medium baking/russet potatoes
- 8 oz. lean beef (I used 93% lean because it was on sale! That's BIG news around here!)
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or to taste...I just add until I think it's enough!)
- 1 cup broccoli florets, finely chopped (I used frozen)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup shredded cheese, divided (I use the same Reduced Fat Colby Jack cheese I use in all my recipes.) Don't forget to notice that it says divided. If you get trigger happy and start dumping it all in, you'll be FORCED to add more cheese later. And we don't want that, do we?! (SNEAKY GRIN)
- 1 container (6 oz.) plain, non-fat Greek yogurt (This isn't as crazy as it sounds...Follow me: this is a great substitution to use in place of sour cream (as called for in the original recipe). I used the Yoplait 2x Protein Greek yogurt - labeled gluten free!)
- Green onions (chives)
- Salt to taste (I use Lawry's Seasoning Salt)
- Pepper to taste (SOOOO good with course ground black pepper)

DIRECTIONS:

- Bake potatoes (You can do this in the oven in the traditional way if you'd like. For faster results (and food in your hungry tummy at an earlier time!), use that lovely piece of machinery: your microwave.) 
(1) Pierce each potato with a fork
(2) Place in microwave and cook at 50% power for approximately 20 minutes (until the potatoes are soft); turn once or twice during this time
NOTE: If your microwave has a "baked potato" setting on it....go that route.

- Brown meat in skillet with onion and garlic powder; place in large bowl
- Cook broccoli as directed (if using fresh, add broccoli and water to the skillet you used for the meat, cover, and cook until tender - no sense in cleaning TWO pans!)
- Drain broccoli and add it to the meat
- Cut off the top third of each potato (Save these for another use. Tomorrow I'll be using ours for baked potato skins as a side dish. YUM.)
- Scoop all the insides out of the potatoes and into another bowl.
- Mash the potatoes up with a fork to break up any big clumps (Though not called for, I used just a few sprays of zero calorie butter spray to add a little moisture. You could use water or even a bit of chicken broth if you wanted, or don't use a thing! It's all up to you!)
- Place the shells of the potatoes in a baking dish or on a plate and set aside (It's difficult to make twice-baked potatoes if you don't have anything to twice-bake the potatoes in! *GRIN*)
- Add cheese, yogurt, water, salt and pepper to the potatoes and mix it all together well
- Add the meat and broccoli mixture to the potatoes and mix again
- Finally, fold in the green onions
- Scoop the potato guts back into the potato skins (I would say divide the mixture evenly as the original recipe mentions; however, that would NEVER work. I only used about 2/3 of the mixture because there was no room left for the rest! Save the extra mix to eat for lunch tomorrow...that's my plan!)
- Top each potato with some of the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese
- Put the plate/dish of potatoes back in the microwave for approximately 3 minutes...until the cheese on top is melted (that should be a pretty good indicator that the insides are warm enough).
- Serve it up!

I didn't serve this meal with anything else. We had potatoes and potatoes alone :-) These potatoes are essentially a meal in an edible boat...how could you want for more?!

NOTE: There are SOOOOOOO many variations to this recipe that would be incredibly YUMMO.
- Sauteed mushrooms and onions
- Salsa, pepper jack cheese, and corn
- Beans
- Meatless (double the veggies and cheese)
- Barbeque sauce and pulled pork
- The sky is the limit!!!

I will absolutely be making more versions of this soon. Let me know how yours go...

Cajun-style Cabbage Rolls

In my house, we often use variations of one particular phrase (typically in reaction to some of the silly things Walle (our puppy) will do...the situations he seems to manage to create):

- oh my (surprise/exclamation)
- oh my goodness (super exclamation)
- oh m' goodness gracious me (reserved for the real serious stuff...you know it has to be serious when all you can muster up is a shortened utterance of the word "my")

For example, you walk in to this...

...and you say "oh m' goodness gracious me"

Well this meal is SERIOUS STUFF, folks. So oh m' goodness gracious me, somebody go make this! Please. Do it for me (just because I know you'll thank me later). Ugh. So good.

In my house, we seem to have some sort of rating system. Really, nothing gets rated unless it is in about the top five favorite dishes/meals of each individual in the household. Though he desperately wants to, Walle doesn't count, as he can no longer get fed from the table (sad day). Last night I made one of Sam's top meals: Ground beef sauteed with onion and seasoning and served with melted shredded cheese, cabbage, and beans (last night's beans were of the Ranch Style variety). YUM. So....here's the predicament: every time I make cabbage we have leftovers. Well, cooked cabbage tastes and looks alright reheated the next day, but any length of time after that and you're looking at a questionable dish. So I set out on yesterday's endeavor with a strategy: save some of the big leaves of cabbage and try to make cabbage rolls today. Rock on! I've come across several recipes in the last month, so I began today thinking that I'd combine a couple of the recipes and give it a shot. Well....I'm cheap, remember? Couple that with the fact that I want to make things as simple as possible, and you end up with a lady using whatever she has in the freezer and/or cabinet to make a new dish (BIG GRIN). So I had some frozen andouille sausage that I typically use to make Amy's New Orleans Chili (don't worry...will share this soon). Given the fact that none of the recipes I could find for cabbage rolls say ANYTHING about Cajun style, I decided I'd strike out on my own. The result: a PHENOMENAL supper. That's right *TOOOOOT TOOOOOOOT* (my own horn again!) The final point to this story: this dish (served with fried cornbread/hoecakes) is now in my top 5.

INGREDIENTS:

- 6 large leaves of cabbage
- 2 c. andouille sausage, chopped (I use HEB's Hill Country Fare brand, as it is labeled GF. Don't forget to remove the casing!)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic (or I use 1 tsp. minced garlic - even though I LOVE cooking, I HATE when my fingers smell like garlic for several days...even after washing and rewashing then scrubbing with lemon and washing again!)
- 1/2 c. cooked rice
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 1 egg, beaten
- salt and pepper to taste (I use course ground black pepper)

- 1 tsp. Cajun seasoning

- 1 can diced tomatoes (I use the fire-roasted garlic kind)
- 3/4 cup water

DIRECTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- In a large pot, boil the cabbage leaves for 3 minutes
- Remove from the pot, and set the leaves aside to cool
- Heat/brown the sausage with the onion and garlic
- In a bowl, combine the meat mix, rice, seasonings, cheese, and egg

- Place a couple of heaping spoonfuls (1/6 of mixture) in the middle of a cabbage leaf

- Fold in two of the edges....

- Then close up the roll (like a box or wrapping a present!)

- Repeat with the rest of the leaves and the remainder of the mixture
- Place cabbage rolls in a 2 qt (8x8) baking dish

- In bowl, combine the can of diced tomatoes and the water
- Once mixed, pour this over the cabbage rolls

- Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour
- Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes
- Remove from oven and let cool for just a few minutes before serving.

What's funny is that, before tonight, I had never once eaten a cabbage roll. If you look around, it is hard to find an appealing photo. Despite all that, these. taste. mmmmmm-azing. That's right. I will, without a doubt, be making these again...as soon as humanly possible.

YUM.