Hasselback Potatoes

I've seen a few of these recipes around but I used the one from Tasty Kitchen. I truly enjoy the site since you can read reviews and comments.Anyways about these potatoes. I may or may not have made these potatoes 4 or 5 times this month. I also may or may not have tried it with russet, red, and yellow potatoes. Well actually I did but only because I wanted to be thorough for you guys. I'm thoughtful that way.

For research purposes only I like red potatoes the best. These potatoes are an amazing side dish for just about any meal. You can dress them up with the works. Sour cream, bacon bits, green onions, or just plain. Well as plain as these get. Plus there is an amazing liquid left over from the potatoes that we may have poured over broccoli, asparagus, but we did not dip bread in it. Wait we did actually. This stuff is amazing. Try it for a nice Holiday side dish. You won't be sad.

Scalloped Hasselback Potatoes

adapted from Tasty Kitchen

2 whole Golden Potatoes
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 piece (about 2 Inches Long) Parmigiano-Reggiano, Sliced Thinly
⅛ teaspoons Garlic Powder
¼ teaspoons Kosher Salt
2 teaspoons Olive Oil
¼ cups Heavy Cream
¼ cups Cheddar Cheese Blend

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Scrub potatoes.
You need 2 wooden spoons with handles of the same width. Place a spoon on each side of the potato and start slicing the potato into thin slices. The spoons will stop the knife from cutting all the way through the potato.
Slice the butter into thin pieces. Alternate the butter and the parmesan, stuffing them in between the slices of the potato. Season the potato with garlic powder and kosher salt. Drizzle the potato with olive oil.
Bake at 400ºF for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle heavy cream over the potatoes. Top with cheddar cheese.
Place back in the oven for 10-12 more minutes. Remove and serve!

  

Rocky Road Brownies

These brownies are amazing and rich and amazing and rich.I was going to do a nice write up about these but life is hectic and I have a certain someone waiting for the recipe so maybe next time I'll tell you how delicious these are. How they are creamy and crunchy and how they are better the next day.

 Rocky Road Brownies

½ C. Butter 

1 C. Flour

1 tsp. Vanilla 

1 oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate

1 C. Sugar

¾ C. Chopped Nuts

2 Eggs 

1 tsp. Baking Powder

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter and chocolate on low heat. Add sugar, flour, nuts, baking powder, vanilla, and eggs. Mix and spread in 9 x 13 pan.

6 oz. Cream Cheese 

2 Tbs. Flour

½ tsp. Vanilla 

½ C, Sugar

¼ C. Butter 

1 Egg

½ C. Chocolate Chips 

¼ C. Nuts

2 ½ C. Mini Marshmallow

Combine everything except chips, nuts, and marshmallows. Then fold in chips and nuts. Spread over dough and bake 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and add marshmallow and bake 2 minutes.

Frosting:

¼ C. Butter

2 oz. Cream Cheese

1 tsp. Vanilla 

1 oz. Unsweetened chocolate, melted

¼ C. Milk 

3 C. Powdered Sugar

Mix all together and pour on melted marshmallows and ½ C. Chocolate chips and swirl for a marble effect.

Creamy White Chili

 The Fall season here hit me like a ton of bricks. One day I was wearing t-shirts and shorts and the next sweater, coats, and scarves. I am not kidding you. It came out of nowhere and usually when that happens we get another week of warm nice weather kind of like an Indian summer. I'm still waiting for that week and I'm pretty sure it's not coming this year. So instead of complaining (more) I decided to get out my soup book and embrace it. 

Literally I hugged my soup book because I love soups. I don't post too many on here because I think they are usually too basic or I eat them so fast that I forget to take a picture. (Notice how the picture above is a half-eaten bowl of soup...) I'm not sure what it is about soups but the scream fall to me and since I am so nice I am going to try (really hard) to remember the blog and "click" then dig in.

This Creamy White Chili makes an appearance on our menu plan probably every other week and sometimes a few weeks in a row. The kids love it. The adults love it. It makes great leftovers for lunch. It has a touch of heat (completely to your liking) which warms you up inside. Plus it's just a great soup. Easy, quick, and delicious. So try it on the next cold day and you will be glad you did.

PS: This is amazing to dip tortilla chips in or a sprinkling of cilantro. I do it on mine and Sam's but the kids eat cilantro as long as they don't see it so much.

White Chili

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder or 2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon oil
2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies (if you like less kick, add just one can)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream
Fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)

In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion and garlic powder  in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and cream. Serve immediately.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

These cookies are amazing. They are so packed with yumminess that every time I make them I promise myself I am going to be good and all of a sudden I have eaten 5. That may or may not have happen this time too and the day is not over. Good thing I have Zumba tonight.

I found this recipe, I think, on the back of a Craisin bag. I have actually found a lot of amazing recipes on the back of packaging. These are definitely in my top cookies because they aren't overly sweet and I think that they are good for me since they have oats and cranberries. I just try to forget about the butter and sugar. So make these soon.

PS. These are amazing frozen and fresh out of the freezer.




Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies


2/3 Cup butter, softened
2/3 Cup brown sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 ½ cup oats
1 ½ cup flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
½ tsp. Salt
1 (6 oz) package Cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 375. Beat butter and sugar in medium bowl til light and fluffy. Add eggs, mix well. Combine oats, flour, soda, and salt in separate bowl. Add to butter mixtures in several additions, mix well between each stir in cranberries and white chocolate. Drop by tablespoon on to cookie sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Cool and eat.

Banana Nut Muffins

Ever have those days when you look in to your fruit basket and all of your freshly bought bananas have been tainted by the one brown banana? It rarely happens in my house because we have banana addicts but when it does I celebrate because I love banana bread, banana cake, banana muffins. (Maybe the banana addicts got the addiction from me..)

 I love this recipe because it isn't just mashed bananas, there are some blended right in to the batter. Plus I froze some they did amazing for Saturday morning breakfast. Yay!!

 Banana Nut Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 2 muffin tins.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give them a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.
Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.