Au Gratin Potatoes

 Potatoes and cheese- does it get a lot better than that? In my opinion? No. It's especially great to warm you up on a really cold day.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/ 190 Celsius
You will need a 2 quart baking dish with a lid.

4-5 medium-large potatoes

Cheese Sauce-
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon diced onion OR 1 teaspoon onion powder, optional
1 Tablespoon flour
dash salt
dash pepper
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or a cheddar cheese blend

Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling

Peel and slice the potatoes fairly thin. About 1/8" or a little thicker is good.
Put the slices in the baking dish.
Make your cheese sauce-
Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat.
Add the diced onion and cook til soft, if using. This will take a few minutes.
Next add the salt, pepper, and flour.
If you didn't use the onion, but are using the powder, add the powder with the salt, pepper, and flour.
Raise heat slightly, continuously stirring until the flour/butter mixture is bubbly.
Add the milk and keep stirring until the sauce is bubbly and thickened.
Turn the heat off and stir in the cheese until melted.
Pour the cheese sauce over the potatoes.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top of the sauce.
Cover with a lid and put in the preheated oven.
Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
After 45 minutes, check the potatoes, by poking with a fork.
If they are tender, the dish is done. If they seem a little solid, cook for another 15 minutes and test again.

Remove from oven and serve.
Serves 4-6.

The thicker the potatoes are sliced, the longer they take to cook.

Enjoy!

Chicken Fajita Pizza

 This is a great pizza. It's a favorite in my house. Instead of the traditional tomato sauce, you use salsa.

You will need an 11"x15" jelly roll pan, greased.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit/220 Celsius.

Ingredients:

Pizza crust
2 Tablespoons cooking oil
2-3 cups chopped skinless, boneless chicken meat
2 cups sliced yellow or white onions
1 cup sliced green peppers
1 cup sliced red peppers- If you don't have red, just use an additional cup of green.
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup salsa- Use whatever heat you prefer.
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack, mozzarella, or cheddar-jack cheese


Make the pizza crust dough
Bake the crust for 6-8 minutes.
Saute the chicken in the cooking oil until no longer pink.
Add the onions and peppers.
Sprinkle with the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt.
Stir and let cook until the onions and peppers are tender. This will take about 5 minutes.
Spoon the chicken and vegetable mixture over the hot pizza crust.
Top with the salsa.
Add the cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for another 15 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted.

Serve. This is enough for 4-6 people.

If you want, you can make 2- 12" round pizzas using the same amount of crust and dividing the toppings between the two crusts.

Enjoy!