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!

Baked French Fries

Who doesn't love french fries?

Sometimes they can seem a little greasy so this is a great alternative. They taste great and are really simple to make.

You will need a large baking sheet.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit/230 Celsius.

You will also need a large bowl.

Ingredients:

4 medium size potatoes

2-3 Tablespoons olive oil

salt to sprinkle

pepper to sprinkle

Peel your potatoes and cut them into fries between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick.

Add the sliced potatoes to the big bowl and add the olive oil.

Mix the fries and oil to make sure all the pieces are coated well.

You don't need lots of oil, just a light coating is good.

Lay the fries out in a single layer on the baking sheet.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Put in oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Turn the fries over, sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and bake another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve.

Serves 4-6 people.

Special Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are great! They are my favorite way to eat potatoes. I started making these when I wanted mashed potatoes, but realized I was out of butter. I had cream cheese.
I figured why not use the cream cheese.


You will need a 2 quart pan with lid.
You will need a potato masher OR a hand mixer.

Ingredients:

4-5 medium size potatoes, peeled and cut up. You will need enough to fill your pan almost full.
water
salt
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
1/4 cup milk
pepper
dried chopped chives

Peel and cut up your potatoes.
Add to the pan.
Put some water in the pan. Enough to cover the potatoes some, but not completely.
Season with salt. About a 1/2 teaspoon is fine.
Cover the pan and turn the heat on to medium high.
When the water comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low and let cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
Drain.
In a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and milk. Dump the potatoes into the bowl.
Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
Mash the potatoes with the masher or mixer.
Sprinkle some chives over the potatoes and stir in.
Taste and add more salt, pepper, or chives if you want.

Serves 6.

Enjoy!

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Last year's M- Mexican Lasagna

Potato Soup

Potato soup is very comforting. Most people have had it growing up.
This isn't my mother's potato soup and probably not yours either.
Potato soup is a frugal meal. It is also great on a cold night.

You will need a medium saucepan.
You will also need a blender, food processor, or you could even use a hand mixer.

Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
large pinch salt
dash pepper
1 cup milk

Cook the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain.
Combine the cooked potatoes and half of the broth in a blender or food processor.
Puree.
Or add to bowl and blend up with a mixer.
Set aside.
In your pan, melt the butter.
Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and dill weed.
Add milk.
Stir and cook until mixture is bubbling and slightly thickened.
Cook for an additional minute.
Add the potatoes and rest of the broth.
Heat through.
Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed.

Scalloped Ham and Potatoes

Scalloped ham and potatoes is great comfort food. It is so perfect when the weather starts cooling down.
It is hearty and warms you up from the inside.

You will need a 2 quart casserole with a lid.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ingredients:

5-6 medium sized potatoes
1 to 1-1/2 cups cubed ham
1/4 cups flour
2 Tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
salt
pepper

Peel and slice the potatoes.
Arrange the potato slices and ham cubes in the casserole dish so that they are distributed evenly.
Sprinkle the flour over the top of the potatoes and ham.
Cut the butter into cubes and put over the flour.
Pour the milk over all.
Sprinkle it all with salt and pepper.
Cover the casserole and bake in the preheated over for about an hour.
After 50 minutes, stir the ham and potatoes and check to see if the potatoes are done.
If it seems dry add a bit more milk.
Cover and put back into oven if needed.
Check in another 10-15 minutes.
When potatoes can be pierced with a knife or fork easily, the dish is done.

Serves 4-6.

Potatoes O'Brien

Potatoes O'Brien are fried potatoes with peppers and onions.

I don't really like fried potatoes and onions, but add in the peppers and I just love them.

Ingredients:

4 medium size potatoes, chopped. I prefer Yukon Gold or Russet.

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup chopped red pepper

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion

salt and pepper to taste

2-3 Tablespoons cooking oil

Peel the potatoes before chopping if you want.

In a 10" or 12" skillet heat the oil over medium high heat.

Add the potatoes, onions, and peppers to the skillet.

Season.

Sauté and stir frequently until potatoes are done.

Turn the heat down if needed so potatoes don't burn.

If red pepper is not available, use all green.

Potato Salad

This is just a simple potato salad. This is basically how my mom always made it. I have just tweaked it a bit to suit my tastes.

Ingredients:

1 small red onion, chopped
3 large hard boiled eggs, chopped
2 large potatoes- I prefer Yukon Gold but will also use Russets.
Approximately 1/3 cup mayonnaise
1-2 Tablespoons mustard
salt and pepper to taste

For variety cook and crumble 2 slices bacon

Peel and cube the potatoes. Cook in a pot of lightly salted water til tender. Drain and cool. Do not rinse them off.
In a bowl add the potatoes, chopped onion, and chopped egg.
Add mayonnaise and mustard. Blend in. If it seems dry add more mayonnaise, just a little bit at a time. Salt and pepper to taste. Now is the time to stir in the bacon if you intend to add it.
Let meld for at least a few hours for best taste.