Onion Roasted Red Poatotes

I hope you had a nice weekend. I had a really nice one. It was nice to spend time outside. I love this time of year. I wish it could last forever.

I love roasted red potatoes. I remember going over to a friends house years ago and she made them and I have been making them ever since. They are delicious.

Ingredients

8 red potatoes scrubbed and cubed
4 T dried onions
3 T dried parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 T olive oil

Directions

1. In a greased square pan. place washed and cubed potatoes.
2. Sprinkle the onions, parsley, garlic, salt pepper on to the potatoes.
3. Drizzle the oil over the potatoes and toss them until they are all covered with oil.
4. Bake in oven for about 45 minutes or until potatoes are soft and light golden brown. Stir once or twice during baking for even cooking.
5. Serve warm add more salt and pepper if desired.

Shoe String Fries

Shoe String Fries

 I loved the combination of the sweetness of the sweet potato with the white potatoes. These reminded me of shoestrings that we used have in a can. That I am sure were not good for me. Some of them were crispy and some were a little softer.   I will be making them again soon. They kind of reminded me of onion rings.   


Ingredients

7 white potatoes peeled
2 sweet potatoes peeled
3 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions  Heat oven 400


1. Heat in Turn potatoes on to its side. Cut lengthwise in very thin slices not cutting it all the way through.
2.Turn the potatoes over on to the other side. and cut again. So it will be shoestring pieces.
3. Put pan in oven to let it heat up.  Put in big bowl in ice water and let set a few minutes. Drain them in a colander and dry on paper towels.  
4. Put in a bowl and pour oil and salt and pepper and stir around.
5. Take pan out of the oven and place fries in single layer and place in oven.
6. Stir after about 10 min. Cook to desired tenderness or crispiness.    

Creamy Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes and tips on creamy potatoes

Creamy Potatoes

This month's Recipe Redux celebrates the Oscars by recreating recipes from our favorite movies. I'm not much of a movie person, but I do have some favorite chick flicks that I could watch and quote over and over again.

One of my favorites is While You Are Sleeping. I love the family dynamics and the cute story. One of the classic lines is given by the Grandma--"These mashed potatoes are so creamy." It's not a very spectacular line on it's own, but it's funny because the family is sitting at the dinner table and there are several conversations going on at the same time. I have a big family where that often happens, and some family members around here that love mashed potatoes.

Here are some lovely, creamy mashed potatoes that are also low on the fat, as well as some tips for making your mashed potatoes the creamiest of all.

Ingredients:
2 lbs potatoes peeled and sliced in 1/2 " pieces
3/4 C milk
2 tsp rosemary
2 cloves of minced garlic
2 T butter
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Put sliced potatoes in pan cover with cold water. Simmer the water until the potatoes are soft, when you poke a fork in them.
2. In the meantime pour the milk, rosemary, and butter into a sauce pan. Heat until warm, and then keep it on low until the potatoes are all mashed.  
3.. Drain out the water. (Potato water works great for the liquid in bread) and then place back on the element that has been turned off but is still warm. To help all the liquid to to disappear.

4. Then mash with a fork if you have time or a disc masher. (If you use a beater of food processor it could make them gummy with the starch that is in the potatoes) Try to get out all of the lumps. 
5.Then strain the rosemary out of the milk and pour the milk into the potatoes. Mash until all combined. Sprinkle the  garlic over the potatoes and mash until all blended in.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve  warm.

Helpful tips:
1. Slicing the potatoes into 1/2" slices makes them cook faster so they don't become water logged. Easier to mash too.
2. Getting all the water out helps to not have watered down potatoes.
3. Having the butter melted and the milk warm helps to add to the creaminess.
4. Mashing with a fork, if you have time, gives a smoother texture.
Enjoy!  

Creamy Baked Potato Soup

I hope the Christmas season was a happy one at your home. It was a nice one for us. It was wonderful to have my son and his wife come for a visit. It is heartwarming to look around the dinner table and see your whole family sitting around it. Those moments are the sweetest. This is a wonderful soup for these cold days that we have been having. It is not a lot of work either. Hope you are able to enjoy it.
Ingredients:
 1 1/2 Rice milk or milk of your choice (warmed up)
 1/4 C plain yogurt
 2 green onions
3 oz cheddar cheese
 1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
 1  garlic clove
 2 large potatoes boiled or baked and Peeled (Yukon would be great)
 topping options: cheese, croutons, bacon bits  
Directions:
1. In blender blend, milk, yogurt, onions, cheeses, salt pepper, garlic and on potato. Blend until smooth. (Put on soup setting if you have that on your blender.
 2. The put in the next potato and pulse the blender a couple times. Keep the potato chunky. Unless you prefer it creamy.
3. Serve warm and top with your favorite toppings. cheese, croutons, bacon bits etc..

Balsamic Sauce on Baked Vegetables

We got some rain last night, and some more this morning. I love how rain wakes up the plants and brings new life into them making them more vibrant. I wouldn't do well living in an area where it rains all the time (I guess it is really what you get used to), but I do like getting rain. It is especially fun when you are all cozy in bed listening to it.

 My son was leaving for school yesterday, and I told him to have a great day. He responded back with, "How can it be a great day I have 2 tests?"  Those words rang in my ears all day. I am guilty of having those same feelings sometimes. Each day is a choice of what we want to make of it. I am working on not letting my outside circumstances effect whether or not it is going to be a good day or not. I was waiting in a line in Costco and I really appreciated the lady in front of me starting up a conversation, and making the time pass quickly. I felt like a made a friend at the end of the visit. She added sunshine to my day. The lady behind me was complaining on the phone to her friend about the wait.  Every situation is a choice. Sometimes I succeed in this area, and sometimes I don't, but I am still going to keep working on it. It is Fall ! It is a great time to be alive. Enjoy today ! :) 

I loved this dish again it was a great way to eat vegetables adding a little more excitement to them. I loved the combinations of flavors it added a nice new twist. I had not had this flavor combination before. My family seemed to enjoy it as well. I love changing things up and trying new things.

Ingredients: preheat oven to 400 
Sauce
1 purple onion chopped finely
1 garlic clove minced
2 T olive oil
3 T balsamic vinegar
2 tsp honey
2 1/2 T cream
2 tsp sage
salt and pepper to taste

Vegetables
1 sweet potato peel and chop into thin pieces
2 carrots peel and chop thin pieces
1 potato peel and chop into thin pieces
1/4 butternut squash peel and chop into thin slices


Directions:
1. For the sauce put onions and garlic in a frying pan with oil. Let cook together about 2 min.
2. Add the vinegar, honey, cream, sage,  salt, and pepper. Set aside.
3. For the the vegetables. Put all of them in a bowl and stir the olive oil  and salt until they are covered.
4. Spread out on baking sheet. and put in preheated oven. Bake about 20 min or until done.
5. Pour warm sauce over the vegetables and serve. :)

   

Creamy Vegetable Rice Soup (Gluten Free)

I wanted to make a nice dinner for my father in laws birthday. I decided to make a nice soup. It was so creamy and flavorful. I had wanted to make clam chowder, but realized I didn't have clams so I came up with this instead. You can add the vegetables you have on hand. Celery would be great in it too. The nice thing is I made it gluten free, so my mother in law could enjoy it too. Hope you enjoy it too!

Ingredients: served about 8 servings
5 T butter or coconut oil
3/4 to 1 white onion chopped in pieces
3-4 potatoes peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 C zucchini small pieces
3-4 garlic cloves minced
1 scallion chopped in tiny pieces
4 large carrots peeled chopped small pieces
2 C water
1/2 C quinoa flour or another whole grain flour
5 1/2 C milk (I used whole milk)
1/2 pint of whipping cream
2 tsp thyme
fresh herbs 1 tsp each marjoram, oregano, and basil *optional
2 tsp sea salt with iodine
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 C cooked brown rice
more salt and pepper if needed

Directions:

1. Heat butter or oil in large cooking pot. Add all the vegetables and cook on med heat till softened. For about 8-10 min.

2. Then stir in water until heated and stir in quinoa flour, until it is all mixed in and smooth.

3. Stir in milk, cream, herbs, pepper and salt. Stir in brown rice.

4. Cook on med low. Do not let it boil. Cook for 5-10 min. Then turn down to low until ready to serve. (I had it on low for about 1 1/2 hours. It is nice to have time to have all the flavors work together.) You could put it in a crock pot as well.

Cashew Sauce with Pasta

I was in the store the other day and started talking to a lady as she was checking out. I love talking to people--just like my dad. Sometimes it drives my kids nuts, but I find I learn fun new ideas. This was one of those times. She was telling me how she makes a cashew sauce with pasta that her children love. I gave it a try yesterday and really enjoyed it. It is nice if you avoid dairy. There is no dairy in the recipe, but lots of healthy veggies.



This is what it looked like prior to cooking.

Ingredients:
12 oz cooked pasta whole grain or regular ( something like rotini, macaroni penne, etc..)
3 slices toasted bread
1/2 green onions chopped small pieces
2 C peeled potatoes chopped up (yellow or red)
1/2 C carrots peeled and chopped
2/3 C onion chopped up small pieces
2 C water
2/3 C cashews
1 T sea salt
1/2 C coconut oil or another oil or butter if you are OK with dairy
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 tsp dried mustard
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 C fresh spinach *optional
1/2 C fresh mushrooms * optional
paprika and dried parsley for garnish

1. Throw the toasted bread into my blender to chop them up into bread crumbs. (* optional: You could add a couple tablespoons of melted butter to the breadcrumbs after they are chopped up. (If you are OK with a little dairy.)

2. Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9X13 pan.

3. In a saucepan, add onions, potatoes, water and carrots. Cook with lid on until vegetables are softened.

4. In a blender pour in cashews, salt, garlic, oil, mustard, lemon juice, Cayenne, paprika, and spinach, mushrooms cooked vegetables along with the cooking water. Pulse until the mixture is all creamy. It should take a couple minutes.

5. Then a bowl mix the cooked pasta and sauce together. Pour into greased pan.

6. Pour on the breadcrumbs sprinkle evenly, and sprinkle with paprika and parsley.

7. Place in preheated oven. for 20 to 30 min till the bread crumbs are a nice golden color. Don't over bake. It will dry it out.

Serve
* You could omit the breadcrumbs and the cooking part in the oven, and just pour the sauce on to spaghetti or linguine. Something for me to try next time. :)

Golden Potato Vegetable Soup

I was riding in the car today and heard them talking about soups on the radio. I love eating soups of all kinds. I like to incorporate a lot of different vegetables into them. It's a great way to get the family to eat vegetables. :) They started talking about a potato leek soup and I couldn't resit trying it out. It is a perfect meal for a winter night. We enjoyed it. I served it with homemade tortillas, that I made into quesadillas. It was a great meal!


This is what the finished product looked like. I even made my own vegetable broth for the base. You can do that, or buy it already made at the store. Hooray for soup!

Ingredients:
3 C leek, chopped
4-5 C gold Yukon potatoes, cut in cubes
3 C vegetable broth*
3 C water
2 tsp thyme
small bunch of fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
2 T olive oil
1 T butter

Directions:

1. In big quart pan pour in oilve oil and butter. Turn on to medium heat. Add the leek and let simmer a couple minutes. (Make sure you wash the leek in all the nooks and crannies.)

2. Scrub the potatoes and leave the peels on. Cut them in to cubes. (I love the cooked skins on yukon potatoes--they aren't even noticeable.) Add to the leeks.

3. Pour in the water, broth, salt, pepper, and thyme. Let cook until potatoes are soft. About 20 minutes. Put on the lid. I left it on low till ready to eat. I added the fresh parsley about 5 min before serving. Enjoy!

*I made homemade broth by putting about 5 C water, 3 peeled carrots, half an onion (cut up), garlic clove. salt and pepper and simmered it for about an hour. Then poured the whole mixture into the blender. This made extra broth than needed for the recipe. I put the extra in the freezer for later.

Cheesy Potato Soup

Sorry I was not able to get a picture of this. The family happily enjoyed this for dinner for tonight. Sometimes soup for dinner is not their favorite. One of the comments tonight was "It has a good consistency." It was all gone at the end of the meal which is a good sign too. =) It was a nice meal for a cold winter night.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C Water
7 small potatoes about 3 C chopped in small pieces
2 carrots chopped up
1/2 onion chopped up
3 celery stalks chopped up
1 T thyme
1 tsp salt
dash pepper
1 tsp parsley
2 C milk
2 T flour or Ultra gel
1 C Cheddar cheese in chunks or 1/2 lb Velveeta Cheese

Directions:

1. In a pot put in water, potatoes, onion, celery, carrots, thyme, salt, pepper, and parsley. Simmer 20 min till vegetables are softened.

2. Pour milk in Stir in flour or ultra gel. Let thicken. Stir in cheese, and let it melt. Serve! Another quick and easy meal. Yum! This would be yummy with it.

Tasty Potato Mix

This was a fun side. I like the combination of colors. I used Yukon Gold Potatoes this time. I was planning on using red potatoes, but they were all out of them at the store. I was happy the way the Yukon Potatoes worked. I have one family member that only likes sweet potatoes, and others that only like the plain. So I made everybody happy. It is nice when that works out. =)

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes
8 potatoes med. to small size
1 T dried chives
3 T dried onions
1 tsp marjoram fresh 1/2 tsp dried* Optional
3 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
1/2 C Olive oil

Directions:

1. Cut up all the potato in 1/2 inch slices, then cut then cut the circle in 4 pieces.

2. Mix all the spices in a bowl. Pour the potatoes in a greased 9x13 inch pan. Pour the oil on the potatoes. Stir the potatoes until completely coated with oil. Pour the spices evenly over the potatoes. Stir until completely mixed in.

3. Cover the pan with foil. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. I stirred them a couple times in the cooking process. The last 15 min., I took off the foil and let them cook so they could be a little more dried out. Enjoy!

Potato Roasted Garlic Soup

This was a fun way to use the other roasted garlic I made the other day. Roasted garlic can add a nutty, rich flavor with out adding the fat. You can add a few roasted cloves to salad dressings, soup and sauces to enhance them. The roasted garlic is best used in 2 days. You can squeeze the pulp out and put it in a small glass container. Plastic containers may absorb the odor from the garlic. This is another soup that is nice for a fall evening. My family liked it. Next time they said they would like more potato chunks. It was a nice meal.

Ingredients:

1 roasted garlic bulb or you could use 2 T minced garlic
4 C chicken broth
1 T olive oil
1 onion chopped up
2 1/2 lbs potatoes (I used red potatoes & left the skins on)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp marjoram *Optional
3 C low fat buttermilk or low fat milk add 3 T Vinegar let sit 15min
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp parsley
pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Put 1 T Oil in pot. Heat pan and add onions (garlic if you aren't using roasted garlic) cook until softened. Then add the chicken broth, roasted garlic, bay leaf, marjoram and potatoes (Peel and chop potatoes). Cook covered about 20 min or until the potatoes are soft.

2. Take out the bay leaf out. Scoop out between 1 to 2 Cups of cooked potatoes. Depending on how many chunks you want. Pour the rest of the mixture into the blender and blend till smooth.

3. Pour the soup back into the pan Add the reserved potatoes, salt, parsley, thyme, pepper and buttermilk. Heat till thoroughly warm. You can add more spices to your preference. Hope you enjoy it!

*This would be yummy if you added a can of clams. Clam Chowder =)