Makin' Mashed Potatoes

These next few recipes are dedicated to my husband's friend who was lucky enough to be one of the FEW men that actually end up getting custody of their kids...heard your mashed potato story last night, bless your heart for trying! Hope this helps you......the amounts are based on what I make for our family of 5. You can adjust the recipes when making them for larger family gatherings.

Knowing how many potatoes to use: 1/2 of a large baking (russet) potato per person or 1-2 average sized red potatoes per person.....whatever that total is, I add a couple more servings for sending leftovers in my husband's lunch or for extra hungry tummies that want seconds at dinner.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
7-8 red potatoes
2 garlic cloves minced or 1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp butter
Splash of milk
2 tsp dried parsley

Fill a large saucepan 3/4 full with water, bring to a boil. While the water's heating up, wash the potatoes thoroughly (do not peel). Quarter the potatoes, add to boiling water. Boil potatoes for approx. 15 min. or until a fork pierces the potato easily. Drain the water. If your pans are coated with Teflon be sure to transfer the potatoes into a large bowl before mashing so you don't ruin your pans! Add the garlic, butter, milk and parsley to potatoes, mash with either an electric handheld mixer or non-electric potato masher. Return to pan to keep warm until ready to serve.

Mashed Potatoes
3-4 large baking (russet) potatoes
2 tbsp butter
Splash of milk

Fill a large saucepan 3/4 full with water, bring to a boil. While the water's heating up, peel potatoes & rinse with water. Cut potatoes in 1/2, then quarter each 1/2 (8 sections total); add to boiling water. Boil potatoes for approx. 15-20 min. (depending on how big the sections are), test with a fork poke. Drain the water. Again, if using Teflon coated pans, transfer to a large bowl before mashing potatoes. Add the butter and milk, mash with an electric handheld mixer or non-electric potato masher. Return to pan to keep warm until ready to serve.

Different Flavor Options for Regular Mashed Potatoes
You can always change up the flavor of your mashed potatoes to better accompany your main dish.

Example #1 - If your main dish is Italian, you can add 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/4 tsp dried oregano & 1/8 tsp garlic powder or 1 garlic clove minced.

Example #2 - If your main dish is a red meat such as pot roast, you can add 1 tbsp dried minced onion to the pan while potatoes are boiling and a pinch of salt & pepper.

Example # 3 - Mix up the flavor simply by making a gravy to top your potatoes before serving (easy to use gravy packets are available at the store); whether your main dish is turkey, chicken or roast you can find different flavors of gravy to match your main dish.

ENJOY!

Homemade Applesauce (Crock Pot Recipe)

Homemade Applesauce

10-12 medium sized apples
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Quarter, core & peel apples; put in crock pot. Add water, sugar and cinnamon; stir apples gently to coat. Cover with lid. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hrs. Once done, puree with handheld or stationery food processor (or use a blender). Serve either warm or chill in fridge. Store in container with lid in fridge.

Personal Note:
It is a little time consuming to make homemade applesauce, but the satisfaction comes from the thanks I get from my family when I make it. They love it. To make it inexpensive, watch for the pre-bagged apples to go on sale (ex: 5 lbs for $3.99 makes them $0.80 a lb) and use them solely for making batches of applesauce, apple bread or apple pies. They're usually too squishy to eat sliced, that's why they're cheaper than the displayed bulk apples. There's also the satisfaction of knowing when you make something from scratch, you're cutting out a ton of preservatives AND everything tastes better made with love!

Banana Snack Cake Recipe

Banana Snack Cake

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 medium)

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour (or you can try 1/2 regular & 1/2 whole wheat, it's different, but still good)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup buttermilk (I keep powdered buttermilk on hand, it's cheaper and lasts longer!)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I omit because my family doesn't like nuts in breads)

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening & sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture and add buttermilk a little at a time until well mixed. (stir in nuts optional) Pour into a greased  13x9x2 baking pan. (I sprinkle the top of the batter w/ cinnamon before putting in oven.) Bake @ 350 for 25-30 min. or until toothpick near middle comes out clean.

There is a recipe w/ it for making frosting, but we choose not to add frosting to it...makes it too sweet for us!

Personal Note:
Many of the recipes I use come from my Taste of Home Cookbooks and often times I end up changing them up to make them my own and to my family's taste preference.....this one however, I didn't hardly change. It's great the way it is. This recipe is near and dear to my heart, but I don't make it very often. It brings up many happy memories spending time with my stepdaughter when she was little....BUT, life changed and so it's hard to do now. She'll be 14 next month, wonder if she remembers making this all the time and it being her favorite?



Our Homemade Pizza Recipe

Pizza Sauce (Double Batch) - Use 1/2 now and freeze 1/2 for use later
2 - 8oz. can Tomato Sauce
1 - 14.5 oz. can Diced Tomatoes, undrained
2 tbsp Dried Basil
2 tsp Dried Oregano
2 tsp Sugar
4 Garlice Cloves, minced
1 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Pepper

Before you begin, puree the tomatoes (do not drain). In a small saucepan, combine tomato sauce, pureed tomatoes and the remaining ingredients. Simmer on the stovetop, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Pour 15 oz. into a freezer container and save for future use. Set aside the remaining 15 oz. for immediate use. See below for dough recipe...

Pizza Dough Recipe
3 cups All Purpose Flour
1 pkg Active Dry Yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp from jar)
1/4 tsp Garlic Salt
1 cup Warm Water (120 to 130 degrees
2 tbsp Olive Oil

What I do is while the sauce is cooking, I make the dough... In a large mixing bowl combine 1 1/4 cups flour, yeast and garlic salt. Add water and oil. Beat w/ electric mixer on low for 30 seconds, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Stir in the remaining flour. Knead the dough four about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic texture. Divide in half, cover and let rise for 10 min. (Just in time for the sauce to be ready)

Toppings
This is the fun part! You can let your kids pick the toppings, or moms you can bring back to life some leftovers from dinners earlier in the week...proteins, veggies, cheese...whatever you want!

Preheat oven to 425. Roll out one dough ball into either a rectangle or square depending on your pan of choice. We use a cookie sheet because we don't have pizza pans so we go for the rectangle shape. Place on greased pan, repeat for 2nd pan (makes 2 pizzas). Prick w/ fork all around dough so you don't end up w/ bubbles. Bake about 10 min. or until starting to get golden brown. Bring out of oven and spread sauce evenly on both pizzas, put your toppings on and bake again for about another 10-12 min. or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Our kids have come to love helping make our homemade pizza...it's our own recipe developed from tweeking what we liked and wanted to change from other recipes we've tried. My daughter is almost 2 and she stands on a chair in the kitchen and helps make the sauce before I put it on the stove...my boys (6 & 10) alternate who gets to help roll out dough and who helps put on toppings. It makes it that much more special and another way to spend time together.



Turkey Pepperoni



Leftover Beef Barbecue

 


So, from my kitchen to yours...I hope you try it out! Let me know how it goes!

Beef Barbecue (Crock Pot Recipe)

Beef Barbecue

1 Boneless Chuck Roast (3 lbs)
Dash salt & pepper
1 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/3 cup chopped green or sweet red pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp brown sugar
12 sandwich rolls, split

Sprinkle the roast w/ salt & pepper (to your taste), Brown the roast on all sides, place in crock pot set on LOW. In a bowl, combine the next 6 ingredients to make a thick sauce.....pour over the roast and & cover w/ the lid. Cook for 6-8 hrs or until meat is tender. Remove roast and thinly slice; return meat to crock pot and stir gently. Let cook another 20-30 min. If you see fat, skim from sauce. Serve beef w/ sauce on rolls. Yield: 12 servings.

Sausage Potato Soup

Sausage Potato Soup

1/2 lb fully cooked kielbasa or polish sausage, diced
6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups frozen corn
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 celery rib, sliced
1/4 cup sliced carrot
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups milk
2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp minced fresh parsley

In a large saucepan, brown sausage; drain. Set sausage aside. In the same pan, combine potatoes, corn, broth, celery, carrot and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 min. or until veggies are tender. Add milk, cheese, parsley and sausage. Cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted and soup is heated through. Yield: 6 servings

Serve with a side salad, some fresh bread & butter or rolls and you have a complete meal! It's a hearty soup, loaded with veggies and budget friendly...so it's a win win!

Meatloaf Recipe

When I was growing up, one of the recipes that I learned from my Mom was for Meatloaf...and she learned it from my Grandma. The recipe was never written down and passed on to me, I merely watched it being made in my Mom's kitchen countless times because it was one of my Dad's favorite recipes...so we had it often. And as an adult, I continued the tradition and have been making that same recipe (with minor tweeks) for my family for many years. It makes a hearty main course and also gets in some extra veggies which is always a bonus!

Mom's Meatloaf
2 lbs of 93% lean hamburger
1 can of Campbell's Old Fashioned Vegetable Soup (no substitutions!), drained
1 egg
15 crushed saltine crackers (I use unsalted)
Splash of milk
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Black pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all but the last ingredient, put in an ungreased 2 quart baking dish (like a 13x9x2) and shape into an rounded rectangle or oval about 2 inches thick. Sprinkle black pepper (to taste)all around on top. Bake uncovered for about 1 1/2 hrs or until juices are clear and there's no pink.

From my kitchen to yours, I hope you try the recipe and enjoy! Let me know if you do...I'd love to hear if you liked it!