Three Cheese Baked Mashed Potato Casserole

Potatoes...cheese...bacon...creamy, comforting goodness. I know boxed mashed potatoes are a total cop-out. Sometimes life calls for a quick fix, and instant mashed potatoes were it. I needed a good side dish to go with some Easter ham. The best Easter ham. Something cheesy. These potatoes were creamy, gooey, and delicious. They were perfect for the occasion. I modified this recipe based on what I'll do next time. These were very cheesy. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Three Cheese Baked Mashed Potato Casserole

5 cups prepared instant mashed potatoes
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 slices American cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 or 2 oz bacon bits
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch garlic powder
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1 pinch onion powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In 2-quart casserole, combine mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese, American cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, bacon bits (reserving 1T for later use), onion, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Stir until cheeses begin to melt.

2. Combine melted butter, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, reserved bacon bits, onion powder, and bread crumbs. Crumble mixture over the potato-cheese mixture.

3. Bake for 30 minutes, or until topping has browned.

Penne a la Betsy

So I guess you could say I've had a craving for some good shrimp lately. The result of my search for the best shrimp recipe to satisfy this craving led me to this recipe, originally adapted from the Pioneer Woman's blog. What a winner! I'm sure we've both said this way too many times, but this might top the list of our favorite recipes ever. The garlic, tomato, shrimp, pasta combination here was perfection. Actually, yesterday, I was anxious to get home just to eat the leftovers! Make this dish, and you're sure to impress your audience!

Penne a la Betsy

3/4 lb penne pasta
3 T butter, divided
3 T olive oil, divided
1 lb large shrimp
1 small white onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c chicken broth (or white wine)
1 (8-oz) can plain tomato sauce
1 c heavy cream
1 T fresh parsley, chopped
basil leaves to taste
parmesan flakes to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Begin sauce by melting 1 T butter and 1 T olive oil in large skillet. Add shrimp, and cook for a few minutes until opaque. Remove and set aside to cool.

In the same skillet, heat remaining butter and olive oil. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, chop shrimp into small, bite-sized pieces.

Add broth to the pan and allow to reduce for a few minutes while chopping the basil leaves.

Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Stir well to combine. Add shrimp back to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add parsley and basil. Mix well.

Drain pasta and return to pot. Add sauce to the pot, and stir well to combine. If desired, sprinkle with parmesan flakes.

Bacon, Egg, & Toast Cups

These cute little guys caught my eye right away. What is better than bacon, egg, and toast in the morning? And these are so easy to make in large batches. The assembly took a little bit to get used to, but they were so worth it! You can adjust the baking time to get the yolk more or less runny, depending on your taste. These would be great for a brunch or entertaining, but they're equally nice for a fun Saturday morning surprise for the family!

Bacon, Egg, & Toast Cups

6 slices of bacon
6 slices of bread
Shredded cheese
6 eggs
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400° F.

Grease 6 wells of a muffin pan with butter.

In a frying pan, cook bacon about 3-5 minutes, until partially cooked but not completely crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Cut out rounds of bread ~3"-3.5". Press the bread rounds into the greased muffin wells.

Curl a piece of bacon around the periphery of each piece of bread, positioning it between the bread and the muffin tin to help keep it in position. Sprinkle a small amount of shredded cheese in the center of each piece of bread.

One at a time, crack an egg, removing about half of the white, and dropping the remaining white and yolk over each piece of bread, being careful not to break the yolks.

Once all the bread pieces have been topped with eggs, bake until eggs are cooked through to your liking (about 6-10 minutes) and bacon is crispy. Run a knife around the edge of each muffin well and pop the egg cups out. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Italian-ish Pork Chops

The other night, I was wondering what to make for dinner. I had thawed some pork chops, but didn't have anything particular in mind. I began to pull ingredients from the pantry, heading in the direction of some Mexican flavors...but as I began to assemble, it became much more Italian. The green chiles went back in the pantry in favor of garlic and tomatoes, and this is what came out of it! It turned out a little bit similar in flavor to the breading on Chicken Parmesan, but without the cheese and tomato sauce. I served it over noodles and a tomato sauce (included below) and sprinkled some shredded cheese on top.

Italian-ish Pork Chops
4 medium boneless pork chops
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/2 T basil
2 t thyme
2 t rosemary
1/2 T parsley

Italian-ish Tomato Sauce
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 t onion powder
salt and pepper to taste


Preheat large skillet with 2 T olive oil.

Bring water to boil in medium saucepan, and add pasta of your choice, cooking per package instructions.

Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients. Coat pork chops completely with dry mix. Place coated chops in hot skillet, and cook 4 minutes each side, covered, or until pork centers reach 170 degrees.

While pork is cooking, make tomato sauce. Combine in medium skillet all ingredients. Simmer until pork is ready.

Serve by covering noodles in tomato sauce and placing pork chop on top. If desired, sprinkle shredded cheese of your choice on top.

Pork Fried Rice

What does one do when they have some boneless pork chops thawed and ready, but they also have some eggs to use up? That was the question last night...my answer was pork fried rice. I looked at a couple of recipes online just to get an idea of the process, then went to work. After a couple of mishaps with exploding oil, I think it went smoothly and turned out to be a delicious meal! The proportion of meat to rice was different than the recipes I looked at, but we decided we liked it that way...some pork and some rice in each bite! (I would have had to double the rice otherwise!)

Pork Fried Rice

1/2 c oil (I used a mix of sesame and olive oil)
3 boneless, skinless pork chops, cooked, finely diced (I used about 1/4 inch squares)
4 cups cooked rice, cooled
1 c frozen mixed vegetables
2 T soy sauce
1 t onion powder
2 eggs, beaten

Heat the oil to smoking in a thick skillet or a wok. You can use a cover to prevent major oil splatter. Add the cooked rice, and stir fry for 6 minutes. Add the pork and frozen vegetables, and heat for 5 minutes, or until vegetables are softened, stirring occasionally. Add the soy sauce and onion powder. Turn heat to high, and slowly pour in eggs. Stir to be sure eggs are distributed throughout the rice. Cook until egg whites turn white.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every year at Halloween I make these...and every year, they go like hotcakes when I take them to work. This year was especially memorable...I decided to triple the recipe to use the whole can of pumpkin, and the amount of cookie dough in the stand mixer covered the beater! It took 3.5 hours to finish making the cookies, 7 batches later. (oops) Needless to say, everyone else benefits from the mass-cookie-giveaway! These are a little bit pumpkin pie, a little bit cake, a little bit chocolate chip cookie. All-in-all, a delicious Halloween snack.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c canned pumpkin
1 c white sugar
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 egg
2 c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t milk
1 T vanilla extract
2 c semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir into dry ingredients. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

2. Add vanilla and chocolate chips.

3. Drop by heaping spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown. (cookies will be slightly soft, but will no longer be shiny)

makes ~2 dozen medium sized cookies

Apricot, Pecan, & White Chocolate Bread

I recently took a very important licensing exam. I studied several months in preparation for this exam, and had very little free time. As soon as I was home from the exam, I wanted to bake. I wasn't sure what, but I came across this recipe and thought the apricot would be appropriate for the upcoming Halloween festivities. This bread turned out to be so delicious that my nearly 89-year old grandmother said it was "the best ever"! Despite the chocolate, it was definitely not too sweet...the apricots are a little tart, the chocolate a bit sweet, and the pecans balance it all out. Bring this to the next family gathering, and everyone will love you (even more)!



Apricot, Pecan, & White Chocolate Bread

1/2 c snipped dried apricots
2 c all-purpose flour
1 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 c milk
1/4 c cooking oil
1/2 c chopped toasted pecans
1/2 c white chocolate baking pieces

1. In a small bowl, combine dried apricots and enough boiling water to cover. Let stand for 15 minutes, then drain.

2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan (or use foil as the original recipe calls for). In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, combine egg, milk, and oil. Add liquids all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (may still be lumpy). Fold in pecans, baking pieces, and drained apricots. Spoon batter into the prepared pan.

4. Bake 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

5. Cool bread completely on wire rack (may cool 10 min in pan before removing). Wrap and store until serving. Slice and enjoy!