Ranch Crack Potatoes

These potatoes are unbelievably great! This was the other new side dish I fixed to Christmas dinner and it got 2 thumbs up with permission to repeat anytime! Super easy to put together, and if you use the  Buttermilk Ranch Mix recipe, you can make it MSG-Free!

Ingredients:

• 32oz sour cream
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled (or use 6oz bacon bits)
• 1 pkg (2 tbsp) dry ranch mix - I used Buttermilk Ranch Mix to be MSG-Free!
• 1 large bag (28-30 oz) frozen shredded hash browns

Directions:

1. Cook bacon in microwave or frying pan until done. Pat dry with paper towels and crumble once cooled.
2. Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
3. Mix first 4 ingredients together in a 9x13 casserole dish. Combine hash browns into mixture and spread evenly in dish.
4. Bake for 45-60 minutes until lightly browned on the top.

Courtesy of Crack Potatoes

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Vegetable Gratin a la Goat Cheese

This recipe is a hybrid of 2 recipes I found online and decided to tweak a little bit. I must say the results did turn out quite tasty, especially if you like the unique tangy flavor of goat cheese. I omitted the potatoes from the original recipe because we were already having 2 carb heavy dishes in our Thanksgiving meal - feel free to add them back in if you want.

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1-2 zucchini, 1/4 inch sliced
• 2-4 yellow squash, 1/4 inch sliced
• 3-4 large Roma tomatoes, 1/4 inch sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a baking dish with olive oil cooking spray. 
2. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and saute until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 60 seconds. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the greased baking dish.
3. Layer ½ of the goat cheese on top of the onions.
4. Slice the zucchini, squash and tomatoes in 1/4 inch thick slices. Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly into a spiral, making only one layer. 
5. Season with sea salt, black pepper and dried thyme, to taste. 
6. Drizzle the last tablespoon of olive oil over the top.
7. Pour the milk over the entire dish.
8. Cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 35 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Uncover and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top and bake for another 25-30 minutes or until browned. Enjoy.

Inspired from :

• Potato, Squash, & Goat Cheese Gratin
• Vegetable Tian

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Beef Enchiladas

Ingredients:

THE SAUCE:

• 1 "can" of prepared red enchilada sauce
• I prepared a packet of my Dry Enchilada Mix with 1 cup water and 8 oz low sodium tomato sauce. Heat until sauce thickens.
• 1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
• 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
• 2 cups Chicken Broth 
• I used broth I had frozen from a previous recipe - see Homemade Chicken Stock
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro 
• I used cilantro I had frozen from a previous recipe - see Freezing Herbs

Enchilada Sauce Reconstitution

THE MEAT:

• 1-1/2 pound Ground Beef or Chuck (I prefer chuck)
• 1 whole Medium Vidalia/sweet Onion, Finely Diced
• 1 can (4 Ounce) Diced Green Chilies

 THE TORTILLAS:

• 8-10 whole (to 14) Corn or Flour Tortillas (I prefer taco-sized flour)

FOR ASSEMBLAGE:

• 3 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 1/2 cup Chopped Black Olives (optional)
• 1 cup Chopped Green Onions (optional)



Sauce Prep

• 1/2 cup Chopped Cilantro (optional - sprinkle on after baking)

Preparation Instructions 

1. Prepare the Dry Enchilada Mix - Follow the reconstitution directions 
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, whisk together oil and flour until a paste forms and cook for 1 minute.
3. Stir in enchilada sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, & pepper. Bring to a boil. 
4. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, as you are waiting for the sauce to begin to boil, start on the meat.
6. Finely dice onion and add to skillet. Add meat to skillet and brown over medium heat.

   

   Meat Prep

7. Drain off fat in a large colander and return meat to skillet.
8. Stir in diced green chilies to meat/onion mixture.
9. Stir in about 1/2 cup of red sauce to the meat.
10. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 9x13" casserole dish.
11. Assemble tortillas:
1. Place tortilla on work surface and spoon in 3-4 tbsp of meat mixture.
2. Cover the beef with a large tablespoon of cheese (&/or optional black olives & green onions), then roll the tortilla up from one side to make a rolled enchilada.
3. Place the enchilada seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining beef, cheese and tortillas. 
4. You will use about 1 & 1/2 cups of the cheese for the filling and set the remainder aside for topping the enchiladas in the pan. 
5. Pour the remaining enchilada mixture over the top of all the enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
12. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and starting to brown on top.

Inspired by The Pioneer Woman's Enchiladas

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Sun-Dried Tomato Zucchini Bake

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This recipe is my first true experiment for this blog. It is a twist to the Parmesan Squash Bake. I was hoping to incorporate balsamic vinegar into a zucchini casserole/bake and came across a bottle of Ken's dressing that was hanging out in the pantry asking to be used. So I decided to put the balsamic vinegar dream on the back burner for a little while and see how this concoction comes out. I have had great luck in the past with baking meats covered in salad dressing (another topic for another time) and decided to give vegetables with dressing a try. It turned out delicious! I can't wait to experiment with other combinations.

Ingredients

• 3-4 medium zucchini
• 1 medium sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2-1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2-3/4 bottle Ken's Lite Sun-Dried Tomato Salad Dressing

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small pan, heat the olive oil. Pan fry the diced onion until soft and translucent, about 7 minutes. Add in the garlic and fry for another minute or so. Pour the onion mixture into the bottom of a 9x9 baking dish.
3. Slice the zucchini into thin slices. Layer them into 4 rows across in the dish, over the onions. Slowly drizzle the dressing over the pieces until they are evenly coated.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top of the dish. Bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the veggies are soft and slightly golden brown.

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Poppy Seed Chicken

Ingredients:

Cream of Something Soup Pin It

• 5 cups chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (I used 3 large chicken breasts)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 can equivalent of Cream of Something Soup
• The Original recipe calls for 2 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup
• I substituted the cream of something soup and the recipe turned out wonderfully.
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp celery salt
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 cups crushed Ritz crackers (about 1 1/2 rolls of crackers)
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 Tbsp poppy seeds

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cooking spray into 9x13" casserole dish.
2. Cut the raw chicken into cubes and place into casserole dish. Spread just a little olive oil over the top (to keep the chicken from drying out) along with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
3. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn chicken over. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until done. It does not have to be browned - just cooked through at this point. Drain juice off of chicken in large colander and place back in casserole dish.  
4. While the chicken is baking, this gives time to reconstitute the cream of something soup. Click on the link for the recipe.
5. Stir/whisk together the condensed soup, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, garlic, lemon juice and pepper.
6. Pour over the cooked chicken.
7. In a separate bowl, stir together the crushed crackers, poppy seeds and melted butter. Sprinkle over the chicken and sauce.
8. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the casserole is browned and the sauce is bubbly. Serve plain or over rice. 

(Courtesy of The Girl Who Ate Everything )

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Parmesan Squash Bake

Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchini
• 2-3 medium butternut/summer squash
• 1 medium sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1/2-1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4c. extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• sea salt to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small pan, heat about 1 tbsp of olive oil. Pan fry the diced onion until soft and translucent, about 7 minutes. Add in the garlic and fry for another minute or so. Pour the onion mixture into the bottom of a 9x9 baking dish.
3. Slice the zucchini and squash into thin slices. Layer them into 4 rows across in the dish, over the onions. Slowly drizzle the olive oil over the pieces until they are evenly coated. Sprinkle with sea salt.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top of the dish. Bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the vegies are soft and slightly golden brown.

(Courtesy of Sunday Baker )

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Creamy Corn Casserole

This is probably one of the easiest casserole in my recipe box. I love dishes that you can just dump and go!  

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 (8.5 ounce) package dry corn bread mix
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (14.75 ounce) can creamed corn
• 1 cup sour cream     

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and lightly grease a 9x9 inch baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, combine butter, eggs, corn bread mix, whole and creamed corn and sour cream. Spoon mixture into prepared dish.
3. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown.

Courtesy of  Awesome and Easy Creamy Corn Casserole by Letsgggo

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Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds frozen broccoli florets or fresh blanched broccoli florets, drained
• 4 cups crumbled crackers (recommended: Ritz crackers)
• 1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon freshly chopped oregano leaves
• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 stick melted butter
• 1 pound Velveeta cheese, cubed small
• 1 pound Camembert, sliced thin
• Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 450 degrees F.
2. In a large stock pot of boiling salted water, blanch broccoli florets for 3 minutes. Remove from water and shock in a large bowl of ice water. Remove from ice water and drain on a paper towel lined platter. Set aside.
3. Using a plastic bag, crush crackers. Add the thyme, oregano, paprika, cayenne, pepper and melted butter until well combined. Set aside.
4. In a large casserole dish lightly greased with butter add broccoli and cheeses. 
5. Pour cracker topping on top of cheese and broccoli - use only enough to cover the top. The topping definitely has a kick! 
6. Wrap with foil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes in oven.
7. Remove from oven. Take foil off and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving. 

Courtesy of Broccoli-Cheese Casserole by Aaron McCargo, Jr.

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