Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

I had an extra box of potatoes au gratin and figured I'd make a casserole out of it. It'd make a nice, well-rounded meal. I had some frozen broccoli and some chicken in the fridge. Cheesy, potato-y chicken and broccoli sounded delicious and tasted even better. This dish definitely turned out way better than I thought it would. Next time I want to try it with already prepared chicken to save time. Maybe I'll try it with canned chicken.

Ingredients laid out

Defrosted frozen broccoli

Seasoned and pan fried chicken

Before baking

After baking

Delicious lunch

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup frozen broccoli (defrosted)
• box of potatoes au gratin (4.4 oz)
• milk
• butter
• water
• chicken
• 2 tbsp chopped onion
• Italian seasoning
• pepper
• cooking oil

Procedure

1. Cook the chicken in a pan with the onion, Italian seasoning, pepper, and cooking oil until the meat is no longer pink. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Follow the instructions on the box of potato au gratin and mix in the cooked chicken and broccoli before putting in the oven.
3. Bake for the instructed amount of time.

Twice baked loaded potatoes

Last week I bought a large bag of russet potatoes. I love potatoes, but I didn't really have any ideas on what to cook other than mashed potatoes and stew or curry. Then my friend told me about twice baked potatoes. I had never made them before but they sounded delicious so I took a stab at it. Now I know how long it takes to make them and I don't think I'll make them very often. Also, I had no idea of the proportions so I made too much of the "loaded" part of the potatoes. Now I have leftover chili. I unintentionally made the "loaded" part with ground beef, onion, and tomato which is essentially chili. I don't mind. It's all delicious.

The "loaded" part

Potatoes covered in extra virgin olive oil before being baked

Baked potato prep

Baked potatoes with the insides scooped out

Mashed potatoes and the "loaded"

The "loaded" stuffed back into the potatoes

Finished product with delicious melty cheese on top

Leftover "loaded" that will become chili

Twice baked loaded potatoes (Warning: This recipe will give you lots of leftover ground beef mixture)

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 28 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
• half onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• salt, pepper, cumin, oregano to taste
• extra virgin olive oil
• shredded cheese
• 6 russet potatoes
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tbsp butter

Procedure

1. Cook the onion and garlic with about 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a large pan and then add the salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano. When the onions are cooked and begin looking a bit clear add the ground beef and canned tomato. Mix well.
2. While the beef is cooking, place the 6 potatoes on a microwaveable plate. Use a fork to stab small holes in each potato.
3. Cook potatoes in microwave for 15 minutes on 60% power.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
5. When potatoes are done, cover a baking pan with foil and place the potatoes on the sheet. Cover the potatoes with the olive oil.
6. Bake potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes.
7. Check on the beef mixture and try to cook out as much of the liquid as you can.
8. When potatoes are done, cut a small slice off each potato and then dig out the potato like a little boat. (See pictures above).
9. Mix the potato innards with about a quarter of the beef mixture. Add the cream cheese and butter. This makes the "loaded" part of the potatoes.
10. Put the "loaded" part of the potatoes bake inside the little potato boats and bake at 400 F for about 10-15 minutes. Top with cheese. Enjoy!

Experimental Potato Salad

This was the second time I made homemade potato salad. The first time I used too many radishes and it became a little too peppery. Since it was Labor Day weekend, and some of my coworkers were getting together for a barbecue, the first thing that came to mind for me to bring to the barbecue was potato salad. Most store-bought potato salad has too much mayo in it. I think I still need to tweak the recipe a bit, but overall it was a huge success at the barbecue.

Mmm...bacon

Giant pot of boiling water and potatoes while bacon was cooking on another pan

Big bowl with celery

Cut up bacon with some kitchen scissors, also I use chopsticks to turn the bacon in the pan to keep from scratching non-stick pans

Finished product!

Experimental Potato Salad
Ingredients

• 6 med red potatoes cubed
• 6 slices of bacon cooked and cut into bits
• 2 stalks of celery diced
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• garlic powder to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

1. Boil the cubed potatoes in a large pot until cooked then drain and place in large bowl.
2. Mix in the rest of the ingredients in the large bowl.
3. Let cool in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Shepherd's pie

Who doesn't love a good, well-rounded dish like shepherd's pie? Technically ground lamb should be used but I used ground beef. I've heard it called "cattle herd's pie" if ground beef was used. Anyway, I love mashed potatoes and the added bonus of veggies and beef make this meal a one dish dinner. Typically Worcestershire sauce is used, but I never have it around so I just tried to substitute it with a mixture of soy sauce and balsamic vinegar.

Who doesn't love frying up onion and garlic in a pan?

Mmmmmmm mashed potatoes

Ground beef and veggies added to the onion and garlic

Foundation of ground beef and veggies topped off with mashed potatoes

Shepherd's pie served up with a sprinkle of shredded cheese on top

Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• ~ 8 oz frozen mixed vegetables (make sure mix has carrots and peas in it)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp of dried rosemary
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• garlic salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 4 large red potatoes peeled and cut into 1.5 inch cubes
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 of a large onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Procedure

1. Cook the garlic and onion in the olive oil in a large pan. Preheat oven to 400F
2. While garlic and onion is cooking, boil potatoes in a large pot of water. When potatoes are mashable, drain water and mash potatoes. Season potatoes with butter, garlic salt, and pepper. Add milk to make the potatoes creamier.
3. When the garlic and onion start to turn golden, add the frozen veggies to the pan. When most of the frozen veggies seemed defrosted add soy sauce, vinegar, rosemary and ground beef. Add some pepper to taste. 
4. Cook ground beef until the beef is no longer red.
5. Pour the ground beef and vegetable mixture into a 9x9 inch baking dish. Then smoother over the mashed potatoes on top of the beef and vegetable mixture.
6. Bake the shepherd's pie at 400F for about 20 min or until mashed potato layer becomes slightly golden brown and crusty.

Potato and Leek Soup

I was at the grocery store with my roommate and saw leeks. I had been looking for leeks for a while and was going to make this awesome vegetable soup but decided to make something new: potato and leek soup. This recipe is a hybrid of several recipes I found online. The amounts of onion, green onion, and chive are all estimated because I wanted to use up the left overs in my fridge. Mushrooms were added on a whim because they are delicious and they needed to be eaten soon. I might have gotten a little carried away with the onion, but the soup turned out really  delicious. Also, most of the recipes I looked at online required a food processor or immersion blender. I don't have either of those so I just used a potato masher and a hand mixer. Who needs all those fancy gadgets? If I were to tweak this recipe, I would add a little more leek or even out the leek to onion ratio and also add either garlic salt or garlic.

Thinly sliced leek and green onion, finely chopped onion, and finely chopped mushrooms 

Magically transformed potato and leek soup after mashing

Close-up of soup served in a bowl

Potato and Leek Soup Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 leek, sliced thinly (green and light green parts only)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• half a medium onion finely chopped
• 2 tbsp chives, snipped into small pieces
• 1/2 cup green onion thinly sliced (green and light green parts only)
• 6 medium red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 tbsp butter
• 4 oz mushrooms finely chopped
• 4 oz of sour cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

1. Cook leeks, mushrooms, onion, green onion, chives, salt, and pepper in the butter for about 5 minutes in a large pot.
2. Add chicken stock and potatoes.
3. Cook covered for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft enough to be mashed.
4. When potatoes are ready, add sour cream into the pot and mash the potatoes. Mash until you get the consistency you want.