Irish Potatoes

• 2 pounds cabbage, shredded
• 2 cups water
• 4 pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup chopped green onions
• Salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• Crumbled cooked bacon and minced fresh parsley

• In a large saucepan, bring cabbage and water to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving cooking liquid. Keep cabbage warm.
• Place cooking liquid and potatoes in a large saucepan; add enough additional water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 15-17 minutes or until tender. Drain and keep warm.
• In a small saucepan, bring milk and onions to a boil; remove from the heat. In a large bowl, mash potatoes. Add milk mixture; beat until blended. Beat in the cabbage, salt and pepper. Drizzle with the melted butter, bacon and parsley. 12-16 servings.

this is either a good side dish or a half of dinner with another meatless side dish like rice! 

Roasted Potato and Leek Soup

3-4 med/large potoates, sliced thin
2-3 leeks, halved washed and sliced like celery
olive oil
salt and pepper

heat oven to 450. on a baking sheet arrange leeks and potatoes sprinkle w/ oil salt and peper and roast until golden brown.

3-4tbsp butter
1/4 c flour
1 tbsp minced garlic, 3 cloves chopped
6 c chix broth
1/4 c white cooking white
1/2-1tsp white peper
1/2 c sour cream
1/4 c shredded parmesan

while potaotes/leeks are roasting melt butter in soup pot. Add garlic and brown until golden. Add flour and white pepper and let cook until flour/butter/garlic/pepper mixture is bubbly. Add the broth slowly stirring it in until it's smooth. Add the leeks/potatoes and mash a bit with the potato masher. Add the wine and sour cream and parm. Bring to a low simmer and allow the flavors to meld a bit. Serve warm with crusty bread and maybe some this sliced onions on top.

Beef and Potatoes Quickie Supper

1 lb ground beef
1 pkg hot italian sausage (caseings removed)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup cooking wine
1 onion chopped
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 tsp thyme
3/4- 1 cup sour cream
sauteed mushrooms (optional)
2 cans sliced potatoes or 2 russet potatoes par boiled and sliced
2 tbsp butter
3tbsp wozzy sauce

Brown beef and sausage over med-high heat. Meanwhile in separate pan saute onions in butter til translucent(if adding mushrooms, they go in now too!). When the onions are softened and the butter is beginning to brown, not the onions the butter, add the garlic and saute but do not allow to brown. In crock pot--you can also do this in a large pot (which is much quicker and I was really busy today so I was using what I had to save time and have a hot meal ready when we all got home!) mix together the 2 cans of mushroom soup, wozzy, wine, thyme, and sauteed onions and garlic. Add the browned meats to the mixture (after draining the oil off of them!) and stir it all up. Put on low and let it simmer for 3-4 hours. then add the sour cream and mix thoroughly. Then add the potatoes and mix. Turn pot up to high and heat for about 20-30 more minutes or until hot throughout. Serve with homemade rolls, and a green vegg.

Chicken and Potatoes with cumin and chipotle

2-3 tbsp butter
1-2 lrge russet potatoes, baked and cooled
1 c chopped cooked chicken (roasted or baked chicken is best)
1/2 chopped onion
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chipolte chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. water
1/2 c cooking wine to deglaze the pan

melt butter in pan and add the chicken onions and potatoes. saute until browned on all sides. deglaze pan with white wine and water. add seasoning  and let simmer gentle for a few minutes until the flavors meld. this was SOO yummy! I love potatoes. I think you could also easily sub in bacon or ham for the chicken. A good green veg goes along perfectly!

Great Fab Find!!!

Original Recipe for Maple Glazed Pork Chops

But I tweaked it a little bit! Obviously!

8 boneless pork chops
3 tsps chili powder
1 tsp chipoltle chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 can chicken broth
1/2 c maple syrup (real!)
3 tbsps balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
about 3 lbs sweet potatoes
2-3 red onions chopped

I cut up the sweet potatoes and the onions and then got them to boiling on the stove. I then seasoned the chops with the chili powders and salt and then browned them in the oil. I then started the balsamic reducing. When the potatoes were done I mashed them with butter and some chicken broth. after the chops had browned I added some broth to the pan and covered and simmered for a bit. When they were done I removed the lind and drained the liquid off. I then finished the sauce with the maple, broth and a pat of butter. I then poured the sauce on the chops and served the chops and sauce over the mashed sweet potatoes/red onions, it was bangin'!!

Recommended Recipes

Sausage Potato Salad****

This was really YUMMY and the kids enjoyed it! The taste was fresh and not heavy, only changes I made was using russet potatoes in place of red one! This is a "gotta try"!

Thai Chicken Curry Soup****

This soup was SOO good!! We obviously didn't serve this to the kids as it was just too spicy, but I am sure with some minor adjustments we could very easily share with the kids, this is not a lot of food either. But the broth is DELICIOUS!! I didn't use store bought roast chicken, I roasted my own in the oven with olive oil and salt and pepper and then shredded it and chopped it. I froze the left overs which I KNOW will make a great lunch for me or a snack for the hubs!

Sauteed Peppers and Onions****

We use these on sweet sausage and hogie rolls. They are simply YUMMMMMY! Only difference I can add is using balsamic vinegar in place of red wine vinegar! We will def keep this one as a staple for quick easy dinner that everyone LOVES and eats right up!!

Herb Quick Bread***

Made this for CG one night to go with the stuffed pepper soup I made. I also baked a garlic loaf, which I didn't really like as much although it seemed to be a hit too. This had that sweet and herby taste that I think goes so well with yummy warm soup recipes! I will def use this again. I didn't use caraway seed, I subbed in anise and it was really good! My only complaint is that this was made by being dipable! If it was stand alone it might be a bit dry, but I didn't try an herbed butter or anything to go along with it so that might made it less dense!

Easter Menu Change...

After planing my menu for Easter dinner we figured the scheduled plan would not be enough and decided to make a caserole of the sweet potatoes instead of roasting them. Here is the recipe we found which I made some changes to.

Ingredients
8 sweet potato, baked until soft and then flesh removed to a bowl
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Mash sweet potato flesh first.
2.In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, white sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla extract and cinnamon. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish, greased baking dish.
3.In medium bowl, mix the brown sugar and flour and pecans. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture.
4.Bake in the preheated oven 30-40 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

Roasted Potatoes

2 russet Potatoes, sliced into wedges (thin)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp celery salt

Preheat oven to 425. In a med bowl mix the seasonings and oil until well incorporated. Add potatoes and mix until they are completely covered. On a non stick baking sheet add the potatoes (it is important that you DO NOT crowd the pan!) and spread out so they are not touching one another, you want them to be crisp when they are done. Back 20-25 minutes or until they are browned and tender. Serve warm. Be careful when you get them off the pan or you will leave all the good bits and miss the taste entirely. 

These are better than Chips! Seriously! I would eat them every day if I could! Plus, russet potatoes are really good for you, important that you do not peel them or much of the flavor will be lost!

Quick Stroganoff

1 lb ground beef
1 can cream of mush soup
1/2 sour cream
3 tbsp wozzy
1/3 c water

Brown beef, drain. Add other ingredients until bubbly, serve over noodles or potatoes. This is obviously our quickie recipe! But it tastes great and we all enjoy it in a pinch.

Potato Pancakes

left over mashed potatoes
1 egg
5-6 tbsp flour
5-6 tbsp milk
seasoning salt to taste
pepper to taste
oil for frying

In a bowl mix together first six ingredients together until it has a real pancake consistency. Heat a large skillet over med heat add oil and then fry the pancakes until they are crisp. Serve them warm. We often serve this with a homemade gravy or sausage (polish sausage) and even a chicken pecan thing that we like a lot! This is very versatile.