Overstuffed, Twice-Baked Potatos

What goes better with steak than baked potatos? Overstuffed twice-baked potatos! I love making these, they are so filling and yummy.

2 large baking potatos, plus two smaller potatos

1 cup of colby monterrey jack cheese

1 stalk of green onion, chopped

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

Cook potatos and let cool completely (I just throw them in the microwave). Cut in half longways and remove the inside, being careful not to puncture the skin. I discard the two smaller potato skins, I just use the for the potato part.

In a large bowl, combine potato, milk and butter. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add green onion, sour cream and seasonings. All of my measurements are just approximate, so you may have to adjust based on how creamy you want the mixture.

Scoop mixture back into potato skins, over-stuffing the potato. Sprinkle with a little more cheese and broil at 500 until cheese is melted.

Crawfish Fettucine

We had our annual Good Friday crawfish boil yesterday. We had a few leftovers, maybe about 2 pounds peeled. So I froze one pound and made this fettucine with the other pound. I can't stand a dry fettucine, so I made quite a few alterations to this recipe, which I have tried before. I also don't like it when it tastes like mac and cheese, so I cut back on the cheese too. It was delish!

Original Source: Good Louisiana Eatin' cookbook

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound crawfish tails

1 small onion, diced

1 heaping tablespoon chopped garlic

1 stick of butter

1 tablespoon flour

2 stalks green onion, chopped

2 5 ounce cans of evaporated milk

1 can of Rotel tomatos (I only used 1/2 of the can)

8 ounces of Velvetta Cheese, cubed

1/2 bag of cooked egg noodles

DIRECTIONS:

Saute onions and garlic in butter until soft. Add flour and stir until well blended. Add crawfish, green onions, evaporated milk and rotel tomatos. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring often. Slowly add cheese and continue to stir until mixed well. Stir in cooked noodles. Bake in covered casserole dish at 350 for 30 minutes.

Chicken Parmesean

This was so good and so easy to make. It was actually my first time making Chicken Parmesean and I was surprised at how quick it was.

INGREDIENTS:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin

2 cups italian style bread crumbs

1/2 cup parmesean cheese (grated)

4 tablespoons melted butter

seasonings to taste

marinara sauce

mozarella cheese

linguine noodles, cooked and drained

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray well. Mix bread crumbs, parmesean cheese and seasonings together and set aside. Dip chicken in melted butter, then in bread crumb mixture, shaking off any excess. Place on baking sheet. Cook 15 minutes, then turn over. Continue to cook until chicken is done and add a small bit of marinara sauce and top with cheese. Put back in oven for a few minutes until cheese is melted and browned.

Serve with pasta.

Blueberry Bread

This was another great breakfast item that I made on a Sunday and we ate off of all week. I used fresh blueberries, but I think it would be just as good with frozen. Souce: All Recipes
Original recipe here.

INGREDIENTS
2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup fresh blueberries (I used 2 cups)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I didn't use any)

DIRECTIONS
Mix together beaten eggs with the sugar. Add milk and melted shortening or vegetable oil.
Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Combine mixtures, stirring only until blended. Carefully fold in fresh or frozen blueberries and broken walnut pieces.
Pour into greased 5 x 12 inch loaf pan. (I made 4 mini loaves) Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50-60 minutes. Cool in pan but try to turn it out of pan before it is totally cool. It will be easier to remove. Can also be made in a normal size loaf pan or can be made into 2 pans.

The Chewy

I love these cookies. They always come out so soft and chewy (hence the name!). I doubled the recipe because I wanted to send some to daycare with my daughter to share with her friends. I think it's important to use real butter and not margarine. I tried using margarine once and it just wasn't the same. Source: Alton Brown

2 sticks unsalted butter (I used salted)

2 1/4 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt (I cut back to 1/2 teaspoons since my butter was salted)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of mini Reeses Pieces)

Hardware: Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact) (I didn't use this, just regular spoons)

Parchment paper

Baking sheets

Mixer

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside. Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Since I did a double batch, I always put the dough back in the fridge between batches.

Mini Meatloaf

Sorry for the bad photos. DH took it and didn't do a very good job!

I don't eat ground meat, but DH loves it. I don't mind cooking it for him and I like trying new dishes on him since he isn't picky. This is the first time I have ever made meatloaf. Looked and smelled tasty and DH loved it. Source: All Recipes

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (I used almost 2 pounds)
1 egg
1 onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 cup milk
1 cup dried bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1/3 cup ketchup

**Note: Because I used more meat than the recipe called for, I added a tad bit more of all the ingredients**

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine the beef, egg, onion, milk and bread OR cracker crumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste and place in a lightly greased 5x9 inch loaf pan, OR form into a loaf and place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
In a separate small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard and ketchup. Mix well and pour over the meatloaf.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour.

This made 4 perfect mini-meatloves!

Cauliflower Augratin

A simple and quick side dish. I wanted to mix with broccoli, but didn't have any. This was a small serving, but it can easily be doubled. Souce: me.

1 package of frozen cauliflower

2 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of flour

3/4 cup of milk

1 cup of shredded cheese (I used colby and monterrey jack blend)

salt and pepper

Steam cauliflower until barely tender. I think I steamed it too long and it fell apart.

For the bechamel sauce, melt butter in a pot and add flour. Whisk until incorporated and add milk. Season with salt and pepper and whisk until smooth.

Grease bottom of casserole dish and add cauliflower (I also put salt and pepper on the veggies). Toss with a little bit of the cheese and cover with the bechamel sauce. Top with the rest of the cheese and cook on 400 for 20 minutes or until the top is brown and bubbly.