Elegant Scalloped Potatoes

8 large baking potatoes
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 1/2 cups milk
12 ounces process cheese (Velveeta) or I just used shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup crumbled cooked bacon
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup sliced green onions
Directions:
Scrub and pierce potatoes; place on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave on high for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Cool slightly. You can also boil the potatoes until tender.
In a saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper until smooth; gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add the process cheese and bacon; stir until cheese is melted. Remove from heat; set aside.
Cut the potatoes into 1/4-in. slices. Place a third of the slices in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish; top with a third of the cheese sauce. Repeat layers twice. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and onions. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

picture and recipe from Allrecipes

Cheesy Garlic Bread Swirls

These are so YUMMY, how can you go wrong with butter, garlic, and mozzarella cheese?? You can make a french bread dough or you can use a pizza dough recipe like one you can find here.
Roll out your dough into a rectangle then:
-brush on melted butter
-sprinkle with garlic bread seasoning
-sprinkle on generous amounts of mozzarella cheese
Roll it up like you do cinnamon rolls and place on a jelly roll pan. I put them right into the oven at 350* for 15-20 minutes. If the cheese starts to brown before the bread is done cover with aluminum foil, not pressed down.
(picture courtesy of Our Best Bites)

Layered Vegetable Delight

This is a good way to use up some of the veggies from your garden!

2 T. butter
1 onion- sliced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 lb. squash, sliced (crookneck & zucchini)
1 can stewed tomatoes
4 oz. diced black olives (optional)
1 C. of your favorite cheese (Monterey Jack, Cheddar blend, Swiss, etc.)

Saute onions and garlic in butter add mushrooms, crookneck, zucchini and tomatoes. Cook slowly for 10-15 minutes until vegetables are tender. Top with olives and cheese. Heat until cheese is melted and enjoy!

Grilled Potato Packets

4-5 medium sized potatoes thinly sliced

8 green onions, chopped with some of the green, plus more for garnish

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 Tbs. olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat grill. Place two 18 inch long pieces of heavy duty tin foil on a flat surface. Divide the potatoes, green onions, and garlic between the two pieces of foil keeping the mixture in the center of each sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season the to your liking. Gently toss the ingredients on the foil, then fold and crimp the foil along the sides to make a flat packet (make each packet a uniform thickness for even cooking). Grill the packets for 15 minutes, then turn them over and grill for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with additional green onions, parmesan cheese, or shredded cheddar cheese. Serves 8.

(picture courtesy of Family Fun magazine)

Gourmet Sweet Potato Classic

"Once you taste this, you won't ever go back to the marshmallow-topped variety! I have peeled and cooked in the microwave, and also boiled the sweet potatoes. They taste the same no matter how you cook them. So, use the technique that works best for you!"

5 sweet potatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bake sweet potatoes 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until they begin to soften. Cool slightly, peel, and mash.
In a large bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, salt, 1/4 cup butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup butter, flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.
Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.

This recipe is from Allrecipes.com the original recipe called for 1/2 c. sugar, but it was too sweet the 1/4 c. was much better!

Baked Vegetable Medley

1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets
1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets
6 medium carrots, sliced
1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1/4 c. butter, cubed
1 can condensed creams of chicken soup
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. process cheese sauce

Steam cauliflower, broccoli and carrots for 7-9 minutes or until crisp-tender. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute mushrooms and onions in butter until tender.

Drain vegetables. In a large bowl, combine soup, milk and cheese sauce. Add vegetables and mushroom mixture; toss to coat. Transfer to a greased 2 qt. baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly.

Makes a great holiday vegetable side dish!

Easy Potato Rounds

Here is another one of my recipes that isn't really an exact recipe :). Wash potatoes and slice very thin. In a cookie sheet put 3 tablespoons of melted butter and a couple tablespoons of shredded onion. Dip potatoes in butter/onion mixture and lay flat covering the entire pan. Sprinkle with a little salt and bake at 450 degrees turing after 10 minutes and bake until potatoes are done, and the edges are slightly crispy. You can sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese or they are yummy without. I like to dip them in sour cream, you could use ketchup or fry sauce also.

Bean Casserole

2 pints French style beans
1 can Water chestnuts- sliced
1 can Mushrooms
1/2 lb. Cheddar cheese- grated

Sauce:
1 C. Whipping cream
1 C. Milk
1/4 C. Flour
1 cube Butter
Cook sauce until thickened.

Layer in a casserole dish:
Beans, water chestnuts, mushrooms. Repeat until gone. Put cheese on top and pour sauce over and mix very little.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes

Cream Peas and New Potatoes

1 lb. new potatoes in bite size pieces
1 1/2 c. peas
1 1/2 tb butter
1 tb cornstarch
1/2 ts sea salt
1/8 ts pepper, black
1 c milk

Boil potatoes until tender, add peas when potatoes are almost done, drain. I like to salt and pepper the potatoes.

Melt butter in separate saucepan. Blend in cornstarch, salt, and pepper.
Gradually add milk. Heat to boiling over direct heat and then boil
gently 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour cream sauce over potatoes and peas.

Parmesan Garlic Zucchini

Peel and slice zucchini in small pieces into a microwave safe bowl. Add one minced garlic clove, a little butter, water, and salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and cook 3-4 minutes until tender but not too mushy and top shredded parmesan.

5 Baked Beans

1 can Pork and beans
1 can Great northern- drained
2 cans Kidney beans- drained
2 cans chili beans- drained
1/2 C. Celery
1/2 C. Green pepper
1/2 C. Onion
Browned diced bacon

Sauce:
1 C. Brown sugar
1/3 C. ketchup
2 T. Mustard
1/2 C. BBQ sauce
2 T. Worcestershire

Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for several hours.

Fiesta Pasta Salad

16 oz. Rotini pasta
Tomato
Avacado
1 can Shoe peg corn- drained
1 can Black beans- rinsed and drained
1 can Kidney beans- rinsed and drained
green onions
olives

Dressing:
1 C. Mayo
1 T. Chili powder
1/2 C. Milk
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Fiesta Dip

Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes

4 potatoes, sliced into 1/4 in slices
1 onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 garlic clove, minced
2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 1 quart casserole dish. Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into the casserole dish top with onions, and add remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. In a medium sized saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk and garlic, cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about one minute. Pour cheese sauce over potatoes, and cover with aluminum foil. Bake 1 1/2 hours.

Mexican Bean Salad

INGREDIENTS:
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn kernels
1 red onion, chopped

DRESSING: (I halved this and it was plenty)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 clove crushed garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 dash hot pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, combine beans, bell peppers, frozen corn, and red onion.In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, sugar, salt, garlic, cilantro, cumin, and black pepper. Season to taste with hot sauce and chili powder.Pour olive oil dressing over vegetables; mix well. Chill thoroughly, and serve cold.