Twice Baked Ranch Potatoes

Twice Baked Ranch Potatoes

6 large potatoes..washed

1 packet of Ranch dressing mix

3 tbsp. of sour cream

1/3 cup of milk

1/2 tbsp. of butter

4 oz. of cream cheese

For topping

2 cup shredded cheese

5-6 strips of bacon..cooked and crumbled

Wash  6 large potatoes and poke them with a fork.

Cover in foil and bake in the oven at *425 for 45 min.

After they have cooled a bit carefully slice the potatoes in half.

Place all of the halves on an ungreased baking sheet and carefully take a spoon and make an indent around the edge of the inside of the potato (this helps when removing the insides).

Then scoop out the insides leaving a bit on the shell so the shell will hold together.

Next put all of the potato that you scoop out into a large mixing bowl.

Add sour cream, milk, butter, ranch mix and cream cheese.

Beat with mixer until the potatoes are nice and fluffy.

Spoon the mashed potatoes back into the potato shells and top with the shredded cheese and bacon.

Place in oven at *350 for 30 minutes.

My kids absolutely love these. I love them with a bit of green onion on top too. I would love to hear about any variations that you like!

 

Grilled Sausage & Veggies

Good evening  🙂

Tonight I wanted something quick and easy to make with as little clean up as possible so I decided on the grill and disposable pans. I chose Italian sausage and zucchini, squash, and onions to grill up.

1 disposable aluminum pan (or you can make a aluminum foil packet)
3 small sweet onions
1 zucchini
1 squash
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. of minced garlic(or garlic powder)
salt & pepper to taste
1 package of sweet Italian sausage

Preheat grill to med-low

Chop the onions pretty small since they take a bit longer than the other veggies to cook.
Chop zucchini and squash and add all veggies to your pan.
Drizzle with oil and season to taste.
Mix well.
Add sausage so they touch the bottom of the pan and cover with aluminum foil.

Grill covered on med-low for 25 min. turning often *cooking times vary a lot with grills so just make sure your sausage is done and veggies are soft.
After everything is cooked I take the sausage and let it cool for a minute and then slice it into bit size pieces and then mix it back in with the veggies.

Bon appétit!!

 

Hot Ham & Cheese Rolls

Finally the weekend is here! I am so ready to sit back and relax and watch a movie with the family. I didn’t want to waste a lot of time in the kitchen so…. here is what I did .

Hot Ham & Cheese Rolls

1 package of Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
1 package of sliced deli cheese
1 package of deli ham
1/3 cup of melted butter
1 package of cream cheese (softened in microwave about 60 seconds)
1 pack of onion dip & soup mix
2 tbsp. of melted butter

Preheat oven to 350
Brush the bottom of a 9×13 glass casserole dish with half of the melted butter.
Take the whole package and instead of pulling them apart, use a very long bread knife and slice the whole package horizontally.
Next, soften your cream cheese in the microwave for about 60 seconds and then mix in the onion dip mix.
Place the layer of buns in the dish and spread on half of the cream cheese mix.
Then layer it with your choice of deli ham- I used honey ham.
Top the ham with a layer of your favorite deli sliced cheese- of course I used our favorite 🙂 Colby & Monterey Jack.

Then spread the rest of the cream cheese onto the top layer of the rolls.
Very carefully place the top onto the rolls and then brush the top of the rolls with the rest of your melted butter.

Now bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Those babies were devoured within minutes 🙂

 

Buffalo Ranch Chicken Casserole

So last nights dinner was great and after cooking all 5lbs of chicken in the ranch and taco mix you should have somewhere around  2lbs of chicken left for tonight.

I started out today sautéing 2 onions, 1 green pepper and a couple small red and yellow peppers with 3 cloves of minced garlic. Talk about a heavenly aroma!  After I got those nice and soft I removed half and put it in a container for another meal.

I love a one dish meal.Also it didn’t have as many veggies in it for my liking…. However my kids always like something on the side. So I decided to try my hand at making spinach stuffing balls to go with this meal. That recipe will be next.

Buffalo Ranch Chicken Casserole Recipe

2-3 lbs. of shredded pre-cooked chicken
2-4 tbls. of hot sauce
1 bag of herb stuffing (crushed)
2 cups of Colby and Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup of cheese is to mix in with the chicken other cup is for topping.

Pre-heat oven at 350
Coat bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish
Mix shredded chicken (if starting from scratch add ranch dressing mix) with diced onion and pepper mix and 2-4 tbls. of your favorite hot sauce and 1 cup of cheese.
Put chicken into casserole dish.
Crush the stuffing and layer it on top of the chicken.
Top with 1 cup of your favorite shredded cheese (we love Colby and Monterey Jack).
Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Kids loved it! I thought it needed more hot sauce

 

Spinach Stuffing Balls

2 small onions (diced really fine)

24 oz. bag of frozen spinach (thawed, washed, and drained)

1/2 cup melted butter

1 bag of herb stuffing

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup of Colby and Monterey Jack (finely shredded)

And finally 6 beaten eggs.

 

Lightly grease your baking sheet.

 

I mixed it all together and rolled out around 60 spinach balls.

 

I love cheese so before I put them in the oven I had to sprinkle a bit more cheese on top of them. But they will be healthier without the added cheese.

 

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Everyone loved them!! We used ranch dressing to dip them in but next time I think I will make an actual dipping sauce for them.

 

Ranch Chicken Burrito’s ~ Crock pot style

 I used 5 pounds of chicken in this because I will be getting 2 meals out of the chicken. The Ranch Chicken Burrito’s for tonight and Buffalo Ranch Chicken for tomorrow. My kids can never get enough of anything with ranch flavor.

* 5 lbs. of Chicken

* 1 packet of Ranch Dressing Mix

* 1 packet of Taco Seasoning

* 1 can of Chicken Broth (or one cup of water and 2 Tbsp. of chicken broth granules)

* burritos shells

 

 

 

Pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the crock pot and then place the chicken into the broth. Next sprinkle 1/2 of the packet of ranch and 1/2 of the packet of taco seasoning onto the chicken. You can cook for 6 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

 *Time will vary depending on the size of crock pot. With any poultry or meat always be safe and check with a meat thermometer.

Once the chicken is done take 2 forks and pull all of the chicken apart. The liquid will absorb into the shredded chicken. Next take the rest of the ranch and taco seasoning and mix it into the chicken. Place the lid back onto the crock pot for 30 min. to allow the chicken to absorb all the wonderful flavors. During the last 10 minutes put your tortilla shells inside of aluminum foil and put them in the oven at 325 to warm them up. Next place your shredded chicken onto the tortilla and top with shredded cheese and shredded lettuce. So simple but so yummy!

Check back tomorrow to see what you can do with the other half of the shredded ranch chicken.