Pioneer Woman's Perfect Potatoes Au Gratin

I made these potatoes last night for dinner, and I had them heated up again today for lunch. They probably aren't good for you, but they are really really good and I will definitely be making them again!! To get the step by step recipe go to the Pioneer Woman site. She gives great pics and descriptions.

Pioneer Woman's Perfect Potatoes Au Gratin

Ingredients

• 4 whole Russet Potatoes, Scrubbed Clean
• 2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
• 1-½ cup Heavy Cream
• ½ cups Whole Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 4 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced (1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
• 1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Freshly Grated (I used mild)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Smear softened butter all over the bottom of a baking dish.
Slice potatoes, then cut slices into fourths.
In a separate bowl, whisk together cream, milk, flour, minced garlic, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
Place 1/3 of the potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour 1/3 of the cream mixture over the potatoes.
Repeat this two more times, ending with the cream mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown and really bubbling. Add grated cheese to the top of the potatoes and bake for 3 to 5 more minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

*Picture from Pioneer Woman

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos & Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing

I made this on Sunday night. I had my doubts for a little while while I was mixing the filling, but they were SO GOOD! I will definitely be making these again. I made most of them using corn tortillas and a few with flour. I ate the corn and Colt liked the corn better too. Go on over to Our Best Bites to get her full recipe with pics. Below is the text recipe.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Recipe by OurBestBites.com

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder (I used 3x's minced onion because I didn't have onion powder)1/4 t granulated garlic
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions

2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepperjack cheese

small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray


Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

Dip 'em in salsa, sour cream, guacamole, or Creamy Lime Cilantro Dressing.

I made the Cilantro Lime Dressing from the recipe above. It was good but has a little bit of a kick to it. I thought the taquitos were great with no dip at all and Colt dipped them in queso.

Click on the link's above if you want Our Best Bite's step by step recipe for salsa, quacamole or Creamy Lime Cilantro Dressing. I haven't tried the salsa or quac, but below is the recipe for the other dressing. For all you Utah girls that love Cafe Rio, this is supposed to be similar to their dressing. I wouldn't know but in case you love it and want to give it a try, this is supposed to be a good knock-off version!

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing Recipe by Ourbestbites.com 1 pack (1oz) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (regular or buttermilk, and ignore directions on the packet) 1C mayo 1/2 C milk (or buttermilk depending on which packet you buy) 1 lime 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro 1/4 C green salsa* hot sauce  Place milk, mayo, and ranch mix in a blender.   Juice the lime in there too, you should get about 2T juice.  Toss in the garlic, cilantro and green salsa.  Blend 'er up.  Sample it and add hot sauce to taste.  Make it several hours ahead of time to allow it to thicken. *A note about green salsa: There are several brands of green salsa available in most supermarkets and they have various degrees of heat.  One of the most commonly seen brands is Hernandez.  Hernandez brand is a lot spicier than any of the others I've tried.  Even their medium green salsa is way too spicy for my liking.  I like to buy La Costena because their  medium is actually really mild.  That way I get all of the flavor of the tomatillos but I control the level of heat with the hot sauce.  If you're not used to buying green salsa, make sure to sample it first before you put it in the dressing so you know what you're getting into!

Sweet Baby Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I made these last night for dinner. I got the recipe from Mikelle's Meals blog. The meat has to cook for the majority of the day but just throw it in and you don't have to worry about it for 8-9 hours and the meat just falls apart. They sauce has a little bit of a sweet taste but not too sweet and were really good. Colt went back for seconds.

Ingredients:

4 lb. Pork Roast or shoulder
2 bottles of Sweet Baby Rays Original barbeque sauce (I used only about 1 to 1 1/2 bottles and it was even a little too much. I also used the smallest pork roast I could find too though since it's just the two of us)Directions:

In a large crockpot place the pork and fill up with water. Cook low for 8-10 hours. Drain liquid and shred pork. Place back in the crockpot and pour 1-1/2 bottle of bbq sauce over the pork. Combine and cook for 1 more hour. Serve on rolls (I used Cobblestone Mills hoagies).

This is great if you want a no hassle, quick meal. I also used the slow cooker liners so there was hardly any cleanup either!

*Picture taken from Mikelle's Meals blog as well.

Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce

I made this for lunch today and it was really good and easy! Colt even liked it and he is not a pasta kinda guy :) I will definitely be making again sometime, and I may throw in some grilled chicken next time as well. I got the original recipe from Our Best Bites and if you want step by step instructions with pics then click on the link!


Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce
12 oz bag Barilla Cheese & Spinach Tortelini (find them in the dry pasta aisle)
4 oz bacon (about 4 strips bacon)*
3 cloves garlic, pressed in garlic press or finely minced (I used 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder)2 Tbs flour
2 C milk
¾ tsp kosher salt
⅛ tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp dry basil
¼ tsp red pepper flakes (1/2 tsp or more if you like spicy)
1 medium lemon
2 C loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
¾ C grated mozzarella cheese, divided
¾ C grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add tortellini and cook according to package instructions.
Place bacon in a medium sized skillet on the stove-top at medium-high heat.  Cook until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon and set on paper towels to drain.  Reserve two tablespoons bacon drippings in pan and discard the rest.  Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute.  Add flour to pan and stir with a whisk for about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and continue to stir with whisk until smooth.  Add salt, pepper, basil, and red pepper flakes and bring sauce to a simmer.
While sauce is heating, use a microplane grater or a fine-holed cheese grater to zest lemon.  Then cut lemon in half and remove juice.  Add 2 teaspoons zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to sauce.  (Note:  I really love lemon so I added this to my tastes.  If you don’t want as strong of a lemon flavor, I suggest cutting it down to 1 teaspoon zest and 2 teaspoons lemon juice) (I used 1 teaspoon zest and 2 teaspoons lemon juice) .  Continue to stir until thickened, 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat.
Drain tortellini and place back in stock pot.  Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cooked bacon and add the rest to the pasta mixture.  Add spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.  Add sauce and gently stir to combine.  Place pasta mixture in an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish and top with remaining 1/4 cup mozarella and 1/4 cup parmesan and also crumbled bacon.
Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese on top is melted and pasta is bubbly throughout.  Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.
* For a vegetarian meal, omit bacon.
Serves 4-6