Posts tagged ‘potatoes’

September 21st, 2012

Friday Five

by Tiff

After a frustrating week, it’s finally Friday, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve got a date with the hubs tonight, complete with a trip to the hardware store (so romantic). Then I’ve got a date with a new orbital sander all day tomorrow while he’s in class (hints the trip to the hardware store). 

Really though – I have good things to share other than news of power tools.

1. Happy Early Birthday to Grandpa! He’s active in his church, his inter-faith group, his busy entertaining schedule, and his walking.  His goal for the year is 1,098 miles (3 mi/day), and so far he’s logged 946 of them, which is 154 ahead of schedule.  Way to go Gramps!

Picture 011  thanksgiving 059

2. Girls night on Saturday!  We’re watching football, drinking beer, and eating cookie dough dip at my place.  Touchdown!

3. This dinner.  Kevin has a habit of buying “value foods,” such as a large bag of potatoes when he only needed one for a recipe.  This leaves the creative one to come up with meals for the rest of the potatoes.

photo (2)   photo (3)

I must say – the creative one found culinary success.  I planned to make twice-baked potatoes, but they were too small for that.  Instead, they’ve been cubed, roasted, and covered in cheeeeeeeese.  Yup, there’s a good bit of broccoli in there too.

4. My race is tomorrow.  For the first time ever, I’m not nervous.  I guess taking it easy and doing a fun-run has its perks!

5. Ben & Jerry.  Thank you Ben & Jerry for all that you do.  That half baked froyo I mentioned Wednesday is sooooo good that I doubt it will survive the weekend. 

froyo

I must say, I did better than I thought with it – never having more than half a cup a day.  I never thought I could do it, but sometimes you never know what you can do until you put your mind to it… or until you want an excuse to reward yourself with another pint.

Happy Friday! 

 

  • Tell me one of your good Friday things!
April 30th, 2012

Potatoes Au Gracias

by Tiff

Last week I received an OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer in the mail. I was so excited to give it a try, and the first thing that came to mind were potatoes. Slicing potatoes can be a pain, but those thin rounds are so delicious as scalloped potatoes, chips, and potatoes au gratin.

taterific

Although cheese and I are very close, I at least *try* to keep things healthy around here. Instead of a adding a lot of heavy cream or an artery-clogging amount of cheese to my potatoes, I decided to add some beans and veggies. On that note, I bring you…

Potatoes Au Gracias

Serves 2

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium/large baking potatoes
  • 3 jalapenos (or half a bell pepper if you can’t take the heat)
  • 1/2 medium/large onion
  • 3/4 can fat-free refried beans
  • 1 cup salsa of choice, 1/4 cup salsa of choice (reserved)
  • shredded Mexican cheese (optional)

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 400. Very thinly slice potatoes, onions, and jalapenos. (so quick with the mandoline slicer)
  • In a medium bowl, mix your beans and 1 cup salsa.
  • In a medium casserole dish, spread half or slightly more than half of your bean/salsa mixture. Layer potatoes (I used two layers of potatoes because they were quite thin), then onion, then jalapenos. Top with remaining bean/salsa mixture and repeat.
  • Top with final layer of potatoes, and add salsa.
  • Cover with foil and bake approximately 45 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
  • Uncover, add cheese (if using), and bake 10 more minutes.
jalapeno

I like cheap and easy recipes that use easy-to-find ingredients. If you can’t find this stuff at your grocery store, you might need to find a new grocery store.

A word about the OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer: I had no idea how cool this thing was. I’m not paid to say this, but it seriously made slicing up veggies effortless. I see myself using this baby a lot.

Good News for You: I actually received 2 from OXO, and one of you lucky readers gets one. Woohoo! Here’s how to enter this giveaway, which ends Wednesday night. I will announce a winner Thursday. You can have a total of three entries.

  • Comment telling me what you’d slice first.
  • Follow me via Twitter @lovesweatbeers (and let me know where to follow you).
  • Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this page:

Good luck!