Hashbrown Casserole

I've made this a lot and it is by far one of my kids favorite things. Its great because it can be a side dish or the main meal. And, it goes well with any meat and is great for any holiday side dish as well.

Ingredients:

20-36oz-Large bag of Hashbrowns (frozen or thawed)
8oz-Sour Cream
1 Can of Cream of Chicken
1 Stick of Butter (Melted-I melt mine in my pan so it greases my pan & pour the melted butter in mixture.)
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheese (about 2 hand fulls)

Directions:

In a large bowl mix together the Hash browns, sour cream, Cream of Chicken, melted butter, and about a hand full of cheese. Mix Well
Pour/ Spoon your mixture into your butter greased pan and sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top.
Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350-400 degrees or until cheese starts to bubble and brown.

Easy Meat & Potatoes

I came up with this recipe a few months ago, and it was a huge hit at my house. I have added this into our weekly or at least biweekly dinners. Its fairly quick and easy to make.
I always find it hard to go back and write down the exacts of a recipe I've came up with so I try to be as persise as I can. But, with this one you can improvise by adding or taking away what your family does or doesn't eat. As you can with any recipe, I've found out.

 

So here is my version of Meat and Potatoes that feeds my family of 4:

Ingredients:

5-8 Red Potatoes (qty depends on how many people you are feeding); cut into 1/4's
*Note: I used these ready to cook/ heat potatoes that saved me time, but if not boil and soften your potatoes first or you will have to bake it for about 30 minutes longer*
12 oz=1 Package Eckrich Turkey Skinless Smoked Sausage-sliced
1/2 Onion sliced or chopped
1/2 Bell Pepper sliced or chopped
1-14oz can of Diced Tomatoes (Basil/Oregano)-If your not a fan of tomatoes use the smaller size
Pinch of Salt / Pepper and minced garlic ( this is optional but I ALWAYS season any food I cook)

This is really all you need for this dish, notice the potatoes you just have to warm them in the microwave, remove and cut them up to add to your dish. They saved me a ton of time.

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350-400 degrees
In a medium/ large skillet add a little bit of oil and sautee your sliced onions and bell pepper just a little, then add in your Sliced Sausage (optional, you can just add the sausage without heating them in the skillet, but I found this gives it more flavor)
In a baking dish add your soften potatoes, sausage, onion/ pepper mixture and then pour the whole can of diced tomatoes over it all, then season to your taste mixing a little.

Then cover with foil, tightly and bake for about 45 minutes-you want to make sure that the potatoes are soft and that your meat is well browned. I checked on it about half way through cooking time to stir it up a little and to make sure it wasn't sticking.



I season mine before I add the diced tomatoes

This is what it looks like about to go into the oven, just cover it with foil

Meat & Potatoes

This was really good and you really can't go wrong with it.

Spanish Okra

I saw this original recipe over on Kelly's Korner. And since my whole family loves Okra and we all love Rice I decided to give it a try. Let me tell you it did not disappoint. Now this is my version of the recipe, I tweaked the orginal recipe I saw online to fit my families taste. My daughters ate it all and actually got seconds, so I'd say it was a hit. It makes a perfect weeknight dinner. Let me add I don't know why this recipe has the word Spanish in it, but thats what its called. I'm calling it Southern Spanish Okra

Southern Spanish Okra

Ingredients:

1 lb ground chuck beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups sliced okra
1 can diced tomatoes ( I used the basil & organo it gives it flavor) or you can use 1 fresh tomatoe
1 can tomato sauce
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt / pepper and any additinal seasonings
Hot cooked white rice (we eat our rice sweet so after its cooked I add butter and sugar-to me this made it perfect)

Brown meat and onion in a large skillet, Drain (I also season my ground meat here just a little)

Add Okra

Cook 5 minutes constantly stirring it around

Add diced tomatoes and stir, then add the tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce and salt & pepper (to taste)

Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until okra is tender. Serve over Rice

I served ours over sweet rice, and peas as the side!!

Hashbrown Casserole

HashBrown Casserole

Ingredients:
1 bag of Shredded Hash Browns
1 Stick of Butter, Melted (I would use a little less than a whole stick)
1 8oz Sour Cream
1 Can of Cream of Chicken
1 small Onion, cut up
1/2 bag of Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions:
In a large bowl mix Hasbrowns and Butter together, stir; then add all other ingredients, mix well
Pour into baking dish (sprinkle a little cheese on top, opt)
Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, until bubble and brown on top.

*I cooked Turkey Sausage Links and carrots with ours this night, I wrapped the sausage up in foil and let it cook in the oven the entire time the casserole was cooking, and when it was almost done I put a little bar-b-q sauce on the meat.
This casserole is so good and quick to make, it can be made with the meat cut up inside the casserole to serve as the main dish as well*