Garlic Fries

Source: The Food You Crave

Please ignore the crappy photo above. I was starving as I was taking the picture. Those fries don't look all that great, but trust me in that they ARE!!! I served these with the chicken fingers and couldn't get enough. I see myself making these frequently as a snack. If you love fries, these are a delicious and easy alternative!

The only word of caution is to keep an eye on them when they're cooking. I attempted a batch of these last week, and maybe I sliced them too thin, but most of them burned after 20 minutes in the oven. The recipe recommends 35, so just check every so often until they're done.

Garlic Fries

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 large baking potatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. Heat the garlic and oil together in a small saucepan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Strain the garlic from the oil with a small mesh strainer. Set both garlic and oil aside.

3. Cut the potatoes in 1/4-inch-thick matchsticks. In a large bowl, combine the oil, potatoes, and salt. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the potatoes on it in a single layer. Bake until golden and crisp, about 35 minutes.

3. Remove the potatoes from the baking sheet with a metal spatula. In a serving bowl, toss them with the parsley, reserved garlic, and salt to taste. Serve immediately.

Sauteed Mushrooms

Adapted from: Recipe Zaar

One of my VERY FAVORITE dishes is the sauteed mushrooms from Outback Steakhouse. First of all, I don't like raw mushrooms. Ugh. They taste like nothing. I DO, however, like it when mushrooms act like little flavor sponges, soaking up the flavor of the dish they're in. Yum! This is a delicious example of that, and an absolutely PERFECT side dish with steak. It's pretty close to the restaurant version, and is RIDICULOUSLY easy! I did notice looking at the recipe it only contained beef broth and wine, and the Outback version has a little more richness to it. I added a couple tablespoons of butter with a clove of minced garlic and that seemed to do the trick. I'm sure the restaurant version has at least double the butter, but hey, this is a little healthier, right?

Sauteed Mushrooms

2 tablespoons butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can beef broth

1/2 cup onion, diced

8 ounces fresh sliced baby bella mushrooms

1/3 cup red wine

1. Add butter and garlic to saucepan over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes. Add beef broth and onion to pan and simmer for 15 minutes.

2. Add mushrooms and wine, and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Enjoy!

American Potato Salad with Hard-Boiled Eggs and Sweet Pickles

Source: The New Best Recipe

I was a little nervous making this recipe if it would live up to the amount of time invested.  It wasn't quite as "coated" as other potato salads I'd eaten. But it was super yummy! It takes take a fair amount of time between hard-boiling the eggs and mincing the onions, celery, and sweet pickles (DON'T use relish!) but the result is oh-so-good! There are so many good things about this salad - the red wine vinegar seasoned potatoes, the crunchy celery, the sweet pickles. It was delicious! It does make a fairly large amount for the two of us, so I'm glad we have extras!

American Potato Salad with Hard-Boiled Eggs and Sweet Pickles

2 pounds red potatoes (about 6 medium or 18 small), scrubbed

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Salt and ground black pepper

3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch dice

1 medium celery rib, mined (about 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup sweet pickles, minced

2 tablespoons minced red onion

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

1. To hard-boil the eggs: Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with one inch of water. Bring the pan to a boil, remove from heat, and let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add 1 quart of cold water and 1 tray of ice (or equivalent) to a large bowl. Remove eggs from pan to ice water. Let sit for 5 minutes. Tap each egg on countertop, then roll all over to crack entire surface. Peel, and dice eggs.

2. Cover the potatoes with 1 inch water in a stockpot or Dutch oven. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring once or twice to ensure even cooking, until the potatoes are tender, 25 to 30 minutes for medium potatoes or 15 to 20 minutes for small potatoes.

3. Drain; cool potatoes slightly and peel if you like (I didn't). Cut the potatoes into 3/4 inch cubes (use a serrated knife if they have skins) while still warm, rinsing the knife occasionally in warm water to remove the starch.

4. Place the warm potato cubes in a large bowl. Add the vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and toss gently. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool, about 20 minutes.

5. When the potatoes are cool, toss with the remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to one day.

Crispy Onion Strings

Source: The Pioneer Woman

I used to HATE onions. I typically omitted them in all forms of cooking. Over the past few years, I've used them more and loved them more. I even used to hate onion rings, but I've grown to love those, too. As soon as I saw these on Pioneer Woman's website, I knew I had to make them. They were incredibly easy and DELICIOUS! If you like onion rings, I think you'll be surprised by how simple it is to make them. The hardest part is sitting there and waiting for the oil to heat up. Once the oil is heated up, leave it on high. I reduced it, thinking it would continue to rise, but it dips quite a bit once you add in the onions.

I made these yesterday and just reheated some in the microwave, and they reheat quite well, too! 

Crispy Onion Strings

1 large onion

2 cups buttermilk

2 cups all-purpose flour

Slightly less than 1 tablespoon salt

Ground black pepper

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 to 2 quarts canola oil.

1. Slice onion very thin and seperate rings. Place in a baking dish and pour buttermilk over the rings. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

2. Add oil to a stainless steel Dutch oven or stockpot.  Clip a candy thermometer to the side. Turn heat on high and heat oil to 375 degrees.

3. While oil is heating, combine dry ingredients. Using tongs, take some of the onions and coat in the flour mixture. Tap to shake off the access, and plunge into the hot oil.  Use tongs to separate and let fry until golden brown. Remove onions and place on a paper-towel lined plate.

4. Repeat until onions are done. Enjoy!

Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes

Source: All Recipes

If there's one "food group" I couldn't live without, it's carbs. And not the good kind, of course...I need crusty French bread and scalloped potatoes. Twice baked potatoes fit nicely in this category. Talk about satisfaction...potatoes, bacon, cheese, butter, sour cream...you may want to stay away if you're on a diet, but otherwise, this is one of my favorite dishes. I will actually push aside the main dish just to finish these up. Yum.

First of all, if you're using large russet potatoes, the recipe lies and you will NOT be done baking the potatoes in an hour. At 350, you'll realistically need an hour and a half. Or you could increase the oven temperature. Or you could gut the still-firm potato innards and nuke them in the microwave. The original recipe also calls for salt. With the bacon and butter, I don't think it needs it, but it's a matter of taste.

Overall, you can't go wrong with these!

Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes

PREP TIME 15 Min
COOK TIME 1 Hr 15 Min
READY IN 1 Hr 30 Min
SERVES 8


Ingredients:

4 large baking potatoes
8 slices bacon
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
8 green onions, sliced, divided


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.

2. Meanwhile, cook bacon in the microwave. Let cool and crumble.

3. When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon. Bake for another 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Pioneer Woman's Whiskey-Glazed Carrots

Source:The Pioneer Woman

First off...this recipe is DELICIOUS. I have more of a "salty" tooth than a sweet tooth (see exhibit A: popcorn and sunflower seed addiction) but I just LOVED these sweet, but crunchy carrots! Such a nice addition to the table!

Even though they almost set my kitchen on fire.



Well, not the carrots, but Mr. Jim Beam himself. As I was adding it to the very hot skillet, I don't know quite what happened, but flames shoot up from the pan (as my camera was pointed at it, no less). My husband, fortunately, is much more level-headed than I. He knew the flames would die down quickly, but we didn't escape without the smoke detectors going off. And smoke filling the house. And things had been going so WELL.

Anyway, fire scare aside, I would most definitely make these again! I probably just need to be a little more careful when pouring the whiskey and turn down the heat a bit.



Pioneer Woman's Whiskey Glazed Carrots

Ingredients:
2-3 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into thick circles
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup Jack Daniels or other whiskey
3/4 to 1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add carrots in 2 batches, cooking for 60 to 90 seconds each batch. Remove from skillet.

2. Pour in whiskey and allow to evaporate 30 seconds. (Tip: do not set your kitchen on fire in the process.) Reduce heat to medium, and add remaining butter. When butter melts, sprinkle brown sugar over the top. Stir together, then add carrots to skillet. Cover, and continue cooking for 5 minutes.

3. Remove lid and add salt and pepper. Continue cooking until carrots are done and glaze is thick, about 5 more minutes.

4. Pour onto a platter and serve immediately. Sprinkle with chopped chives if desired.

Campbell's Green Bean Casserole

Pretty basic stuff here...we were denied green beans on Thanksgiving, so my husband requested it for Christmas. I went with the Campbell's version, easy to prepare and always good! Alternatively, if you love cheese as I do, omit the soy sauce and add 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese to the bean mixture, and top with a little bit more when you add the final onion topping.

I made this hours ahead of time and refrigerated it until I needed to cook it--it turned out perfectly! I also used frozen green beans and cooked them in the microwave per the package instructions.

Campbell's Green Bean Casserole

Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake: 30 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp soy sauce
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut green beans
1 1/4 cup french fried onions

Directions:
1. Stir the soup, milk, soy, black pepper, beans and half the onions in a baking dish.

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the bean mixutre is hot and bubbling. Stir the bean mixture and top with the remaining onions.

3. Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown. Serve and enjoy!

Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken and Country Green Beans

Source: All Recipes

I have not made this chicken recipe in awhile, but it's very easy recipe, especially if you have lime juice on hand. The blend of spices is great, and the lime juice adds that extra kick.

I made this with thin chicken breast filets, my new favorite to pick up at the grocery store. You'll have to adjust the cooking times if you use thin-cut--just a couple of minutes each side.

I tend to be pretty lazy when it comes to side dishes, but I found this green bean recipe on All Recipes and it was super easy. The turkey bacon I wanted to use was expired, but the recipe was just as delicious without it. I can't wait to make it with the bacon!

Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ready in: 25 minutes
Serves 4

3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used thin cut)

2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
3 tablespoons of lime juice

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix together salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried thyme, and parsley. Sprinkle mixture generously on both sides of chicken breasts.
2. Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until golden brown, about 6 minutes each side (half if thin cute). Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of garlic powder and lime juice (I mix these together in a small bowl while mixing the dry herbs.) Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently to coat evenly with sauce.

Country Green Beans

I LOVE these! Such a low maintenance side dish! Nom nom nom!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Ready in: 25 minutes
Serves 4

1 pound of fresh green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1/4 cup of cooked ham (or bacon)
1/4 cup of butter or margarine
1/4 cup of water
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper (I doubled, I LOVE pepper!)

1. In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the green beans are tender.

I started the green beans a few minutes before the garlic lime chicken because I knew they would take longer. Together, both are a quick, easy meal!