Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes

Who doesn't love a good tasting potato side dish?  And this one has everything - cheese, sour cream, even potato chips for extra crunch.  This time I made it with traditional hash brown potatoes instead of cubed, both are good.  Another variation is to put corn flakes on top instead of potato chips.  Another variation is to add a 3oz pouch of bacon bits - yum!

Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes

2 LB hash browns - frozen - cubed - thawed
1 stick butter
1 cup onion - chopped
8 oz cheddar cheese - shredded
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
dash salt & pepper
1 cup potato chips - crushed

Sauté onion in butter. In a large bowl mix potatoes, soup, sour cream, cheese, onion & butter, and salt & pepper. Pour into a 9x13" and spread potato chips on top. Bake at 375° for 1 hour.

Better Box Brownies

I love brownies, and have made them from scratch before, but most of the time that seems like too much work.  But box brownies sometimes leave a little something to be desired.  So I started dressing up my box brownies by adding ingredients, and I have been happy with the result.

Better Box Brownies

1 box brownie mix

2 eggs

2/3 cup oil

1/4 cup water

2 T cocoa powder

1/2 bag chocolate chips or m&m's

In a large bowl, mix together brownie mix, eggs, oil, water, and cocoa powder.  Stir in chocolate chips and pour mixture into a greased 9x13" baking dish.  Bake at 350° for 28 minutes.

Mexican Rice

There is a Mexican restaurant that I love because of their Mexican rice.  I have always wanted to make it at home but had not found a good recipe.  I can stop looking, this was delicious!  I found it on Pinterest, the original recipe was by Rick Bayless, and then this girl modified it to her tastes, and I changed it a bit too, I went with corn instead of peas, it just seems to fit better with Mexican food to me.  I also added potatoes, like Margarita's version.  If you do not have hash browns in the house, you can substitute tater tots - just stir well at the end.

Mexican Rice

1 1/2 cup rice
1 1/2 T vegetable oil
1 cup salsa
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup corn - frozen
1 cup hash browns - frozen

Pour oil and rice into a pan and heat over high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add salsa, chicken broth, and salt and bring to a boil.  Add corn and potatoes and mix well.  Pour into a casserole dish, cover, and bake at 350° for 1 hour.

Doubled recipe:

3 cup rice
3 T vegetable oil
2 cup salsa
2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp salt
3 cup corn - frozen
2 cup hash browns - frozen

Pizza Crust

I was in the mood for pizza the other night, so I decided to make some from scratch.  I had used this crust before and it is really tasty.  I think I got the recipe with my breadmaker, but I can't remember.  It is nice and thick, the only downside is spreading the dough, I hate that job!

Pizza Crust

3/4 cup water - lukewarm
1/4 tsp oregano
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 T sugar
2 1/4 cup bread flour
1 tsp yeast

Add water, oregano, and olive oil to the pan. Add salt, sugar, and bread flour. Make a well in the bread flour with your finger, and measure the yeast into the well. Place the pan in the breadmaker, put on the dough setting, and press start. When the breadmaker is finished (1.5 hours), place on a cornmealed pizza pan. Stretch out dough. Let rise for 10 minutes for a thicker crust. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes, then top with sauce, cheese, and toppings. Bake for 10 more minutes. Recipe can be doubled for 2 crusts.

doubled ingredient list:

1 1/2 cup water - lukewarm
1/2 tsp oregano
2 T olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 T sugar
4 1/2 cup bread flour
2 tsp yeast

No Bake Cheesecake

After Henry was born, a lady from our church made this for us and it was so good I had to have the recipe.  I doubled it this past weekend to serve more people, that is why there are two pies in the picture.

No Bake Cheesecake

1 graham cracker crust
16 oz cream cheese - softened
12 oz cool whip
1/2 cup sugar
1 can pie filling - strawberry or cherry or whatever kind you want.

Beat together cream cheese, cool whip, and sugar.  Spoon into crust and refrigerate.  Top with pie filling.