Spud Studs

 

I have said it before and I’ll say it again; I love potatoes in any way, shape or form.  I also love them for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Anytime, anyplace, any way.

Well, when I found this SUPER EASY potato pancake recipe I couldn’t wait to try it and make it my own.  It starts with frozen hash browns (which I always have in my freezer) and just a few other staple ingredients that many of us have on hand each and every day.

These are great served with eggs and sausage for breakfast, as a midday snack with a bit of sour cream or along side some yummy applesauce and pork for dinner.  The possibilities are endless!

 

 

Spice up any meal with these spud studs!

Enjoy!

 

Easy Potato Pancakes

Print this recipe!

• 3 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1-1/2 teaspoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• nonstick cooking spray for griddle

 

Place the hash browns in a strainer; rinse with cold water until thawed. Drain thoroughly; transfer to a large bowl. Add the flour, eggs, butter, water and salt and mix well.

Heat griddle to medium high and spray with nonstick spray. Drop batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto griddle; fry until golden brown on both sides. Serve warm. Yield: 6 servings.

 

*other ingredients would be great added to the “batter” of these as well:  chives, ham, cheese, garlic salt, sautéed onions just to name a few.

 

 

 

Semi-Homemade

A couple of weekends ago, before we set sail on our Scenic Boat Tour, we stopped by Crispers to have some lunch.  We were fresh off of our 20 mile run and, although I thought I would be ravenous, it was actually really hard to work up an appetite. 

Luckily, Crispers had a great selection of soups, salads, sandwiches, flat breads, etc. and they also offered many of their menu items in mix and match combos and trios.  I didn't really want a large serving of anything so I chose the trio platter. 

My trio consisted of small portions of the following:  Pot Roast Baked Potato, Tomato Bisque Soup with Parmesan and Croutons, and an Angus Beef Slider.





They all ended up tasting pretty great, but this guy(below) definitely stood out as my favorite. 






If you are a follower of this blog you already know that Mike and I love to top potatoes with just about anything on a weekly basis, so this immediately went on my "recreate at home" list.

The result?  Excellent and easy!

Semi-Homemade Pot Roast Baked Potato

Here's how:

1.  Look for pre-made beef pot roast in the meat section of your grocery store.  I'm not big on using pre-made meals, but in this case it's a HUGE time saver, not too horrible nutritionally and tasty as well.  Once in a while taking shortcuts is OK in my book.







2.  While the potatoes are baking in the oven (poke holes with a fork, rub with olive oil and garlic salt and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hr.) heat the pot roast according to package directions.  I heated mine in boiling water during the last 10 minutes of the potato cooking time.

3.  Once warmed through, take two forks and shred the beef medallions (if necessary).







4.  Open and fluff the baked potatoes and let cool for about 7-10 minutes (they will be very hot!). 







5.  Top with pot roast and gravy.  Add cheese of choice on top and put back into the oven to melt for about 5 minutes. 







6.  Serve with sour cream and green onions (I didn't have any) on the side if desired.

Thoughts:

This semi-homemade version turned out very similar to the original.  The Crispers version had a thicker gravy, which I loved, but the pre made gravy was almost just as tasty.

I might add roasted carrots in with the pot roast next time for a bit more color and vegetable nutrition.

All in all, definitely a keeper!

Skinny Soup

 I love potatoes!  I love them boiled, parsleyed, creamed, au gratin, french fried, country fried, baked, twice baked, puffed, scalloped and smashed and mashed (think Bubba from Forrest Gump describing shrimp when reading).  Now I can add soup to the list!  

This low fat version of a classic is thick, creamy and absolutley delectable.  I had zero guilt when eating this and it was even better as leftovers!

Fuller fat versions of milk and cheese can always be substituted for a richer taste, but take my word for it, this lower fat version is just as good!  Bon appetit!





Low Fat Baked Potato Soup

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Serves 4-6
Ingredients:

• 3 large baking potatoes
• 1 T butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 1/2 T flour
• 1 C chicken broth/stock
• 1 3/4 C skim milk
• 1/4 C fat free half and half
• Garnishes:  bacon bits and reduced fat cheddar cheese

Remove skin from the potatoes and chop into 1 inch cubes.  In a large dutch oven, saute onions and celery in a little bit of olive oil until the veggies begin to sweat but not brown.  Stir in flour and butter and cook for 2 minutes.

Slowly whisk in the stock until all is incorporated.  Add diced potatoes and slowly add the milk.  Once the milk is added simmer the mixture and stir occasionally.

Cook soup over medium to low heat for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are done.




If you prefer a chunky soup serve as is, if a smoother soup is preferred, use a food processor, blender (regular or immersion) or potato masher for desired consistency. 

If using a food processor or blender, start with half of the soup first, then add to it if smoother consistency is desired.





Top with store bought (real) bacon bits* and reduced fat cheddar cheese.  RF Sour cream and scallions or chives would also be a rock star additions to this soup, but I didn't have any - shame, shame!

*Instead of store bought bacon bits, you can also cook your own turkey/regular bacon and crumble on top, or discard altogether for a meatless meal.





Shortcut:  Store bought "Real" Bacon Bits

I hardly ever buy or fix bacon.  I love it, but I don't love the way it makes our house smell for days afterwards, not to mention it's not very figure friendly.  I usually tend to save my bacon eating for camping, but for the few recipes that do call for bacon, like the one listed above, a great shortcut is to have a bag of "real" bacon bits tucked away in the freezer. 

My mom got me hooked on these little nuggets and they are so convenient!  They are great added to regular baked potatoes, omelets or egg scrambles and even used to top a salad.  Try some "real" ones today, the imitation bits just won't work!

Top That!

 

Have you ever had leftovers that you didn't know what to do with?  One great rule of thumb is to always ask yourself, would this be good on top of a baked potato?
 
If you think about it, most things that you eat with potatoes as a side (mashed, roasted, or fried) could double as a baked potato topper and make for a great leftover meal.
 
Tonight’s dinner was just that.  Leftover pulled pork (from the freezer) heated up and piled high on a baked potato topped with reduced fat cheese and sour cream.  Delish!

Here are some other great potato topping ideas with leftovers:

• Mexican Potato: taco meat, refried/black beans, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream
• Chili/Sloppy Joe Potato: cheese and sour cream
• Beef Stew Potato
• Greek Potato: marinated chicken, green pepper and onion with lemon juice spritzed on top.
• Broccoli, Chicken and Cheese Potato: with cream of chicken and wine “gravy”
• Pizza Potato: Turkey pepperoni, marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese
• Chicken Fajita Potato: chicken, red onions, bell peppers, cheese, salsa, sour cream
   
  Also try reduced fat salad dressings or brown gravy on top of a potato instead of sour cream for extra flavor.

 

Pulled Pork Baked Potato

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2 baking potatoes

Pulled pork (homemade or pre-packaged, such as Llyod’s)

Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese

Reduced Fat Sour Cream

BBQ sauce (additional if needed)

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Scrub potatoes under running water.  Pierce with a fork or sharp knife so the potato will be able to release steam as it bakes.

2.  Drizzle approximately 1 T of olive oil on the potatoes and sprinkle skin with Garlic Salt and Lowry’s Seasoning Salt, or other seasonings of your choice.  This makes for the best potato skin EVER!

3.  Place baked potatoes directly on the oven rack and bake for 1 hr.  To check for doneness, slide a knife in the potato.  If it comes out cleanly without resistance, they are ready.  Take out of the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes.

4.  While potatoes are resting, heat pulled pork.

5.  Make a slit in the potato and squeeze the ends to open it up.  Place pulled pork in the center.  Top with cheese.  Place on a small baking sheet and put back into the oven to melt (about 5 minutes).

   

6.  Take out and top with more BBQ sauce and/or sour cream.

Broccoli in a Haystack

Have you ever had one of those days when you get home and had the best of intentions, but then the big comfy couch gets the best of you?  Well, that was me yesterday.

Hump day slump + dull headache = NAPTIME!
I am usually not a napper.  Mike gets that title.  But today, napping was wonderful.  An hour and a half of uninterrupted sleepy time. 

The only thing that wasn’t wonderful was waking up and remembering that baked potatoes were on the menu.
Originally we were supposed to have pulled pork, but I had to switch it due to scheduling.  Therefore, baked potatoes it was.

The only problem?  Potatoes take an hour to prepare and it was already 6:30pm when we woke up. 

Hmmmm, what to do. 

Then, the best thing happened – a new recipe shortcut! 

Introducing…

Broccoli in a Haystack

Print this recipe!

• 2 baking potatoes
• seasoning salts
• 1 1/2 C frozen broccoli florets
• sliced ham
• reduced fat mozzarella cheese
• reduced fat sour cream with ranch seasoning

 

Slice each baking potato into six wedges (in half lengthwise, and then into thirds). Place on a baking sheet.

Pour approximately 1-2 T of olive oil over the potatoes and add a few shakes of garlic salt and seasoning salt.  Mix well.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes.  Turn potatoes over and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

While the potatoes are baking, cook frozen broccoli according to package directions.  Chop ham into small pieces.  Add ranch
seasoning to sour cream.



When the potatoes are finished baking, stack in alternate directions to form a "haystack".



Add the toppings that would have originally gone on top of the traditional baked potato and nestle them into the middle of the haystack. 

At this point you can add a few dollops of the ranch seasoned sour cream on top of the broccoli and ham.



Top with cheese and put back into the oven until melted.  Serve with a bit more reduced fat sour cream on the side if needed.

The cooking time of this dish was reduced by 25 minutes simply by cutting the potatoes into wedges. 

Great time saving tip!  Enjoy!