Potatoes, Gouda, Bacon.....that's it.

My dear dear hubby is a potato freak. Every meal really isn't complete without some sort of potato.
But I get BORED! I swear I was making same potatoes in weekly rotations!

That's where Pinterest comes in handy! Potato recipes galore!

This mashed potatoes with gouda and bacon recipe is in NO way on my diet. But it was worth it!

INGREDIENTS
8 slices bacon
5 large green onions, finely chopped
3 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and cubed I used my trusty Albert Bartlett Rooster Potatoes
1/2 cup sour cream I used plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup butter
1/3-1/2 cup milk (to desired consistency)
2 cups (about 8 oz.) smoked gouda, grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Cook bacon until browned and crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Chop bacon. Place in a medium bowl and add green onions; toss to combine.

2. Place potatoes in a large pot and add enough water to cover. Sprinkle with salt. Cover and boil with lid slightly ajar until tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain.

3. Add the sour cream, butter, and milk to the pot. Using a potato masher, mash until almost smooth. Add more milk to thin if necessary. Stir in 1 1/2 cups smoked gouda and 1 cup of the bacon-onion mixture. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Spread in the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining cheese.

4. Preheat oven to 375 F and bake for about 30 minutes until the edges are bubbling and the top is golden. Top with the remaining bacon-onion mixture and serve.

Serves 6-8.

(Adapted from Bon Appetit)

Everything else I did pretty much to recipe. I don't measure. Really almost ever. Unless I'm baking. Then I KIND OF measure! :) Gotta make life interesting somehow right?

These potatoes were perfect! 

A craft! A craft! A burlap wreath craft!

Yay! I FINALLY got to a craft! My mom came to visit. She just made burlap wreaths with my sisters. They loved them. So while she was here we went to Hobby Lobby. Then she left. And she didn't tell me what to do! Oh well, no problem right? Just hop on Pinterest and find one to copy! So I found THIS link.

She starts with an 18" wire wreath form (I have no idea what size mine is. I bought the biggest, I think the medium would work better.)
She bought chevron burlap ribbon and plain burlap ribbon (I couldn't find burlap ribbon. It's not with the fabrics! So I bought 1 yard of burlap-I picked a royal blue, and I bought a spool of wired chevron burlap ribbon in canary yellow.)
She bought twine (I used the twine the hubby had in the garage.)

Here I am in burlap hell!

Her directions make no sense to me. I am burlap challenged apparently! So let's see if I can explain it any better!
If you get the burlap ribbons you are ready to start! If you buy the yard you need to cut it into strips. Just pick a good width, mine are probably 5 inches. 
If you don't want fray cut on the diagonal.    
I didn't care, so I have fray but cut straight and avoided some waste.

So there are 4 wires on the wreath forms. For the purpose of this tutorial the very center I will call the middle. The outer ring between 1st and 2nd wires I will call the outer and the inner between 3rd and 4th I will call the inner. The very center of the wreath form I will call the center.

Lay wreath form on surface, mine was the floor, in front of you.
You can start anywhere.
Take an end of the solid colored burlap and stick a little bit through the middle rungs.
Take the long end and throw it over the outer ring of the wire form. Take the end of the long part and bring it back through the middle. Thread it through until your loop is to the outside of the circle and the size/shape you want it.
Take the long end and throw it all the way to the center of the wreath form. Take the long end and put it behind the form in the center and bring it back through the middle. Make that loop the size/shape you want.
Take the long end and wrap it over the top and back through the middle again.
Take the long end and wrap it behind the center and back through the middle rung again.
Rinse and repeat. :) Just kidding! Just repeat repeat repeat! If you are using the strips you just start over with each new strip and hide the ends however you can. You can hide them at the end if needed too.

Does this make sense at all?
It didn't to me either. I started over 3 times before I figured out my way!

At the very bottom I ran out of plain burlap. It's ok! I just stopped there. But this is one of the reasons I would suggest the middle sized wreath form. Another reason is that I think the loops will look more substantial and impressive if they were a little more compact and scrunched.

At this point I took my chevron burlap and just wrapped it around the exposed part.

Did you think I was forgetting about the twine? I didn't! Get your twine ready for it's debut!

Take the chevron ribbon at the end and let part of it hang down like a tail. Leave the rest of the ribbon on the spool and set if off to the side still attached.
Take a piece of your twine and tie it in a knot around the whole frame and the chevron tail.
At this point I took my spool of twine and loosely stretched it around the circumference of the wreath. DON'T CUT YOUR CHEVRON RIBBON UNTIL YOU ARE DONE!
Take pieces of twine and every once in a while tie it around the wreath form and all of the burlap goodies!
I recommend smaller sections with more poofs. It's more impressive.
Go all the way around the wreath.
At the bottom make a tail to match the other side.
NOW you can cut the chevron ribbon.
Make a bow out of the rest of the ribbon and tie it to the blank space.

Go back at this point and cut off all the twine excess and any burlap fraying you don't like. 

I (my hubby) spray painted a yellow S for the wreath too.
I just tied it on with twine. 

I am in LOVE with my wreath.

Only changes I would make are a smaller wreath form overall, and smaller chevron bubbles on the wreath.

Skillet baked rigatoni for Meatless Monday

I don't do the whole meatless Monday thing. I like my meat. I would add meat to this next time. But it was yummy without it too, and I know lots of no meaters out there! I think ground Italian sausage browned and just sprinkled in between the layers would be divine.

The sun shines right in my kitchen at dinner cooking time. It's nice for me to feel, but it's not nice for my pictures!

I know, I know, nothing to do with rigatoni! But I looked over in the middle of cooking and my too cute for words kids were just laying there hugging each other.

And I agree with the original blogger, I love using my cast iron skillet to bake in!

Go visit Heather Cristo Cooks for the instructions! 

Ingredients

• -1lb rigatoni pasta
• -8 ounces ricotta cheese
• -4 ounces goat cheese Hubby won't go for goat cheese, so I just added some shredded mozarella
• -Kosher salt
• -Fresh black pepper
• -3 cups marinara (or good quality store bought marinara) I used Bertolli Vidalia Onion. 
• -1 handful fresh basil leaves Didn't have basil. I substituted fresh spinach leaves in the place of basil, tasted great and uped the veggie quota for the day!
• -½ cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. 2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rigatoni and cook to 2 minutes shy of al dente. Drain them.
3. 3. In a medium sized bowl, combine the ricotta cheese and the goat cheese and stir until well combined. Season with kosher salt and black pepper.
4. 4. Put the cheese mixture in a pastry bag or Ziploc and snip the end off. Pipe the room temperature cheese into the rigatoni noodles.I will stress the room temp issue here. It is infinitely harder with cold cheese!
5. 5. Pour 1 cup on the bottom of a 10” skillet. Follow that with the basil spinach leaves.
6. 6. Line up all the noodles in concentric circles, 1 layer at a time.
7. 7. When all of the noodles are in the pan. Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the noodles.
8. 8. Sprinkle the parmesan over the top of the sauce. (if you want to refrigerate, this is the point where you would do that).
9. 9. Bake the pasta about 15 minutes until the edges are getting golden and the dish is very hot.
10. 10. Serve hot!

Preparation time: 20 minute(s)
Cooking time: 25 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 6

Jalepeno Cornbread Poppers

I love jalepenos.
I love cornbread.
I love them together!

So when I found this recipe to combine the 2, I knew I would love it.


12  Med/Large fresh Jalapenos I only used how many I needed. Then I baked the leftover corn bread as muffins for the kids.
1 Box of Cornbread Mix (I used the Honey variety for the sweetness) I make my cornbread from scratch.
1 1/2 Cup Shredded Cheddar (1 cup for the batter..1/2 cup for sprinkiling)
1 Cup Corn..fresh OR canned is just fine I used frozen because I ALWAYS have frozen corn on hand.
Directions:
Slice each jalapeno down the center and carefully remove all the seeds and veins..set aside
In a medium bowl, mix up the Cornbread batter according to the box instructions, add in the Corn and 1 cup of the Cheddar.
Fill each Jalapeno half with some batter!  Eh-hem, don’t over fill them!  I purposefully over filled them. I tried not to at first, but I couldn't find huge jalepenos and the jalepeno to corn bread ratio didn't seem right. I needed more breading. It worked out just fine, just not as pretty!
 Sprinkle them all with the remaining 1/2 cup of Cheddar.
Place them on a baking rack & sheet pan, bake them at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, or until the Cornbread is firm and cooked through.  They will be puffed and cheesy too!
 

We had ours with steak and salad. PERFECT combo!