Baked Potato Casserole

I love twice-baked potatoes but have never actually made them. I found this recipe for potato casserole, which is basically just the easy version of twice-baked potatoes, in casserole-form (with my additions in italics).

Baked Potato Casserole (from simplifysupper.com)

6 Small baking potatoes *I used 3 regular russet potatoes
.75 cup cottage cheese *I don't like cottage cheese, so I did 1/2 cottage cheese, 1/2 cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup sour cream *I used fat free and it worked just fine
1/2 cup cheddar or favorite mixed cheeses *I used cheddar and monterey jack
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika, optional

Scrub potatoes with a brush and pat dry. Pierce with a fork and cover each individual potato with aluminum foil, matte side facing out. Bake at 425 40 to 60 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Allow to cool slightly until they are cool enough to handle. Cut potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Then add cottage cheese, sour cream, garlic salt, and paprika. Mix well and add to a greased casserole dish. Add shredded cheese to top. Bake uncovered at 325 for about 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and golden.


It was delicious! When I showed my sister the recipe, she suggested using cream-of-whatever soup instead of cottage cheese (we both dislike cottage cheese - guess it runs in the pants!). Of course cottage cheese is slightly better for you than creamed soups, so I just decided to mix the 2 on a whim. You could still see the cottage cheese in the casserole but you couldn't taste it. And my husband suggested adding a little more sour cream because "sour cream is good on potatoes." (It was really good just how it was, but more sour cream probably wouldn't hurt either.)

Cheesy Potato Soup (w/ bacon)

I got this award-winning recipe from my friend Bethany. I made it tonight. It feeds 6-8 people (or more, it is so rich!) and is also great in a bread bowl.

In large pot combine:

4 cubes or 2 Tbs. granules Chicken bouillon
3 Cups hot water
5 cups diced potatoes
1 cup diced celery
1 cup chopped carrots
½ cup chopped onion
Cook above ingredients until tender.

In second pan melt butter and whisk in flour. Add the half and half and mix until smooth. Add Velveeta and grated cheese and mix until smooth and then add to vegetables.

¾ cup butter
¾ cup flour
8 oz cubed Velveeta
4 cups half and half
½ cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions:
You can add milk to it after it is all cooked to make it a little thinner and it helps make it not as rich tasting.
I also added about 8 slices of bacon, cut up and cooked, as I mixed everything together. Good stuff.

Enjoy the yum-yums!