One of the best side dishes mom made us was Cheesy Potatoes.  It goes well with many meals, Fish, Pork Chops, and Steak.  The homemade cheese sauce is what makes this recipe.  Take this to your next picnic or potluck, it will be a huge hit! 




My daughter calls the cheesy potatoes "the bomb"  but I wasn't sure how to incorporate it into the title. She is the biggest fan of anything with cheese.  




The potatoes used for this recipe came out of our garden.  I don't remember planting potatoes growing up, but my husband takes great pride in his garden, especially the 100 plus potato plants he planted this spring. Fresh potatoes are the best, they are white and crisp.  




Potato plants grow best in hills.  This ensures plenty of room for potatoes to produce.  You could have 6-10 potatoes per plant.  Potatoes will keep for a few months if your store in a dry, cool place. 





Cheesy potatoes are the most requested side from our friends and family.  Your family will love it too!




1. Fill stockpot halfway with water, and start to boil water
2. Peel and dice potatoes
3. Add potatoes to boiling water, cook firm
4. Drain potatoes in a strainer
5. Put pot on medium-low, add ½ stick of butter, and whisk to melt.
6. Add ⅛ cup of flour and continue to whisk, turn low if needed
7. Add ¼ - ½ cup of milk, whisking continuously, add more flour to thicken.
8. Cut Velveeta cheese into squares and add to the pot, whisking continuously. 
9. Add the drained potatoes to the pot, stir and season with salt and pepper.




Dice the potatoes to a consistent size so they cook the same 
Add shredded cheddar cheese for a cheesier texture



This post is sponsored by the Glass Barn, Indiana Soybean and Corn Farmers but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love an easy breakfast idea that comes together quickly!  Edith's Breakfast Casserole is simple, and with a few ingredients, you will have breakfast prepared for the next morning.  





Edith's Breakfast Casserole is a family recipe passed on a few generations.  Edith is my Grandmother Patty's sister in law.  My mom said they use to go to Edith's house for Thanksgiving when they were growing up.


It is nice to have family recipes. First of all, I love to see how they cooked for their families.  It is very similar to what we do.  Second, I love keeping things in the family and sharing it with my kids. 






Everything is prepared the night before and sets up nicely in the refrigerator.  You should have all ingredients on hand, this is a very easy recipe.  I always make sure I have eggs on hand.  It only takes one time of running out of eggs, and you don't want that to happen again.



I was curious when I saw the recipe requested dry mustard.  Dry mustard brings more flavor to the recipe.  Dry mustard is also great in soups and sauces.  I encourage you to try it!






PRINT RECIPE HERE



2. Beat eggs and milk together

3. Add salt and dry mustard and beat again

4. Add torn bread pieces and stir until softened.

5. Stir in cheese, mushrooms and sausage. 

6. Pour into 9x13 greased baking dish.

7. Refrigerate overnight

8. Next day, bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes

TIPS FOR BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

This post is sponsored by the Glass Barn, Indiana Soybean and Corn Farmers but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love using the Instant Pot for easy soup recipes. We can make our favorite soups faster and works great with our busy schedules.  Instant Pot Lasagna Soup takes one of our favorite meals, and turns it into a soup everyone enjoys!




I used bow tie pasta for this recipe.  It would be awesome to find the small lasagna noodles for this soup, but cue the song, "Just a small-town girl".  I couldn't find them anywhere.  I have also read not to use the large lasagna noodles and break them up, they turn out too mushy.


PRINT RECIPE HERE

This post is sponsored by the Glass Barn, Indiana Soybean and Corn Farmers but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ingredients 

Tips on Mock Tacos 

Sugar Cookies are traditional and classic.  They are the softest and chewy cookie.  Ever. Sugar cookies have been around for a long time. July 9th is National Sugar Cookie Day. I imagine they have because it is a simple recipe with simple ingredients




You can dress up or down a sugar cookie, depending on your liking.  My mom has always added a simple powdered sugar icing on the top. This time I did the icing, kept some plain and rolled some dough in sprinkles.  




It was hard to keep the kids away when I was making the cookies!  

Nana's Sugar Cookies

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1. Mix powdered sugar, white sugar, oil, margarine, eggs, and vanilla together. 
2. Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda.  Add to mixture, a little bit at a time, and mix well.  
3. Cool dough in the refrigerator.
4. Drop by spoonfuls on cookie sheet.
5. Mash with a glass bottom that has sugar greased and dipped on it
6. Bake at 350 8-10 minutes
7. Ice or leave plain

Apple desserts are a favorite of ours.  Fall is the perfect time to think about apple recipes. Apple dumplings are an old fashion dessert that can never go wrong.  The flaky crust that wraps the sweet apple and the sauce that covers the dumpling brings you back to grandma's kitchen.  



I searched for my grandma's recipe in the cookbook my sister created.  It is a collaborative arrangement of all of her popular desserts in a spiral notebook.  It is great to have to be able to grab is and search for a recipe that reminds me of her.  I found an apple dumpling recipe, it listed the ingredients, but no directions.  We know Grandma Patty made her own crust, but I need to keep it simple. I decided I needed to create a new recipe.





Picking a great baking apple is very important.  My favorite apples are Honey Crisp, and I always grab those first in the produce section.  The best type of baking apples is probably a matter of opinion from baker to baker.  You could try Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Jonagolds,  or Braeburn. 


Mix 2 cups sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in a bowl.  Using a stick of butter, cut six 1 teaspoon pats of butter.  To prepare, assemble the dumplings.  

Preparing your apples will take some time to peel, core, and you could quarter if you like. It would help speed up the cooking time. 
This is the step where I wished I had an apple corer!

Keep pie dough in the refrigerator until you need it. Take out one pie crust and remove from wrapper.   Cut the crust in half and roll into a ball. Roll the ball out on the floured surface.  Roll the dough into a square large enough to fit around the apple.  Medium size apples work the best.  Of course, I picked out very large apples! Six apples fit the best in a 9x13 pan, so I used 3 pie crusts.




Place apple in center of the dough.  Spoon 4 teaspoons of the sugar/cinnamon mixture and one pat of butter in the center of the apple.  Using your fingers, dip in the water, and run fingers along the edges.  Bring up all four corners of the dough and seal the dough on the top of the apple.




Place dumpling in 9x13 pan after dumplings are prepared, put the saucepan over medium heat and add cinnamon, water, 




Place in 375-degree oven for 45 minutes.  

1. Preheat oven 375
2. Prepare syrup, combine 1 cup syrup, 2 cups water, 3 tablespoons butter, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon in a saucepan, bring to a boil. Boil 3 minutes.  
3. Mix 1 cup sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon in a separate bowl, set aside.
4. On a lightly floured surface, take one crust, cut in half, roll into a ball and roll out to a square. 
5. Place one apple on each square and fill each center with 4 teaspoons of sugar mixture and ½ teaspoon butter
6. Moisten edges of crust with water, bring up corners over apples, pinching edges to seal.
7. Place in ungreased 13x9 dish
8. Pour syrup over apples. 
9. Bake until golden brown for 45 minutes.

Now that my kids are getting bigger, and busy with sports.  It takes a lot of food to feed them. We always prepare meals with two pounds of beef.  If we are lucky, we have leftovers. Sometimes. 



PRINT RECIPE HERE

Serve with Parmesan Cheese or shredded cheese.

This post is sponsored by the Glass Barn, Indiana Soybean and Corn Farmers but all thoughts and opinions are my own.