Cheesy Shredded Hashbrowns

My roommates and I recently hosted a Friendsgiving in our home. I had no idea was I was going to prepare as all of my roommates had claimed the traditional Thanksgiving components. In my head I was going through all of my Mother's recipes and I thought of the perfect recipe, cheesy potatoes. Little did I know this delicious recipe was actually super easy to make. I'd like to share this simple recipe with you today.

Ingredients

• 1 can (10.5 oz) of cream of chicken soup
• 1 (16 oz) container of sour cream
• 2 cups of shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 1 whole yellow onion diced 
• 1 bag (30 oz) of frozen shredded hash browns
• 1 stick of melted butter
• ground black pepper
• Corn flakes and 1/4 cup melted butter (optional)

First preheat your oven to 350° F. All you have to do is combine all of the ingredients except for the corn flakes in a large bowl. Stir until all the way combined. Put the mix into a large baking pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. You can also combine the corn flakes and 1/4 of melted butter to put on top to create a casserole, but this portion is optional. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until brown around the edges. 

Go ahead and give this a try. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as me and my family do. 

How To Chose The Right Onion

When you're walking through the grocery store their is always a huge variety of pretty everything. Which potatoes do I pick? Why are their so many kinds of tomatoes? I don't even know the difference between onions. Well that's why I am here!

Onions are one of the most used, and versatile ingredients in the kitchen. Onions are used in so many recipes and it is important to understand the differences among the many onions that their are.

Yellow Onions

Yellow onions are the most commonly and versatile onions in the kitchen. They are perfectly in between sweet and sharp in taste. That makes these onions perfect for stews, roasts, soups, or sauces. This onion should almost always be in your pantry.

Sweet Onions

Pretty self-explanatory right? Sweet onions generally have a sweet taste to them. Have you ever had a blooming onion? Sweet onions are best for making onion rings, or a blooming onion. They are great for frying because they are not to sharp with flavor so they pair well with the deep fried batter. They are great for more than just their flavor. Sweet onions have thick layers, which hold up well when fried.

White Onions

White onions have the crunchiest and sharpest flavor. White onions go great in a salsa, or a stir-fry. They are not the most commonly used onion in the kitchen but they do add a lot of flavor to mexican dishes.

Red Onions

Personally one of my favorite onions as they are the best eaten raw. red onions are great for salsa, guacamole, salads, or for pickling, if you're cuban. But beware because you may have some onion breath for days to come.

So now when you read a recipe that requires onion you have an idea of which onion to buy at the grocery store. I hope these tips will help you make your next grocery visit a little easier.

Making Cheap Pasta Sauce Better

Cheap pasta sauce can sometimes taste bland and far from delicious. I recently discovered a great way to make cheap pasta taste awesome. It only requires a few ingredients that every kitchen has, and it takes your pasta a long way.

The first ingredient you'll need you'll acquire after you've already made the pasta. So boil any pasta of your choice in some salt water. Now before you dump the pasta into your colander and your pasta water down the drain, put a bowl under the colander or use a strainer. You are going to want catch that starchy pasta water for later use. Once you start heating up your pasta sauce put your pasta in the same pan and heat them up together, this will allow the pasta to actually absorb the sauce. Now you're going to take a little of that starchy water and add it to your pasta. Let all of that cook together on a low heat for about a minute. 

For the next portion you'll need a little bit of butter, about a tablespoon, and some extra virgin olive oil. Remove your pasta from the heat and add these two ingredients. Give your pasta a good stir. At this time you may also want to add fresh parmesan, and fresh herbs. 

If you follow these tips you will have some five-star restaurant quality pasta. It really is that easy and it makes all the difference. I found this tip on Chowhound a channel on YouTube, go here to check out their video walk-through. 

The Way of The Potato

Potato is an ingredient that can be used in almost any dish. I love potatoes and use them as a side for almost any meal. You can bake, fry, mash, and scallop potatoes, I am sure there are more but thats all I can think of off the top of my head. So I am going to show you a great way to utilize a potato, with a spin on a Mexican classic, Nachos!

Now that is a potato!

The best part about this recipe is how cheap it is, and you probably already have most of the ingredients in your house. This recipe is also very versatile as well, so you can add ingredients or take out any ingredients.

 Here's what you'll need for the base of the recipe:

• 1 medium sized potato of your choice
• Olive Oil 
• Mexican Blend/Cheddar cheese, whichever you prefer
• Salt n' peppa 
• Extras:
• Bacon Bits
• Chives
• Sour Cream

First, preheat your oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, then chop your potato in thin slices like so:

Sliced n' diced

Lay out your potatoes without overlapping pieces on a pan and drizzle some olive oil first under then over each piece, season the potatoes with a little bit of salt or try and add your own twist:

You're going to cook the potatoes for about 20-25 minutes. Once they come out stack them all together and add cheese and bacon bits, and put back in the oven for a few more minutes until the cheese has melted. The result is gooey delicious nacho result. Add some sour cream and chives if you're really feeling adventurous. Then let me know how you did! I hope you enjoyed this recipe and I look forward to posting some more.

Maybe you've made such a mess eating this recipe way to fast because it was way to delicious that you need a new shirt. Well if you do need a new shirt and you love pizza, check out my pizza pie chart shirt found here.

Buffalo Dip Goodness

I needed a to make a dip for a party and I had remembered having an awesome buffalo chicken dip at some party in the past, so I knew I had to make it. I googled a couple of different recipes and found one that was perfect, it was simple to make and relatively cheap. The dip is so creamy and goes with so many different types of chips or crackers. So lets get to the important parts already.

Here is what you'll need:

• 2 packs of cream cheese
• 1 cup of ranch
• 3/4 cup wing sauce of your choice
• 10 oz. of some kind of shredded chicken (I used canned chicken, which turned out surprisingly well) 
• Shredded cheddar cheese

Making the dip is a simple process. First, Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then you'll want to make sure that your cream cheese is softened. You can do this by either leaving it out on the counter for about an hour, or I dice it and toss it in the microwave for about 30 seconds stirring occasionally. Once your cream cheese has softened go ahead and mix everything except for the shredded cheese. Next, your going to want a pie dish or something about that size. Spread the mixture evenly throughout the dish. Sprinkle however much cheddar cheese your heart desires on top of the dip. Put that bad boy in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Serve the dish nice and toasty with a chick or cracker of your choice, I personally like Fritos. 

Give this dish a try and let me know how it tastes. Then take your leftovers to work the next day in your brand new lunch bag that you bought from this link. Be careful or someone at work might steal your lunch. 

Penzeys Spices and Why You Should Buy Them

Penzeys Spices started as a Mom n' Pop coffee/spice shop. Today the company operates 70 different retail stores in 29 states. Let me tell you, all of their spices are absolutely incredible. It all started with my mom, like everything when it comes to cooking. My mom has been buying Penzeys Spices for years now, and she can't get enough of them. Now, neither can I! Penzeys offers such an array of products that are always so delicious. Not only are Penzeys spices amazing but their message as well. I saw a quote on a mug for sale on their website that read, "Love to cook, cook to love." I thought that this quote was amazing. I felt like that's what my Mother did. She loves to cook for me and my siblings, and it was her cooking that always brought all of us together around the dinner table, where I have such fond memories.

 Okay, okay enough about all that sentimental stuff, lets talk about the products. Penzeys offers pretty much any spice that you could think of or ever need. Today I am going to focus on the spices that I own. I actually got these particular spices from my Mom for Christmas last year in a cool little gift set.

The gift set came with these six spices. Honestly, I only regularly use 3 out of the 6 but I of course have tried them all. Those 3 are the sandwich sprinkle, the frozen pizza seasoning, and the Ruth Ann's Chicken & Fish seasoning. Those 3 I use often and they all add so much flavor to each meal. I use those ones most often because they can be used for simple items like a frozen pizza or a sandwich. As a college students sometimes all I have time for is pizza, or a sandwich. The cajun seasoning goes nicely with fish, and the Bangkok and Arizona Dreaming go great on chicken. Penzeys has great products and an even better message. So check out Penzeys website here.

After you check out Penzeys website spread some dinner love with a "I heart Dinner," cooking apron. That can be found here.

Bad Cook to Good Cook

I posted a wonderful article about how to become a better cook with 3 easy rules to follow. Please take a look at my post at this link. Anyone can implement these rules into their cooking lives. If you are a seasoned cook I would not recommend looking at this article because you probably already know what you're doing in the kitchen. I wanted to show everyone that they are able to be a good cook and how simple it really can be. Beginners will absolutely benefit the most out of reading the article. This is my main priority, I want people who have never cooked before to visit my blog and feel like they can do it. If I can do, so can you.

I want to share my passion of cooking with my readers and I want people to see what they are capable of. I hope that my article can give people some hope and show them that it really is this simple to become a better cook.  I broke this article up into an introduction paragraph and then into 3 paragraphs that each revolves around a specific rule that I think is the key to becoming a better cook. Cooking is always a learning experience and I think that is one thing I forgot to mention in my article. If you fail continue trying your best and you will become better and better with every recipe you cook. So please, beginners, take a look at my article and start becoming a better cook today, or at least by tomorrow!