Homemade Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

I love, love, love me some au gratin or scalloped potatoes. Seriously, what is the difference between the two? I need to do some research on that. Anyway, the other night when making steak, I really wasn't sure what I was going to make with it. Mashed potatoes again? No way! But I really wanted potatoes and I really did not want to fry them.

Then BAM, it hit me. Duh! Why not make cheesy potatoes? I had Velveeta cheese, which we all know is amazing...right? What more did I need? I'll admit I cheated and googled them to get approximated cook times. However, I really just kind of winged it, which is what generally happens. I think I just lie the reassurance of seeing someone else's recipe and knowing it really is possible.

The turned out amazing. Even my six year-old commented on how good they were, while insisting us father eat them. I had the hubby's approval, too. He ate what little leftovers we had before I got home from work the next day. Talon cutely announced that he knew my secret ingredient. "What is it?" I asked him. "Cheese!" He declared, and I could only laugh. He surely knows my "secret" ingredient.

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 potatoes (depends on size)
• 8 oz Velveeta cheese (about 1/2 a block & you can afford some give/take on this, depending on preference)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 to 2 cups shredded cheese (optional)
• Salt
• Pepper

Recipe

Cut potatoes about this thin.

1. Place pot of water on stove to start heating up.
2. Slice potatoes into desired thickness & add to boiling water.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees while potatoes cook
4. Boil for 8 minutes and check every 1 to 2 minutes after until fork tender (not tender enough for mashed potatoes, remember)
5. Cube velveeta cheese for easy melting.
6. Strain potatoes and put on baking dish.
7. Put in milk, velveeta cheese, salt and pepper.
8. Cover and bake for 20 minutes.
9. Stir in 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Add the other 1/2 cup on top.



My Velveeta cheese blocks/slices.

10. Uncover and bake until cheese is melted and potatoes are desired tenderness.

What my taters looked like before the cheese topping!

~ 3 adult servings

Holy Hotness Chili

For some reason, I didn't take any pictures of the chili?

For a brief period of time, my sister and now-brother-in-law lived with my husband and I.  Eli, my brother-in-law, likes to walk on the wild side eat on the spicy side.  Therefore, during their stay here, I challenged myself a time or two to make spicier dishes, including spicy (delicious) chicken tacos.  I only remember making chili once, maybe twice, while they lived here and it never was quite up to par with Eli's spicy requirements.

Fate would have it, the eve of their departure, I was tempted to make chili.  Ironically, jalapenos are extremely cheap at my local grocery store.  Unfortunately, everything else is outrageously high.  Tempted by the low price tag, I purchased four jalapenos.  Thus begins the story of the Holy Hotness Chili.

Estimated Prep & Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients & Supplies

• 1lb Hamburger
• 15 oz Hormel Chili
• 4 Jalapenos
• Canned Mushrooms
• 64oz Tomato Juice
• Light and Dark Kidney Beans
• Canned Diced Tomatoes
• Skillet, spatula, soup ladle, pot

How To

1. Brown hamburger in skillet.
2. While browning hamburger, remove the stems from jalapenos and puree in blender.  Adding a little bit of tomato juice to the blender helped this process, for me.
3. In pot, combine all ingredients.  This can be done before, during, and/or after browning hamburger.  The only purpose is to heat all the other ingredients.

I served mine with cornbread, as chili is about the only meal I make cornbread with.

Too Hot for You?

 Turns out, this chili was much different than I anticipated.  This was a learning experience.  I realized, while I loved the hot spiciness all the jalapenos added, I very much dislike the actual flavor of the jalapenos.  Solution?  Sour cream!  It was, actually, very delicious.  I added between 2 and 3 tablespoons of sour cream to my chili and it was the perfect dish!  This is great to know if your family has some that like it very hot and some that prefer a more mild dish.  Thanks to my google research,  I also learned that adding sugar, lemon juice, lime juice, dairy products, and several other ingredients can have the same effect.  Of course, taste will vary depending on which ingredient you decide to add.  For me, sour cream was the perfect choice!

This left lots of leftovers which I have been slowly consuming over the past few days, along with my sour cream.  It's just as good, if not better, the second (or third, or fourth) time around.