Funeral Potatoes

Okay, these aren't exclusive to funerals, obviously. But that's what we always called them. There are also as many variations as there are stars in the sky, but here's one that I like.

Funeral Potatoes
32 oz frozen hashbrowns
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
16 oz sour cream
1 c grated cheese
1/2 T dried onion

Mix and put in a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350˚ for 1 to 1.5 hours.

NOTES
I usually use mozarella cheese to be safe in my recipes (due to trying to avoid hard cheeses), but this is best if you can throw in colby jack or something with a little sharper flavor.

Some people crush corn flakes and put on top before baking to give it some crunch. I never had it like that, but hey, if corn flakes are your thing, go nuts!

Roasted Potatoes

With IC, you can't have salad dressings because of the vinegar in them. However, I am able to eat the salad dressing mixes. Be careful with this though, because some people may be more sensitive to the spices in the mix. Always experiment with one food at a time, so you know what makes you sick (and can avoid it in the future).

Roasted Potatoes
~6 regular potatoes (russet or red, either work)
1/2 packet of ranch or italian salad dressing mix
Butter

Wash and cube the potatoes. Leave the skin on. Place in a 1.5 quart dish. Place dabs of butter evenly over the top of the potatoes and sprinkle with the salad dressing mix. Bake covered at 450˚ for about 45 min or until potatoes are soft.
You can add carrots, squash, etc and coat everything with the dressing mix. It's all good!

Mashed Potatoes

Okay, there are about as many variations of mashed potatoes as there are stars in the sky. Seriously. You can have them plain and pour gravy all over them. You can add sour cream and garlic powder and serve plain. You can add onion salt, parsley, and rosemary and serve plain. The possibilities are endless.

Because I can't make gravy w/o meat drippings, tonight I did an onion salt, garlic powder, parsley combination that turned out pretty good. I'll give you my gravy recipe later. :)

Disclaimer: Sometimes it drives me nuts when people say, "Oh, you just add some butter and spices, and you're done." GIVE ME QUANTITIES! But this is going to be one of those recipes, so bear with me. I tried to quantify as much as possible, but sometimes, you just gotta wing it.

Mashed Potatoes
Several potatoes
Butter
Milk
(opt) Onion Salt
(opt) Garlic Powder
(opt) Parsley
(opt) Rosemary
(opt) Sour Cream

So, you take your potatoes and peel them. Or leave the skins on. Either works. Skins-on leaves pretty flecks on the potatoes when you whip them up and gives you nutrients (they are like apples in that a lot of their nutrients are in the skin). If your potatoes are a little old, like mine, I didn't trust them enough not to peel them and look for rotten spots to cut out. Good choice for me, by the way. Had to throw one whole potato away.

Anyway, back to the recipe. Dice your potatoes into ~1" chunks. Put in a pot and cover with water. Heat to boiling then cover with a lid. This cooks them faster, but leaves it prone to boiling over, so watch it and remove the lid every once in a while.

After potatoes are soft, drain the water and add ~1 T of butter. Follow this with ~1/4 c of milk and beat w/ an electric mixer. Handheld mixers work great. Add dashes of seasonings/spoonfuls (~1/4 c) of sour cream/etc. You'll probably have to add more milk too, just do it a little at a time until the potatoes are at the desired consistency (light and fluffy, without seeming slimy/gooey--too much liquid).

This is totally a "taster" recipe. You'll just have to add stuff and see how it goes. It's kind of fun--each time is slightly different. :)