Quick and Easy Twice Baked Potatoes

It's grilling season in the Midwest so I wanted to share my twice baked potato shortcut with you. This method is faster than baking the potatoes first and is perfect for entertaining or serving at family grill night!

Ingredients and Directions:

4 potatoes, I use russets

1 c Greek yogurt

1/3 c ranch dressing or your favorite dressing

1/3 c milk

1 c grated cheese, Colby-Jack or your favorite, and a little extra for topping at the end

Optional: bacon pieces, onions, finely diced peppers

Wash and dry your potatoes. Poke small holes in each potato using a fork. Wrap in wax paper or a paper towel and microwave on high for about 10 minutes. You will need to adjust this time based on the number of potatoes you are making. 

Let the potatoes cool just until you can handle them and cut each potato in half lengthwise. Carefully scrape out the middle and place in a medium size bowl. Using an electric beater, beat on low until the potato insides are mashed. Add milk, yogurt and dressing and beat until smooth. 

Fold in the grated cheese then salt and pepper to taste making sure all ingredients are mixed together. Place your potato skin sections on a baking sheet and begin filling them with your potato mixture, using a large spoon. When all have been filled, sprinkle some grated cheese over the tops. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes in a preheated oven. Serves 8.

Enjoy!

Love and peace,

Tammi

Spring Crafting with Toddlers

If you have a toddler in your house you know it can sometimes be a challenge to find a craft project for them to do. This is a fun Easter or Spring project for kids of any age, but especially the little ones.  All you need are some cotton balls, glue and construction paper. You could also use something heavier like card stock, if you have it. I drew and cutout the bunny shape-you can use any shape, it turns out...toddlers don't really care! If they are older, they can cut out the shape themselves. Put a little white glue on a paper plate, plastic lid or whatever you have, and let them dip the cotton in the glue (you will go through quite a lot of glue, I just kept adding to it, instead of having one big puddle). You can also tear the cotton balls to make them go farther, or better yet, have them tear the cotton. This is a good project for building necessary preschool skills, like hand eye coordination and dexterity. Which helps them later on with reading and writing. Remember, it's not the finished project, it's the process of getting there. In the end it doesn't matter what it looks like, they are having fun and being creative!

~Simply Angie

Marshmallow Pops

Marshmallow Pops

I've been making these marshmallow pops for parties recently and I finally figured out a couple of helpful hints to make it an easier process. I'm not a marshmallow fan but I think they look pretty in an arrangement. The kids say they are awesome!
Ingredients:
1 bag Wilton Candy Melts (12 oz bag)
30 lollipop sticks
30 large marshmallows (I did not use the jumbo size)
Sprinkles, coconut, chopped nuts, small candies
Food coloring optional
Directions:

• I always melt my chips using a double boiler on the stove, for some reason I can't get the temperature right if I use the microwave. So I use a medium size pan filled halfway to the top with water and a glass bowl.
• Place the chips in a Pyrex glass bowl on top of the pan. Start with the heat on medium to heat the water and lower the heat once the chips start melting. 
• Once the chips are melted, dip an end of the lollipop stick into the chip mixture about 1/2 inch then push it into the end of a marshmallow, almost to the end. Repeat until you have the number of pops you want.
• Place these in the freezer for 10 minutes.
• Remove pan and bowl from stove. It's easier if you keep the chips melted and warm but not hot.
• Take pops from freezer and dip each pop into the melted chips. Gently tap the pop on the side of the bowl so the excess drips off. If you skip this step your decorations will drip off the pop.
• I hold my dipped pop over parchment paper to decorate with sprinkles, roll in coconut or nuts or the use the decorations of your choice.
• I used a flower vase and cut some floral foam to fit over the opening to display the pretty pops.
• I cut a piece of foil large enough to cover the foam.
• Carefully push each lollipop stick into the foam.
• Let pops dry for a few hours and loosely cover with cellophane or plastic wrap. I usually make these  one day before the party.
• Pour sprinkles or candies over the top of the foil to add the finishing touch. This can be a little tricky so carefully pour them between the arranged pops.

Love and peace,

~ Tammi

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

The other night as I was trying to figure out something to make for supper and clean out my fridge and freezer at the same time I found a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup. It was a quick and easy solution to get rid of my leftovers and clean out the freezer at the same time! Add your favorites and  make it as mild or spicy as you like.

Here's what you need:

• 3-4 cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts ( I had mine in the freezer and they were shredded already)
• 3 cups water or chicken stock
• 1-2 cups salsa
• V8 juice I used about 32 oz
• corn
• chili powder
• cumin
• garlic
• optional: you can also use a taco seasoning packet if you need something quicker than adding separate seasonings
• black beans, rinsed, (I actually forgot to add these and it still tasted yummy!)
• Tortilla chips
• shredded cheese

This is one of those recipes I taste along the way, then you can add more or less seasoning, salsa, veggies or whatever you want.  Put in all in a large pot and cook over medium heat about 30 minutes until it's all heated through and tastes "just right."  Then top it with shredded cheese and crunched up tortilla chips. You could even add some sour cream if you like.

~ Angie