Natalie's Cheesy Potatoes

Here is a recipe for some delicious and fairly easy cheesy potatoes.

Cheesy Potatoes

Serves 8

You will need:

• 1 bag of frozen Potatoes O'Brian (with peppers and onions)
• 1 Can of Cream of Chicken
• 16 oz sour cream (low fat)
• 10 oz Velveeta (cut into small cubes)
• 1/2 stick of butter, divided in half and melted
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups of corn flakes

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2: Mix together potatoes, cream of chicken, sour cream, Velveeta, 1/4 cup butter. Pour into an ungreased 9x13 baking dish

Step 3: Bake mixture in a large baking dish for 30 minutes

Step 4: Mix corn flakes and remaining 1/4 stick of butter and use to cover the baked potato mixture.

Step 5: Return to oven for another 10 minutes. Watch to make certain the corn flakes don't get too browned.

Serve and enjoy!

Swiss Steak

Another comfort food from my childhood that got the thumbs up from the boyfriend so I figured I would share it through this forum.

This is a crock-pot item which might be one of my top 5 kitchen items.

Serves 4
You will need:

• 1.5-2 lbs steak (sirloin and round steak work well)
• 3 - 10.5 oz cans of tomato soup (or one large, family size can)
• 3 green bell peppers, sliced into rings
• 3 onions, sliced into rings and separated
• 1 teaspoon of ground pepper
• Mashed potatoes (optional)

Pour one can of soup into the bottom of the crock pot, add the ground pepper, and stir. Place steak in the pot and then cover with the green pepper and onion rings. Pour remaining two cans of soup over the top of the onions and peppers. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 or until the steak pulls apart when tested with a fork.

Serve with mashed potatoes and enjoy.

Simple Clam Chowder

(Picture to Follow)

With a cold winter having settled in for 6 more weeks (at least) I've been looking for some good comfort foods. I remembered that growing up my parents always made a very flavorful and soothing clam chowder so I got the following recipe from my mom.

Simple Clam Chowder
Serves 4 to 6
You will need:

• 1 can Cream of Celery
• 1 can Cream of Potato
• 3 cans of Minced Clams (DO NOT strain)
• 10.5 oz heavy cream (refill one of the soup cans)
• 3 medium sized potatoes, diced and boiled
• ~1/2 cup imitation mashed potatoes

A: Peel and dice potatoes. Place in a medium sized pot and cover with water. Bring to boil and cook potatoes until they are slightly firm when tested with a fork (or till desired texture has been achieved). (Depending on the size of the diced potatoes, this should take between 5 and 12 minutes of steady boiling.)

B: At the same time, in a medium sized pot combine the cream of celery, cream of potato, minced clams with juice, and heavy cream. (You can add the boiled potatoes to this mix at any point as soon as they are ready.) Simmer over low heat until it becomes liquidy. Be sure to constantly stir the mixture so as not to scorch the cream. Once a liquidy state is reached, slowly stir in imitation potatoes until a desired thickness is reached.

C: Serve with oyster crackers and enjoy!