Bacon Ranch Potatoes

This is a new twist on funeral potatoes or potato casserole.  I wasn't sure the hubs was going to like it because he is not much of a ranch fan, but to my surprise he quite liked them as did I.  They were super easy to throw together. This made enough to feed our family of six with one serving of leftovers. I found the recipe on pinterest, but when I went back to link to it, the site wouldn't work.  I modified it quite a bit from the original and it worked out well for our family.  Just a side note, our family's new favorite vegetable...edamame beans!

Bacon Ranch Potatoes

2 C sour cream

2 C cheddar cheese, shredded

7-9 strips bacon cut and cooked (I use turkey bacon)

3 TBS dry Ranch powder

4-5 C frozen shredded hash browns

Combine first 4 ingredients, mix in hash browns. Spread into a sprayed 9x13 pan. Bake covered at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes. 

Chocolate Dipped Banana Popsicle

My sister brought me some Popsicle molds from Ikea when she came to visit, so we did a search for something yummy to make in them.  I am a huge fan of the hand dipped bars at Costco and this was a close second, only difference is the hint of banana flavor.  When dipping the Popsicle in the magic shell, you have to be very quick and you can't double dip it or all the chocolate comes off. 

The recipe came from pinterest.

Chocolate Dipped Banana Popsicles

Ingredients

2 medium sized bananas

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Popsicle Mold

Magic Shell

1/2 cup unsalted chopped peanuts

Instructions

Put bananas, heavy cream, milk, sugar and vanilla in the blender and blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour into your popsicle mold and place in freezer.

Once frozen, remove from mold and dip into the chocolate Magic Shell, then quickly sprinkle with chopped nuts. Enjoy right away, or place in plastic bags and store in freezer until ready to enjoy.

Magic Shell

The kids and I REALLY enjoyed this on our banana Popsicle we made this summer!  Super easy.

I found the recipe here.

Magic Shell Chocolate

Ingredients

1/2 cup Coconut Oil

12 oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Instructions

In a sauce pan on the stovetop, combine the coconut oil and chocolate chips.

Melt together on low until well blended

Drizzle over ice cream and let sit for 30-45 seconds to harden.  Enjoy!!

Store in an air tight container at ROOM TEMPERATURE. (The Magic Shell may harden slightly, but just microwave for a few seconds till it is liquid again.)

Tator Tot Enchilada Bake

I love just about any meal with a tator tot involved!  The recipe comes from here.  To be honest, leftovers were even better than the first night I served this up!

Tator Tot Enchilada Bake

1 lb ground beef

1 small onion diced

1 clove garlic minced

1 can black olives sliced

1 oz. taco seasoning

16 oz. corn

4 oz. green chilies; drained and diced

12 oz. black beans; drained and rinsed

16 oz. mexican cheese  shredded

16 oz. tator tots

10.5 oz. GF enchilada sauce

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Add ground beef, garlic, and onion and cook while breaking the meat apart with a spoon or spatula until the ground beef is completely browned. Drain off any excess fat. Add taco seasoning mix, green chilies, frozen corn, and black beans to the ground beef. Cook until heated through.

In a large bowl combine ground beef mixture, ¾ of the Mexican cheese blend, and all of the tater tots. Stir well to combine.

Pour about 1/3 of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add the tater tot mixture to the baking dish and lightly pat the mixture down into a solid, even layer. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tater tots.

Place into the oven and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. During the last few minutes of baking, top the casserole with the remaining Mexican cheese blend and the sliced black olives. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly.