My Favorite Baked Potato Soup

I love baked potatoes. I love soup. So, my favorite? Baked Potato Soup! Most potato soups are rich with cream and butter. This recipe though is make with low fat milk and low-fat sour cream, so it's a little easier to justify than the others!

Baked Potato Soup by Our Best Bites. Photo by Our Best Bites

The best recipe I've found is from my favorite food blog: Our Best Bites.  It is amazing. It is addicting. That's your warning folks! I find myself stocking all the ingredients so I can have it when the mood strikes. It's great with the extra toppings, or just straight out of the pan. I enjoy it for breakfast too! :)

To get this fabulous recipe, run on over to Our Best Bites!  Enjoy!

Crispy Baked Breakfast Taquitos with Lime-Chipotle Dip

Oh, yum. Do you have recipes in your "to-do" list that you've drooled over and just haven't made yet? This was one of those. I finally made it this past weekend, and am in love. Our Best Bites has done it again. Every time I make a recipe from their site is it as close to perfection as one can get. Seriously. I hardly ever make any changes.

These are fast and easy to make, and the best part is that you can freeze them both before and after cooking! Oh, and I didn't put the red peppers in, but I will add some substitute for that spice next time. The dip is a perfect match, and salsa would be good on top of them too!  I have them in the fridge, and take one to work every day for breakfast. They are very filling, so one is all I need.

Crispy Baked Breakfast Taquitos with Lime-Chipotle Dip

Recipe by Our Best Bites

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
12 large eggs
1/2 C Sour Cream
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 C grated pepperjack cheese
1/4 C chopped roasted red bell peppers (I didn't add these, but will add some sort of pepper next time)
1/4 C sliced green onions
1/4 C chopped cilantro
1-2 tsp hot sauce

16 6" flour tortillas (mine made 12)
cooking spray or olive oil

Dipping Sauce:
1 1/2 C Sour Cream
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up.  Spray with cooking spray or lightly brush with oil and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Crack eggs into large mixing bowl.  Whisk in 1/2 C sour cream, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  When skillet is hot, add egg mixture to pan.  Using a rubber spatula, gently scrape bottom of pan and fold eggs over to scramble.  Remove from heat when slightly undercooked.  Add cheese, roasted red peppers, green onions, cilantro, and hot sauce to taste.  Gently fold to combine. 

Warm tortillas in microwave to ease rolling process.  Working with a few tortillas at a time, place a scant 1/4 C egg mixture into the center of each one and roll up into a cylinder.  Place rolled tortillas on prepared baking sheet, seam-side down, so they are not touching each other.  When all tortillas are rolled and filled, lightly spray tops with cooking spray, or lightly brush with olive oil.  Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown and crisp.

While taquitos are baking, coming 1 1/2 C sour cream, lime juice, chipotle chili powder and kosher salt.  Stir to combine and store in fridge.  Remove taquitos from oven , let cool for 5 minutes, and then serve with dipping sauce.


Make Ahead Prep:  The egg mixture can be made a day ahead of time and stored in the fridge until ready to use.  You can also prepare the taquitos and instead of baking right away, cover tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight, or freeze for later use.  To prepare frozen taquitos, place (un-thawed) directly on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.  Follow original baking instructions, increasing time by 5 minutes or until taquitos are golden brown.

**I cooked the taquitos, and then froze them.  Freeze them right on the baking sheet for a few hours, and then wrap individually to freeze long term. Warm in microwave for about a minute.

Maria's Sunshine Salad

Isn't this salad just beautiful? I found this recipe on Two Peas and Their Pod by Maria. Hence, the name: Maria's Sunshine Salad! I think it's the perfect Spring salad. Bright and cheerful, plus it tastes amazing!

Maria's Sunshine Salad

Romaine Lettuce, Chopped
1 can Black Beans- low sodium- rinsed and drained
1 tomato, chopped
1 avocado, diced
1 mango, diced *
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 limes- squeeze fresh juice over salad

Place the romaine on a plate or bowl. Top with all of the ingredients, except for the limes juice. Squeeze fresh lime juice over the salad. If you want a little more dressing flavor, try topping with Salsa or Cilantro Lime Dressing! Enjoy!

*For a helpful article on how to cut a mango, see Our Best Bites!

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

This is one of my new favorite breads. It's also amazing with a mix of Italian spices. The recipe states it makes 2 loaves, but I've only been able to get it to do 1. And, once again, this wonderful recipe comes from the gals at OurBestBites.com. I show it cut up here, because we ate it with my Spinach Dip!


Rosemary Focaccia Bread

1 c. warm (105-115 degrees Fahrenheit) water
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 Tbsp. white sugar
1 tsp. Kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
2 Tbsp. butter, divided
2 Tbsp. crushed dry rosemary
2 1/4-2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar. Allow to stand for 10 minutes or until bubbly. While the yeast is getting bubbly, combine 2 C of the flour, salt, 1 Tbsp. rosemary.

Add flour mixture to yeast mixture along with 1 Tbsp. melted butter. Mix well.
Slowly add remaining flour to make a very soft dough--try and resist the urge to add too much flour. You want a soft, wet dough.

Cover and allow to rise 1 hour.

Lightly flour work surface and transfer dough onto this surface. Divide in half (or just shape it all into one loaf). Shape each half into a round loaf and place on a greased cookie sheet or pizza stone. Cover and allow to rise another 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt remaining tablespoon of butter and mix with remaining tablespoon of rosemary. Brush on loaves and sprinkle lightly with Kosher salt.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until very lightly golden-brown.

Eat while hot for maximum Yumminess!

Garlic Seasoning

Garlic Bread Seasoning

Recipe found on OurBestBites

So, you have your French bread, butter, and... what to sprinkle on top?

Look no further! The wonderful ladies at Our Best Bites have come up with this amazing combination of seasonings that will leave you wanting more!

I seriously use this on everything Italian! I sprinkle it on pizza, I use it to make spaghetti and pizza sauce... whatever I can!

1/2 c. powdered Parmesan cheese

2 tsp. Kosher salt

2 Tbsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. oregano

2 tsp. basil

2 tsp. marjoram

2 tsp. parsley

Combine ingredients in a jar (preferably one with a sprinkle top) and shake. Sprinkle on top of breadsticks or combine 1 1/2 Tbsp. seasoning with 1/2 c. of softened real butter and spread on a loaf of French bread (cut in 1/2 lengthwise). Wrap in foil and bake at 375 until butter's melted. If you want, you could also pop it open-faced under the broiler for a few minutes so it gets brownish and crispy.

I had an empty seasoning container, mixed it all up, and keep this mix on hand in the cupboard. It is a wonderful time saver!

Use on Bread and also in Sauces!

Pesto Alfredo Pasta with Roasted Vegetables

I hosted a small dinner party last week. Thinking that it would be fun to try new recipes, I landed on my favorite food blog, OurBestBites.com. I found their recipe for "Creamy Pesto Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Mushrooms" and thought I'd give it a try.

I pretty much followed their recipe, except that I used my own Alfredo sauce recipe. The recipe I have for you here is their recipe, with my sauce and additions. When the salad was complete, I really felt that it needed some things other then just tomatoes and mushrooms.

The measurements on this weren't very accurate after I made my own sauce. So, I recommend, especially with the sauce, just adding a little at a time to the pasta until it is the consistency you like! The pasta will soak in the sauce, so more is better.

Pesto Alfredo Pasta with Roasted Vegetables

Alfredo Sauce
(Melt together: 1 cube butter, 1 cream cheese, 1 cup Parmesan, 3/4 cup milk, salt, pepper, basil, garlic)
Pesto - either homemade or store bought (10oz)
1 box of Farfalle/Bowtie pasta (16oz)
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
Fresh Broccoli, cut into small bits.
Pine nuts or almonds, or walnuts.
Parmesan cheese
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Prepare the Alfredo Sauce. While that is cooking, boil water, add salt, and start the noodles cooking.

Placed sliced mushrooms, tomatoes, and broccoli on a foil-lined cookie sheet.
Drizzle with 3-4 T Olive Oil. Toss veggies until they are coated with the oil.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 12 minutes. The tomato skins will start to split when ready.

Toast the nuts. Place the nuts in a small pan on medium heat. Stir every few minutes. The nuts will start to get glossy, which means the oils are releasing. Remove when golden.

When your Alfredo sauce is done, add 1/3-1/2 cup of pesto and stir.

Drain noodles.

Put it all together! Mix in the sauce first, to the consistency you like. Save the extra sauce for serving time.
Mix in the veggies, and sprinkle the nuts and parmesan cheese on top.

For presentation: I discovered that after making and refrigerating, that the pasta appeared dry. If I had saved some sauce, I would have drizzled some extra on top, and then sprinkled the nuts and cheese.

This makes a great main or a side dish.