Cheesy Ham Stuffed Potatoes with Three Bean Salad

This quick little meal can be ready in about 15 minutes. It’s perfect for those busy weeknights.

Ingredients:
4 russet potatoes for baking
1 cup of chopped ham
2 tablespoons butter
¼ to ½ cup milk
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons chopped chives
Salt and pepper to taste
½ head of iceberg lettuce, chopped
1 can (13 ounces) three bean salad

Preparation:
Scrub the potatoes and poke a few holes in each one with a fork.
Place the potatoes in the microwave and cover with a moist paper towel. The paper towel will keep them from drying out.
Microwave for 10-12 minutes, or until they are fork tender.
While they cook, chop the lettuce and place in a bowl. Toss with the three bean salad.
When the potatoes are done, cut them in half and scoop out the inside.
Mix with the butter, milk, chives, and ham, mashing the potatoes.
Place the mashed potato mixture back in the shell.
Sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top.
Place under the broiler for 30 seconds to one minute, just until browned.
Serve piping hot alongside the salad.


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Crab Cakes with Garlic Herb Roasted Potato Slices and Italian Chop Salad

A delicious and quick dinner. The thing that takes the longest is baking the potatoes. Have a family chopping party to cut all the ingredients for the salad.

Ingredients for the Crab Cakes:

• 2 cans (6 ounces each) of white crab meat
• 1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
• ¼ cup chopped green onions
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup of Italian style bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon of dry mustard
• ¼ teaspoon paprika
• Lemon wedges

Ingredients for the Garlic Herb Roasted Potato Slices:

• 4 potatoes, sliced as thin as you can
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese

Ingredients for the Italian Chop Salad:

• ½ head of lettuce, chopped
• 1 cup of spinach, chopped
• ¼ cup of Italian dressing
• ½ cup of mozzarella cheese, grated or cut into small chunks
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped
• ½ cup of red onion, chopped
• Optional: ¼ cup of chopped pepperoni

Mix the lettuce and spinach together and toss with the Italian dressing.
Place in a salad bowl and top with the cheese, then celery, onion, and tomato.
Place in the refrigerator until dinner is ready.
Toss the sliced potatoes in the olive oil and seasoning.
Top with the parmesan cheese.
Spread into a layer on a baking sheet.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, until they are crispy and golden brown.
Heat a skillet with non stick cooking spray.
Cook the chopped celery and onions until tender. Place in a bowl.
Mix the bread crumbs, crab meat, spices, and eggs together.
Make 4 patties, and cook in the pan 3 minutes on each side until golden brown.
Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

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Find more recipes and menus with the Sacramento Easy Meals Examiner.

Ranch Style Potato Leek Soup

Mixed Green Salad
Crusty French Bread in the Bread Machine

Potato leek soup is a popular winter soup because it is filling and tasty. This recipe takes things a bit further by adding ranch flavor to the mix.

Soup ingredients:

• 6 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 leeks, washed and chopped (include the green parts)
• 4 cups of low sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups of evaporated skim milk
• 1 package of ranch style dressing mix
• 1 teaspoon salt

Bread ingredients:

• Flour
• Butter
• Yeast

Salad ingredients:

• Red leaf lettuce
• Iceberg lettuce
• 1 hard boiled egg, chopped
• ¼ cup of grated cheese, any kind
• 1 tomato, sliced
• ½ cucumber, sliced

In the morning:
Place the potatoes, leeks, broth, milk, ranch style dressing mix, and salt in the crockpot.
Stir together and cook on low 8-10 hours.
Put the ingredients for the bread in the bread machine. Set to the delay bake option.

In the afternoon:
Prepare the salad.
Remove the bread from the machine and allow it to cool a few minutes.
Smash the potatoes and leek with a potato masher before serving.

My family enjoys grated cheese on top of the soup.

Photo/Penguincake on Flickr

Never miss a post. Follow me on Twitter as @Dinnermagic.
Find more recipes and menus with the Sacramento Easy Meals Examiner.

Baked Stuffed Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes

Tossed Salad with Black Beans

Dinner doesn’t get much easier than baked stuffed potatoes and salad. I’ve listed suggestions for stuffings, but you can use whatever your family enjoys. This also makes a terrific potluck idea. One person provides the potatoes, and everyone else brings a different stuffing.

Ingredients:
One baked potato or baked sweet potato per person
1 can of black beans, drained
½ head of green and red lettuce, chopped
Tomatoes, cut into quarters
Croutons
Italian dressing

Stuffing ideas:
Grated cheeses: mozzarella, asiago, cheddar, American, hot pepper jack
Cooked meats: chopped cooked chicken, ground turkey with seasoning, ground beef, crumbled bacon, cooked Italian sausage
Chili: red chili or white bean chicken chili
Chopped green onions or red onions
Sliced olives
Sour cream
Chopped chili peppers
Beans: red, kidney, navy, black, or pinquito

Preparation:
Cook the potatoes in the oven or the microwave.
While the potatoes cook, chop the lettuce and tomatoes.
Toss with ½ cup of black beans and 2 Tbsp of Italian dressing.
Use the remaining black beans on the potatoes.
Place the stuffing ingredients on the table and let everyone make their own creation.

Photo by Balakov on Flickr

Creamy Ranch Potatoes with Ham in the Slow Cooker

Winter Vegetables

This is a dish my family requests over and over again. You won't mind if your family requests it often either, because it's so easy to make.

Ingredients:
3 pounds of small red potatoes, quartered (Russet potatoes are fine, too.)
8 ounces of sour cream (Low fat or whole fat, your preference.)
1 package of buttermilk ranch dressing mix
2 cups of milk
2 cups of cut up ham (This is a great dish for using leftover ham.)
Frozen winter vegetables
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Grated cheddar cheese for topping (optional)

Preparation:
Spray the slow cooker with cooking spray.
Mix the sour cream, dressing mix, and milk.
Stir in the potatoes.
Place in the slow cooker and cook on low heat 8 hours or high heat 4 hours.
Turn off the heat and use a potato masher to gently smash the potatoes.

Just before serving, cook the vegetables according to the package directions, adding ½ of the chopped parsley to the vegetables.
Serve the Creamy Ranch Potatoes with the vegetables on the side.
Sprinkle cheese and parsley over the potatoes.

Turkey Meatloaf

Turkey Meatloaf
Potatoes Au Gratin in a Crock Pot
Dinner Salad

1 ½ lbs ground turkey
2/3 cup bread crumbs
½ chopped bell pepper
1 onion, chopped fine
2 eggs
1 small can tomato paste
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp sage
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
4 potatoes, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 can cheese soup
3 cups of romaine
1 sliced tomato
Croutons
Salad dressing

In the morning:
Spray the crock pot with cooking spray.
Mix the sliced potatoes and the sliced onion with the can of cheese soup.
Place the sliced potato mixture in the crock pot.
Cook on low 8 hours.

In the afternoon:
Mix the meatloaf ingredients together. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and place the meatloaf mixture in it.
Bake the meatloaf 55 to 65 minutes at 350 degrees.
While the meatloaf is cooking, prepare the salad.