Twice Baked Potatoes

While I was spending time up with the Mister, his mom taught me how to make twice baked potatoes. They are absolutely amazing and delicious. I wanted to eat a bunch of them (and I did). I ended up being super full because I ate the equivalent of 2 potatoes in addition to three chicken legs. I am a poor college student, so I eat when I can. The recipe is super easy, and yes my wonderful people, I am going to share it. I need to make them again so I can add pictures.

Ingredients
6 bakers potatoes (the bigger the better)
Sour Cream
2 cups Shredded cheddar cheese
2 meal Shake and Bake box (any flavor, we used Parmesan)


Directions
1) Wash the potatoes to remove any dirt that came with them. Don't scrub, just get them clean.
2) Cook the potatoes until they are soft on the inside. If you use the microwave like we did, pierce each potato multiple times and place on a plate. Cook for about 20 minutes or until soft. The softer these are, the easier it is to complete later steps.
3) Once the taters are cooked lay them out and figure out what side is the "flat side". This will be the side that will be on the pan when you bake them. Stand them up on the "round edge" and cut them in half.
4) Scoop out the insides into a large mixing bowl leaving just a little bit to allow the potato skin to keep its shape. Mix in a big scoop of sour cream (1-ish cup), 1-ish cups of shredded cheddar cheese, and 1 packet of shake and bake. Stir all of this together really well.
5) Using the second packet of shake and bake and the remainder of the cheese, mix together in the shaker bag that comes with it.
6) Take the potato mixture and fill the potatoes back up and place on a baking sheet. They will over fill a little, that's the point of these delicious things. Sprinkle the shake and bake/cheese mix over top of the potatoes. Use all of it.
7) Bake at 350 degrees until they are warmed all the way through and the cheese is melted. Serve topped with a little more sour cream or use butter.

That's all it is! Super yummy and on the not super expensive end of things when it comes to food. Not healthy, but who's keeping track of that.

Warm, fresh bread

Here it is! This is what I promised last night. A simple bread recipe that can be made in a Kitchen Aid Mixer or my hand in a bowl. So while I am suppose to be paying attention to my General Psychology Class, I am going to instead be posting this amazing recipe. It is awesome because this makes one loaf of bread unlike many other bread recipes that make somewhere 7 and a billion loaves of bread. I only want one loaf of bread for me and my sweet Mister. First I will give you the recipe and then some ideas that you can do with it other than just plain old bread. Although that is yummy.

Simple Bread

Ingredients

2 1/2 - 3 cups of flour (for your first batch, I recommend using plain white flour)
1 packet of yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 Tablespoon of granulated white sugar
1 Teaspoon table salt
1 cup warm water
2 Tablespoons Oil

Directions

1) In your bowl, mix together 2 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Make sure this is well mixed together or the bread turns out funky
2) Add in water and oil and allow to mix. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure all of the flour is mixed in. Your dough will still be very wet.
3) This is the hard part. Every batch is different it seems. Add in flour slowly until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl. Do not add in too much flour or the bread will be very dense and gross
4) Put the dough in a well greased bowl and cover with saran wrap. Let rise in a warm place until the dough has at least doubled in size. I let the dough rise until it is almost touching the cling wrap.
5) My favorite part. Punch down the dough. Try not to mess with the dough too much.
6) Roll the dough into a log and tuck under the ends. Place it into a greased bread pan and let it rise again. If you don't let it rise long enough it has issues and is dense. It won't rise up completely like store bought bread. I have tried different methods and cannot seem to get it to work. Maybe more yeast...
7) Bake in a 350° oven for 25-30 minutes. grease the loaf before baking it to increase the browning.
8) Let cool for a few minutes (it will still be warm, I promise) before cutting into it.

So now that we have this awesome recipe, what else can we do with it? Roll out the dough and cover in a spread. What kind of spread? Cinnamon, sugar, and butter makes for amazing toast or cinnamon rolls. Need a glaze for it? Mix together 2-4 Tablespoons with half a cup of powdered sugar. Add in a 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla for flavor   Just roll it up and bake it! There is also garlic bread that you can make with it too. Yum! Let me know what you make with this in the comments below!

A hat! A hat!

Yeah! I officially made my first "big person" item that wasn't a head band! Yes, blog-o-sphere, I made a hat all by myself. It is grey and has a garter stitch band and a spiral cast off. What's that? You would like a simple hat pattern that anyone that knows basic knitting skills can make? Lucky for you I am in a generous mood and am posting the pattern! Hooray!

Anyway, onto the pattern.

Simple Grey Hat
Approximate Time: 2.5 hours
Size: Adult

Supplies
Size 6 US standard straight needles
Worsted Weight (4-ply) grey yarn
Darning Needle (the blue one from Walmart works well)

Pattern
Cast on 70 stitches
Garter stitch 10 rows
Slipping the first stitch of every row, Stockinette Stitch 24 row beginning with a knit row and ending with a purl.
 *Begin Decrease*
(Continue slipping the first stitch of every row except the last row)
Row 1: Knit 8, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: Knit 7, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: Knit 6, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 6: Purl
Row 7: Knit 5, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 8: Purl
Row 9: Knit 4,Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 10: Purl
Row 11: Knit 3, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 12: Purl
Row 13: Knit 2, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 14: Purl
Row 15: Knit 1, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 16: Purl
Row 17: Knit two together, repeat across row
Cut yarn about 12 inches long and run through remaining stitches. Stitch down the seam and make sure everything lines up evenly. You don't need to block it and it is super warm. It is super easy to make and is a good first "big project". I plan on making a bunch more of these for presents for the 2016 Christmas. Now I am off to bed. I'll post more tomorrow and share a yummy, simple bread recipe and some things you can do with it other than straight up bread.