Cheesy Bacon Ranch Potatoes

These potatoes are so yummy! If you don't have the bacon it is still worth the time to make them!

It is a crazy week in our Asylum. We have friends coming over so I am baking for that as well as for one of our military families that lost a father. It has been a long week with everything going on and one that reminds me to be thankful for the time that I have been given and the ones that I have to share it with.

 

Cheesy Bacon Ranch Potatoes (Crockpot)

 

Ingredients

6 slices bacon
3 pounds red potatoes, chopped
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 tablespoon Ranch Seasoning and Salad Dressing Mix
2 tablespoons chopped chives
Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Spread bacon in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Place into oven and bake until brown and crispy, about 12-14 minutes. Let cool before crumbling; set aside.
Line a slow cooker with aluminum foil, leaving enough to overhang to wrap the potatoes on top, and coat with nonstick spray. Place a layer of potatoes evenly into the slow cooker. Top with cheese, Ranch Seasoning and bacon, repeating 2 more times and reserving 1/2 cup cheese.
Cover potatoes with aluminum foil and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Cover and cook until melted, about 1-2 minutes.
Serve immediately, garnished with chives.
Notes

Adapted from The Recipe Critic

Ranch chicken crock pot

Okay Residents party I make it through today and the weekend!  My teenager turns 14 today.  I feel old, which I should since my birthday is on Monday!

Enough depressing thoughts onto yummy chicken! 

Ranch Chicken

4-6 chicken breast
2 packages Ranch dressing mix
1/4-1 cup cream of soup mix
1/2-1 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream (optional, I don't use and save the calories for dessert).

I started out with smaller amounts and added more later when it wasn't thickening up. Cook on low for 6 hours.  You can leave them whole or shredded and serve over noodles or rice. Everyone loved it!

Cream of soup mix can be found HERE or use a canned version

Hope you have an amazing weekend! I will see you again Monday but stick around to see Saucy tomorrow! 

Ahhhhhhh Saturday!

Hope the week was wonderful for all of you.  Quick post as we are blessed to have family visiting this weekend!  Always love when that happens :).  So I whipped up some Magic Chicken Ranch Casserole for Mom and Dad to take to the Church Picnic.  Of course I could send them with something we hadn't tried, so we did lol.  It was great!  I think it's going to be a big hit at the picnic.  The creaminess that comes from the cream cheese, awesome.  Oh, and the pop really does happen all in the end, weird.  Hope you enjoy the recipe.  I also wish for happiness in your homes.  See you Tuesday!

Magic Chicken Ranch Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
a few pinches of kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
16 oz. bag frozen peas and carrots (or your choice of mixed vegetables)
8 oz. reduced-fat sour cream
1 oz. packet of ranch seasoning mix or 3 tbsp. of this homemade version
1 small bunch of green onions, thinly sliced (about 1/4 c.)
1 c. milk
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried dill
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 c. all purpose flour

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13″ baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken to hot skillet, and sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt and black pepper to taste.  Saute until mostly cooked on the outside, about 5 minutes.
3. Add cream cheese, and stir until melted and chicken is coated. Stir in frozen vegetables, and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Turn off heat, and add sour cream, ranch mix, and green onions. Stir well to combine, and transfer chicken and vegetable mixture to the prepared baking dish.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vegetable oil, dill, garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Add flour, and whisk for about a minute until smooth. Pour batter evenly over chicken mixture.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until topping is puffy and starting to brown. (The puffing happens at the end, so don’t worry if it still looks pretty flat for the first half hour or so!).

Courtesy of www.recipechatter.com

Asylum Addicts Welcome!

We are hoping to get some of you (okay we would really like all of you) addicted to our blog!  We have visions of "real" cookbooks and book signings, but that could be some of our mental problems that have lead us to the Asylum in the first place!

So with the thought of being addicted to something I figured I should give you something that was legal and safer. Well, safer may not be the right word...

This recipe is courtesy of  Sweet Tooth and you can click HERE to go to the page I found this recipe on.  As we have said before-all of our recipes are tried on the Asylum Residents before we share them with you.  I had to hide these so the hubs could get in on this! 

 

Crack-tastic Crackers

1 – 1 1/4 cup canola oil (you decide how much you want to use)

1 packet Ranch dressing mix

2-3 Tbs. red pepper flakes (I used close to 3…a little warm)

4 sleeves of Saltine crackers (give or take…however many you can fit in your mixing bowl)

 

1) Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl for a good long while (5-10 minutes), to really get the crackers coated. Eat a few if you want.

2) Lay them out on a cookie sheet and drizzle the yummy, ranchy, peppery oil that’s in the bottom of the bowl, over the top of the crackers.  Bake at 250 degrees for 15-20 minutes, stirring them around about halfway through.

3) Let them cool and store in a big ol’ baggie. Or a few little baggies.  My husband has his bag ready to take to work.

 

Adaption-I used 1 cup coconut oil in place of the canola oil.  I also used 3TBSP red pepper and roasted garlic spice mix in place of the red pepper flakes.  I placed the crackers in two cake pans and just dumped the mixture on and stirred.  As I have stated before, I am lazy and use whatever is on hand!

 

 

We would like to say thank you to everyone who has liked our Facebook page or come to check out our blog.  As I have said before once you sit at our table you wont be leaving...I might convince you to try on a white jacket and the Saucy Irish has been known to charm you into believing you're sane and then helping me with the buckles on that jacket....