Swiss Mushroom Twice Baked Steak Potatoes

The amazing Twice Baked potato; combining delicious mashed potatoes with the delicious skin of a baked potato! Amazing!

Although in all honesty, I've never really been good at making these as i always end up puncturing the skin and then just scrapping the whole idea to make potato skins and mashed potatoes. Not this time! I made sure to scoop out the insides very carefully as to not ruin them, and it worked!

But these aren't just any twice baked potatoes! Oh no! These potatoes are stuffed with swiss cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms, mashed potatoes with gravy, and marinated steak. The perfect meal for any carnivore ! (and omnivore for that fact!)! Enjoy!

• 2 Potatoes
• 7 oz. Thin Cut Chuck Steak
• 1/3 cup Red Wine (I used a Cabernet Sauvignon)
• 3 Tbsp and 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp Liquid Smoke
• 1/2 cup Onion (sliced thin or diced)
• 6 Mushrooms (sliced)
• 1/2 cup Beef Broth
• 1 Tbsp Flour
• 1 Tbsp and 1 tsp Butter
• 2 Tbsp Milk
• 1 Tbsp Sour Cream
• 3 slices Swiss Cheese

Step 1: First you will want to marinate your steaks. Combine the red wine, 2 Tbsp of the Worcestershire Sauce, and the liquid smoke in a container and place the meat in it. Let it marinate for at least 2 hours before cooking (I let mine sit over night).

Step 2: When the meat has almost finished marinating, poke a few holes with a knife into your potatoes and place them in the center of your oven. Bake them for an hour at 375 degrees Fahrenheit  When they finish, take them out of the oven and let them cool. Turn off oven.

Step 3: While the potatoes are cooling, saute your onions in 1 Tbsp of butter over medium heat. Once the onions start to turn translucent, add in the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are soft. Remove the veggies and without cleaning the pan, add the steak to the pan. Cook until the meat has finished and remove them, then turn the heat down to low.

Step 4: Add the remaining marinade to the pan and let cook with the meat juices for a minute, stirring frequently. After a minute, add in the beef broth, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire, and the flour and stir until flour has fully dissolved. Let sit at the lowest heat possible. Go back to your steaks and cut them into small strips.

Step 5: Turn the oven back on to 375 degrees Fahrenheit  Go back to your potatoes and carefully cut out an oval on one of the sides (pretend you are making a canoe out of your potato). Once you have the oval carefully and slowly scrape out the insides and place in a bowl, but be careful not to puncture a hole in the skin. After you have removed the insides for both potatoes, scooping out as much as you can, return to the bowl you placed them in and add in 1 tsp of butter, the milk, the sour cream, and 1/2 tsp Worcestershire. Mash the potato until you have a consistency you like (some people like lumpy while others like creamy; this is all your preference right now).

Step 6: Go back to your pan and stir the gravy, making sure it is fully mixed and warm. Then take 2 slice of Swiss cheese and carefully place a slice in each potato, lining the bottom and sides. After the cheese is in, add in a layer of steak, followed by a layer of mashed potatoes and gravy, and then another layer of steak. By this time your potato should be almost full, so carefully place some of the vegetables (onion and mushrooms) on the top with a little bit of gravy. Grab a baking sheet and place the potatoes carefully on it without tipping them over. Once they are on the baking sheet, take the last piece of Swiss cheese, tear it in half, and place each half on one of the potatoes. Bake in the oven for 15 more minutes. When finished, place each potato on a plate, add more gravy and vegetables to the top, and then serve with the remaining mashed potatoes, sauteed vegetables, and gravy. Enjoy!


Yield: Makes 2 servings.

Avocado, Egg, and Crab Mash

There is nothing in this world that I think an avocado can ruin. I'm sure there might be something out there, but thankfully for me I haven't found it yet! The only issue I have with avocados is that I buy so many, that I don't end up eating them all. So when I have time for a quick and easy meal, I try to make it around the avocado.

This concoction is great for a quick meal, can be added into a sandwich, placed inside an omelette, even served as a dip with your favorite chips. What you do with this mash is completely up to you! I turned it into a sandwich with a slice of cheese and it was delicious! Next time I think I might make a breakfast burrito with this and some scrambled eggs. However you end up eating this, just know that it will be delicious! Enjoy!

• 1 Avocado
• 1 Hard Boiled Egg
• 1/3 cup Crab Meat (diced or flaked)
• 1 Tbsp Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
• 1/4 tsp Lemon Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Garlic Salt
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1/8 tsp Curry Powder
• 1 tsp Mustard

Step 1: Cut open the avocado and scoop into a bowl. Add in the hard boiled egg and mash together until the egg and avocado mix together. Next add in the crab meat, mayo (or Miracle Whip), and mustard and stir. Lastly add in the seasoning and mix until everything is blended together and then enjoy!

Yield: Makes 2-3 servings.

Pesto Spaghetti Squash

Growing up we never really had too many squashes in our meals. So when I heard that there was such as a Spaghetti Squash, I didn't believe it at first, honestly. I had to Google it in order to make sure it was in fact a real thing. And sure enough, it is real!

 When making this meal for the first time, I wanted to use items I would normally incorporate with pasta, such as pesto and sauteed mushrooms. Combining all of these things together creates a wonderful dish that most people would enjoy; I know I did! Enjoy!

• 1 Spaghetti Squash
• 1 Onion (sliced)
• 3 Tbsp Butter
• 4 White Mushrooms (sliced)
• 1 cup Kale (stems removed)
• 1 tsp Garlic Salt
• 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 2 Tbsp Pesto
• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (grated)

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice open the Spaghetti Squash length-wise, and then spoon out the seeds from the middle. Grease a cookie sheet and place the squash on the pan with the skin of the squash on the pan and the flesh facing up. Cook the squash for 1 hour, and then remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Once you can handle the squash, take a fork and start scrapping out the insides. The squash will come out of the shell in a string-like form. Place in a bowl and set aside.

Step 2: On the stove over med-high heat, sautee the onion in 1 Tbsp butter. Once the onion starts to turn translucent, add the kale and mushrooms to the onion and reduce the heat to a med-low.

Step 3: Next add the squash to the pan. Add 2 Tbsp of butter, the garlic salt, and the Italian Seasoning and cook for a a minute or two until everything is mixed. Remove from the stove and place in a big bowl.

Step 4: Once in the bowl, add the olive oil and pesto to the mixture. Mix around, and then slowly add in the parmesan cheese. Mix until pesto and cheese is evenly spread, then serve! Enjoy!

Yield: Makes 4-6 servings.

Bacon and Blue Cheese Brussels Sprouts

Farts. Call me immature, but since I was a kid I have always found humor in farts. The only thing not-so-funny about them is the smell, and boy does cooking this dish really make your kitchen smell like a fart explosion (mainly step 3).

I had never had Brussels sprouts until this dish, and I can honestly say that I learned so much in how these change with heat that I will be able to improve upon them in the future! Leave it to me to take something that is super healthy and make it 'questionable'; but that is my style some of the times!

• 12 Brussels Sprouts
• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Garlic Salt
• 2 strips of Bacon
• 1 Tbsp Bacon Grease (you will get this when you cook the bacon)
• 1 Tbsp Cream Cheese
• 1 Tbsp Blue Cheese

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Then you will need to trim the Brussels Sprouts and make sure all the yellow or brown leaves are off. Coat the sprouts in the Olive Oil and Garlic Salt. Place the coated sprouts on a greased cookie sheet and cook for 50 minutes, turning the sprouts every 10 minutes to make sure all the sides of the sprouts cook evenly.

Step 2: While the sprouts are cooking, start cooking your Bacon. When both slices are finished, save 1 Tbsp of the Bacon Grease and throw the rest away (you will not need to wash the pan just yet).

Step 3: Once you have the Bacon Grease, place it back in the same pan you were using and turn the heat up to a medium-high. Add the Cream Cheese and Blue Cheese to the grease and cook until the cheeses melt and you have a cheese liquid. Turn off heat and let sit.

Step 4: Cut the bacon into tiny pieces. When the sprouts are finished, place them in a bowl and add the bacon. Heat up the cheese sauce again until it warm and then coat the sprouts and bacon with the cheese sauce. Roll them around in a bowl, top with Blue Cheese crumbles if you'd like, dish out onto a plate and enjoy!

Yield: 12 sprouts; serves 2 people.

Butternut Squash, Goat Cheese, and Basil Raviolis

There is something about homemade pasta that is just 'oh-so-good'. As much as I like store bought (and mostly because of the time it saves me), nothing beats making pasta on your own. One of these days I will own a pasta roller, but until then I will just have to keep using my rolling pin.

This recipe calls for some time, as it took me around 2 hours to make the pasta dough, the filling, and then create the raviolis by hand, and this is my second time making them! So make sure that you have enough time set away to create these delicious raviolis. Also remember that cooking homemade pasta takes no time at all, so once you have your raviolis together, start your Alfredo and cook the raviolis while the Alfredo is cooking. Hope you enjoy these!

• 1 Butternut Squash or 3/4 cup Butternut Squash Puree
• 1 Tbsp Garlic Salt
• 2 Cups Flour (pasta)
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Water
• 1 cup Ricotta
• 5 ounces Goat Cheese
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 2 Tbsp Basil
• 1/4 cup White Wine
• 2 Tbsp Flour (sauce)

Step 1: If you don't have Butternut Squash puree, take a whole Butternut Squash and cut into 1/4. Place each piece on a greased cookie sheet flesh-side down and bake for 30 minutes. Once done, set aside for 10 minutes until cooled. Scoop out insides and then place in a blender with 1/4 cup water. Blend until creamy (keep adding 1/4 cup water as needed to get the right texture; it should resemble baby food).

Step 2: Beat eggs in a bowl. Add the olive oil, 1/2 tsp Garlic Salt, and 1/4 cup Butternut Squash puree. Once mixed, and 2 cups Flour slowly and continue to mix until you have a dough-like substance. Knead dough for 5 minutes on a floured surface and then set aside and cover for 20 minutes. 

Step 3: While the dough is sitting, mix the Ricotta, 1 Tbsp Basil, 2.5 ounces of the Goat Cheese, and 1/4 tsp Garlic Salt. Set aside.

Step 4: After dough has set, break into 4 balls. Take the first piece and place on a floured surface and take a rolling pin and roll the dough out as thin as you can. Cut the dough into even squares and set the squares aside (you can use a knife or even a pizza cutter; just be careful of your counter-top!). Mix in the leftovers into the next ball of dough and continue the rolling and cutting process. You should have anywhere from 48-72 squares, depending on your thickness and square size.

Step 5: Place squares down, 12 at a time. Place Ricotta mixture into the center of 6 of the squares. Take the other 6 and place them on top of the ricotta squares to make the raviolis. Press the edges together and secure. You can use a fork to press the edges together. Set the completed raviolis aside and continue this process until you have no more squares left.

Step 6: Once you have assembled your raviolis, pull out a nice sized saucepan. Add the heavy cream and turn the heat on the saucepan up to med-high. Add in the 1 Tbsp Basil, 2.5 Goat Cheese (crumble this so it melts faster), 1/2 cup Butternut Squash, 1/4 tsp Garlic Salt, and 1/4 cup White Wine (I used Chardonnay). Once mixture becomes smooth, reduce the heat to low and slowly stir in 2 Tbsp Flour (this amount will make a nice, thick sauce; if you want a thinner sauce try adding only 1 Tbsp Flour). Let simmer and stir frequently.

Step 7: In a large pasta pot, bring enough water to cover your raviolis to a boil and then place your raviolis in to cook. Cook raviolis for 4-8 minutes (check periodically as homemade raviolis do not take as long as store bought raviolis to cook). Once finished, place raviolis on a plate and cover with ricotta sauce. Top with crumbled goat cheese (if you would like). Enjoy!

Yield: 24-36 raviolis, depending on your sizing.

Spicy Braised Beef Stew

Cold, rainy nights always make me want to curl up and read a book. Ok, who am I kidding. I haven't read a book in who knows how long (something that I am ashamed of and am planning to rectify with a new library card soon), but this type of weather does make me want to curl up on the couch and play a video game or watch a movie and enjoy a big hearty bowl of soup.

This recipe is very chunky and made for those who want a warm, hearty meal on a cold night. The spicy flavor will be sure to keep you toasty and warm while the meat and vegetables will fill you right up. Serve with some sour cream and grated cheese on top and a bread roll for dipping. Enjoy!

• 7 ounces Rib-eye Steak (cubed)
• 1 Red Bell Pepper (diced)
• 1 package French Onion Soup Mix
• 1/4 cup diced Onion
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 cups Beef Broth
• 10 ounce can Diced Tomatoes with Chilies
• 1 Poblano Pepper
• 1 Jalapeno Pepper (diced)
• 1 Potato (peeled and diced)
• 1 Carrot (sliced)
• 1 cup Water
• 1/4 tsp Paprika
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne
• 1 Tbsp Garlic
• 1 tsp Cilantro
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Crushed Red Peppers
• 1 cup Corn (you can use canned corn or cut it straight off from the cob yourself)
• 2 Tbsp Flour
• 1 tsp Cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp Cream Cheese

Step 1: First, char the poblano by either placing it on a grill, over a gas stove, or broiling it in the oven. Once the skin is black, set aside to let cool for a minute. As soon as you can handle the pepper, place it under cool running water and wash away the blackened skin. Once the skin has been washed off, slice open the pepper, remove the seeds, and then dice the pepper. Set aside.

Step 2: Over medium heat, place the butter and olive oil and cook in a saucepan until butter has melted. Then place the onions in the pan and saute until soft however not quite translucent in color yet. Place beef in the pan and cook until all sides of the cubes are brown.

Step 3: Once steak is browned, add in the beef broth, water, soup mix, garlic, jalapeno, and poblano to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes.

Step 4: After 30 minutes, uncover the saucepan, return heat to medium heat, and stir. Then add in the potato, bell pepper, corn, carrot, cream cheese, diced tomatoes with chilies, paprika, flour, cornstarch, cilantro, black pepper, chili powder, and crushed red pepper. Stir until everything is evenly mixed and mixture is bubbling. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring every so often to keep food from sticking to a pan.

Step 5: Cook until time has passed, turn off heat, let sit for a minute or two to let things thicken up, then serve! Enjoy!

Yield: 4-6 servings, depending on your portions. 

Country Fried Onion and Mushroom Steak

Me: 'What do you want for dinner tonight?'
Him: 'Tacos!'
Me: 'We don't have tacos. :('
Him: 'What do we have?'
Me: 'Pork, chicken, steaks... I could do a Salisbury with the mushrooms I bought?'
Him: 'That could be cool...'
Me: 'OH I KNOW! It will be waiting for you when you get home! :D'

And that is usually how our meal planning works half of the time. Thankfully I came up with the brilliant idea (using him for inspiration because hey, I don't want to surprise anyone unless I know they are going to love my food experiment) to try to make some Country Fried Steaks with an onion and mushroom gravy; one of his all-time faves when we go out to eat. After deciding what should go in it, I just had to figure out whether or not to pan-fry them or use the deep fryer. After a few minutes of no decisions, he suggested to try both out, so we did! 

We both thought that the deep-fryer would be the winner, hands down. But to our surprise, the pan-fried steaks came out much better than the deep fried ones! Cooking in the pan allowed the breading to soak up all the delicious flavored that were being released by the pan, giving it a fuller taste than the deep fried one. Because of that I opted to only give directions for the pan-fried recipe, however if you really want to deep fry them please do so for 4 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Enjoy!

• 4 3-ounce Steaks
• 3/4 cup Breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (grated)
• 1 Tbsp Green Onion (was 1 stalk for me)
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 Milk
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Onion
• 1/4 cup Mushroom
• 1/2 cup Beef Broth
• 2 Tbsp Flour
• 1 Tbsp Cornstarch
• Salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and green onion in a container. Beat egg until fluffy and then add 1/4 cup Milk and whisk. Once combined, dip steak in egg batter and then press in the flour concoction until coated. Do this for all 4 steaks.

Step 2: In a sauce pan, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Once butter melts, turn heat to medium-high and place steaks in the pan. Cook for about 3-4 minutes each, or until golden brown. Be sure not to move them for at least the first two minutes to help the breaking stick to the steak or else it might fall off.

Step 3: Once steaks are down, remove them from the pan and turn the stove to medium heat. Add onions and mushrooms to the pan and cook in the pan until soft. Slowly add in the milk, broth, flour, and cornstarch to the onions and mushrooms. Make sure to stir while adding in the ingredients in order to mix them properly. 

Step 4: After gravy has been mixed, turn heat to low temperature and let sit for a minute. Stir again, and then turn off heat and let sit for another 1-2 minutes. Gravy will thicken up as it cools a bit.

Step 4: Cover steaks with gravy and enjoy!

Yield: 4 servings.

Cheesy Tuna and Green Bean Casserole

Mmmmmm Tuna Noodle Casserole. One of those foods that always brings back fond childhood memories. Taking a traditional Tuna Casserole and exchanging the peas that my family would sometimes put in it with green beans and adding some delicious cheese makes this casserole a wonderful dinner meal.

This can either be eaten by itself as the full meal or feel free to make a side dish to go with it! And another great thing about this dish is that the leftovers make for a tasty lunch! Enjoy!

• 9" x 5" Baking dish, or another dish of your choice
• 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
• 6 ounces pasta (I used Fusilli pasta)
• 1/4 cup Diced Onion
• 10 3/4 ounce can Campbell's Cheddar Cheese Soup
• 14.5 ounce can French Style Green Beans (drained)
• 5 ounce Canned Tuna (drained)
• 1/2 cup French Fried Onions (I used cheddar cheese flavor)
• 1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1/3 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup Cottage Cheese
• 1/4 cup Chopped Green Onion (1 stalk)
• 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 1/4 tsp Thyme
• 1/4 tsp Ground Sage
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. While oven is heating, cook your pasta. Once cooked, drain and set aside. Tip: To help prevent the noodles from sticking together, add a little butter while the noodles are warm and stir until it dissolves.

Step 2: Combine the diced onion, minced garlic, 1/8 of the green onions (set the other 1/8 aside for now), cheese soup, milk, Old Bay, thyme, sage, and black pepper in a pot and cook over medium heat. Stir until concoction becomes smooth. Remove from heat, add in the cottage cheese, stir, and then set aside.

Step 3: Grease baking dish and add in the pasta. Place green beans and then tuna on top of the pasta, and then cover with the cheese concoction. Mix a bit in the dish, but you don't have to mix it a lot, just to get some of the cheese down to the bottom.

Step 4: Cover dish with the shredded cheese, french fried onions, and the remaining green onions. Cover with aluminum and bake for 25 minutes. Then remove the aluminum and back for another 5 minutes, or until the shredded cheese starts to melt. Enjoy!

Yield: 4-6 servings, depending on your portions.

Deep Fried Apple and Brie Bites

This is a recipe I created after receiving a deep fryer for Christmas. These come out tasting just like little mini Apple Pies or Apple Empanadas.

Beware, this recipe can get messy so you will want to make sure you have some extra paper towels waiting in the wings. Also, these can be reheated in case you are bringing them someplace. Just make them before you leave, and when you get to your destination just heat them up in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 400 degrees F (204 degrees C). Enjoy!

Apple and Brie Filling

• 3 Fuji Apples
• 1/2 lb. Brie Cheese
• 1 Tbsp Honey
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 20 crushed Vanilla Wafers

Step 1: Peel and dice apples to very small bits. Set aside in a large bowl when done.

Step 2: Break up Brie cheese into very small pieces and add them to the apples. Add in honey, vanilla extract, and crushed wafers to the bowl and then stir. You should end up with a very mushy looking but very tasty apple concoction. 

Step 3: Set bowl in the fridge while you prepare the Funnel Cake batter.

Funnel Cake Batter

• 3/4 cup Milk
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Step 1: In a large bowl, beat the egg until it is frothy. Slowly start combining the other ingredients into the egg until smooth. The mixture should be a little on the thicker side so if you feel you need to add more flour, be my guest!

Creating the Apple and Brie Bites

• Apple and Brie filling
• Funnel Cake batter
• 20-30 crushed Vanilla Wafers (to coat the bites in)
• Oil for frying

Step 1: In a deep fryer or large pot, heat oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Step 2: While oil is heating up, it is time to get messy. Carefully roll the Apple and Brie mixture into little balls or clumps, making about 5 or 6 at a time. Drop them in the Funnel Cake batter and coat them evenly. Once coated, drop them in the crushed wafers and coat them, giving them a nice Vanilla Wafer shell.

Step 3: Once oil is fully heated up, add bites to the oil and fry until golden brown. Once browned, remove from the fryer and set aside on some paper towels to dry off. Bites will be a little soft as they first come out of the fryer, but will stiffen up after cooling a bit.

Step 4: After you have fried up all the bites, place them on a plate and server warm! Feel free to add a little dash of confectioners' sugar on the top of them before serving!

Yield: Makes about 24-36 bites, depending on how big you roll them