Super Stuffed Chili Cheese Sliced Baked Potatoes

Beware! These are not for the faint of heart!

There is so much gooey deliciousness going on here that at first we just sat and stared at this meal's awesomeness. You will not need a side dish with this, and if you can finish this in one sitting I will be impressed!

Seeing an image on Pinterest of a sliced baked potato (you slice the potato but don't cut it all the way so it is still attached) I used that for my inspiration. And since baked potatoes in themselves are already a tasty meal, I decided to add everything in my house that I felt would be a good match; I was not disappointed! We feasted on gloriously stuffed potatoes that night and went to sleep with full, happy bellies. Plus since we have leftovers, we enjoyed the meal the following day for lunch (we usually take leftovers for lunch, makes packing out lunches easier on me).

Feel free to add or remove components to make this meal suit your tastes as we did, and most of all have fun with this dish. Enjoy!

• 2 Russet Potatoes
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• 2 tsp Cayenne Powder
• 1 tsp Garlic Salt
• 2 slices of Bacon (cooked and crumbled)
• 10.5 oz can Chili
• 1 Jalapeno (diced)
• 1/4 cup Green Onion (chopped)
• 1/4 cup Onion (diced)
• 1 Avocado (mashed)
• 1 cup Cheddar Cheese (shredded)
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 1 tsp Flour
• 1 tsp Chives

Step 1: Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash and scrub your potatoes to get them clean. Once cleaned off, take a knife and carefully start slicing the potato, but make sure not to cut it all the way through. You want the potato to remain together to make it easier to eat. Next make your butter sauce by combining 2 Tbsp of melted butter with 1 tsp cayenne and 1 tsp garlic sauce. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and cover with the butter sauce, making sure to get some of the butter in between your slices and on the skin. Then place the sheet in the oven and cook for 50 minutes.

Step 2: When you have about 15 minutes left you will want to start heating up your chili and making your cheese sauce. For the sauce, start by dissolving the flour in the 1/2 cup flour. Once dissolved, place mixture on a sauce pan and combine it with 1/2 cup cheddar cheese,  the cayenne, and the chives. Stir until cheese is melted on medium to medium low heat. At the same time, heat up your can of chili in either the microwave or stove top (I cooked mine on the stove at low heat).

Step 3: Once the 50 minutes has passed, take the potatoes from the oven. Then start dressing it by first placing 1/2 shredded cheddar cheese in the potato cracks. Follow with the chili, and then top with the cheese sauce you made, jalapenos, green onions, onions, and avocado. Serve with sour cream, your favorite hot sauce, and diced tomatoes. Enjoy!


Yield: Makes 2 potatoes

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.

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.