How To Make the Perfect Baked Potato

Long holiday weekends usually mean a big barbecue for my family. And a barbecue isn't complete without a delicious baked potato on the side! There are a few ways to cook potatoes but my favorite is in the oven. It's simple, easy and the results are delicious! The softest skins with perfectly cooked insides!

So here's what you need:

(4) russet baking potatoes

olive oil

coarse salt

fork

baking sheet covered in tin foil

First, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Next, wash your potatoes off thoroughly. Use a vegetable scrubber if necessary. Then pierce the skin of each potato with the fork several times. Now rub a good amount (about a teaspoon) of olive oil onto the skin of each potato. (I use my hands to do this) Place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with coarse salt. 

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on size and thickness of the potatoes. (Best way to tell if they're done is to stick a fork in the center. If the potato is finished cooking, it will be easy to push the fork through with no resistance.)

Back in the day, I was a server at Outback Steakhouse. The servers were expected to cut the baked potatoes right before bringing them to their customers so we were taught a little trick to getting that pretty, fluffy, smooshed potato look. All you have to do is make a slit with a knife from end to end then squeeze the two ends together (using your thumb and middle fingers) toward the middle! It makes even the ugliest potato more round and makes it easier to fill with yummy toppings! My favorite toppings are what you see below. I devoured this potato after taking its pictures. :) Soft, buttery skin and all! Enjoy!

Looking for more side dish ideas?

Kale & Quinoa Salad

Frog Eye Fruit Salad

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Can't Resist (The BEST) Crescent Rolls

Simple and Delicious Strawberry Smoothie

Good morning friends! My eight-year old's baseball team won their first playoff game last night! They whooped the other team 9-2! But sadly, my eleven-year old's team lost. :( They were the number one team in the league. It's double elimination, so they have to win all the other games to be able to win the championship. Both boys played well and I love watching them out on the field! Proud mama, here!

I wanted to let you know that I shared a yummy recipe at the amazing Classy Clutter blog today! My oldest son's favorite smoothie recipe! Head on over to check it out and grab the recipe! See you tomorrow with an awesome How-To post! 

Looking for more yummy smoothie recipes? Check these out:

Chocolate & Kale Protein Smoothie

Healthy Green Smoothie

Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie

Strawberry Orange Julius

Four-Ingredient Baked Russian Chicken

Happy Monday! Guess what? Both of my older boys' baseball teams are in the playoffs! 

My eleven-year old's team is in the number one spot and my eight-year old's team is in the third. We have playoff games all week long. Kind of excited but also dreading it a bit. I'm super competitive and so watching the games gets a little intense for me, ha! I'm not the mom that's out there yelling at the ump or anything. I'm just sitting there covering my eyes and sweating bullets, hoping they win. Just kidding! (sort of) But really, it's been a great season.

I gotta say though, I'm ready to have my life back! Between the two boys, I have probably six games each week plus three or so practices all at different parks! SO much driving around! But I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm trying to enjoy every moment with these guys before they grow up. :)

But onto this recipe...

Look at that chicken! YUM! You know how you have those couple of staple meals you know you can always rely on when you have company or just can't think of anything else to make? This Russian Chicken is one of those for me. Perhaps you've already made this before, or maybe you've never heard of it - but let me tell you, it is SO easy and really, really good.

Four ingredients in a 9x13 baking dish, bake for 45 minutes to an hour and serve over rice. Best. Dinner. Ever. My boys and husband love this chicken! If you've never tried it before, give it a shot. You won't be sorry!

Baked Russian Chicken:

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle Russian dressing
• 1 packet dry onion soup mix
• 1 jar apricot jam/preserves
• 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Trim chicken of any fat. Rinse and pat dry and place in a 9x13 pan. 
2. Mix dressing, soup mix and jam together in a bowl. Pour over chicken. Bake, uncovered, in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve over rice. Enjoy!!

*Note: There's no wrong or right to the amount of jam and Russian dressing. The last time I made it, I used the entire bottle of dressing but used about 3/4 of the bottle of jam. Do whatever you think tastes good. Either way, you will have plenty of sauce left over to drizzle over rice!

 Pulling it out of the oven:

Looking for more easy dinner ideas? Check these out:

Creamy Italian Crock Pot Chicken

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Easy Mandarin Chicken

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

Click for Printable Recipe

Sharing this recipe at these fun parties

Skinny Cake Mix Cookie Bars

Happy Friday! 

Our weather here in Southern California has been a little sketchy. One day it's sunny and feels like it's a hundred degrees but then the next it's cloudy and cold. What's up with that?! One thing the cloudy weather does, is make me want to bake. I want to bake in the afternoon and then spend my evening curled up with a yummy homemade treat in my hand. :) 

 But...that's bad for my waistline. :) 

So when I found this recipe floating around on Pinterest, I decided I had to make it but would try and make it a little (itty bitty) bit healthier. My husband laughs when I describe these kinds of desserts as "healthy" because obviously they're not. BUT it does have a little less oil, right?! And more protein from the yogurt, right?! And in my book, less oil and more protein equals a second helping! If you're craving something sweet yet don't want as many calories, this is your dessert!

Skinny Cake Mix Cookie Bars:
Ingredients:

• 1 (15.25-oz) box white or yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Super Moist French Vanilla)
• 1 (1-oz) box sugar free vanilla pudding
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 Tbsp. plain yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2-1 cup chocolate chips (I eyeballed my measurements and used Reese's Pieces and mini chocolate chips. You can use whatever you have on hand or your favorites! :)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray. 
2. Stir together cake mix and pudding in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add oil, water, yogurt and eggs and stir to combine. Batter will be thick. Spread in bottom of pan, smoothing to make even.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, being careful to not overbake! (Mine took a little under 20 minutes!) Let cool and cut into bars and enjoy!!

Looking for more skinny desserts? Check these out:

Skinny Granola Cookie Wedges

Skinny Chocolate Cake in a Mug

Healthier 3-Ingredient Chocolate Cookies

Click for Printable Recipe

Sharing the recipe at these fun parties

How To Prepare & Cook An Artichoke (in the Slow Cooker!)

Have you ever cooked an artichoke? Talk about intimidating. These vegetables are a little scary. They're awkwardly shaped, spiky and almost look like a flower. But guess what? They are DELICIOUS!! Let me show you a fast way to prepare them and a couple yummy ways to cook them.

 Step One: Cut the stem off at the base

 Step Two: Cut off the crown of the artichoke

 Step Three: Cut off the thorns on the remaining leaves

 Step Four: Pull off the bottom layer of leaves. They're tough and have very little meat on them.

 Okay, you're ready to cook!

So, now that you have your artichoke(s) all trimmed, it's time to cook. There are many ways to cook artichokes. You can stuff them, sauté them, steam them or even cook them in the crock pot! There are tons of recipes on the web, but here's a couple that I've tried:

Steamed Artichokes:
(adapted from Allrecipes)
Ingredients:

• 2 artichokes
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• dash of vinegar
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Fill a steamer pan with about 6 cups water. Bring to a full boil over high heat. While water is heating, trim artichokes (using above steps to prepare). Tuck slivers of butter and slices of garlic into artichoke leaves.
2. When water is boiling, add a dash of vinegar. Place steamer insert in pot and set artichokes in steamer, stem-side down. Cover pot with lid and allow artichokes to steam for approximately 45 minutes, until tender. Remove individual leaves one by one, dip in butter or sauce and using your teeth, strip the individual leaf of the meaty portion at the bottom of each leaf. 

Artichokes in the Slow Cooker:

Ingredients:

• 4 artichokes
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• melted butter

Directions:

1. Trim the artichokes (using above steps to prepare) and place upright in slow cooker. 
2. Mix salt and lemon juice and pour over artichokes. (Can also add butter, garlic or other spices you might like!)
3. Pour water in slow cooker to cover 3/4 of artichokes. Cover. Cook on LOW 8-10 hours or HIGH 2-4 hours. 
4. Serve with melted butter. Pull off individual leaves and dip bottom of leaves in melted butter. Using your teeth, strip the individual leaf of the meaty portion at the bottom of each leaf.

Looking for more easy veggie recipes? Check these out:

Healthy Baked Kale Chips

Easy Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots

Sharing this at these fun parties

Quick & Easy BBQ Cups

There's nothing I love more than a super, ridiculously easy, dinner idea. Who's with me?!

 Well, let me introduce you to these little BBQ cups. They have only FIVE ingredients and take a total of maybe 20 minutes to make. It really doesn't get much easier than that. Plus they taste great and are super kid-friendly. My boys love them!! They are a definite dinner repeat!

Quick & Easy BBQ Cups:
Ingredients:

• 1 lb. lean ground turkey
• 1/2 - 1 cup BBQ sauce (depending on how much BBQ sauce you like!)
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 (12-oz) can Buttermilk biscuits (I used Grands Junior)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brown ground turkey in skillet. Add BBQ sauce and garlic powder. Set aside.
2. Separate biscuits and place in muffin tins, pressing dough up sides to edge of cups. Fill dough with cooked turkey mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve and enjoy!!

Looking for more easy dinner ideas?

Easy Sesame Chicken

Hawaiian Haystacks

Beef Penne Pasta Bake

Easy Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Click for Printable Recipe

Sharing this recipe at these fun parties

Double Chocolate Snack Cake

I kinda feel bad for sharing a not healthy recipe, but this cake is just so dang good...so I kinda don't?! I guess you could say I had a chocolate meltdown this week. I had a couple days in a row where I was super stressed out. My boys had one activity after another and I was in the car literally all day long. Plus they had school testing and projects due. Lots of blogging commitments and deadlines, yada yada. You know. I just needed a serious chocolate break. Do you ever feel like that? Like you just wanna sit on your comfy couch, in your comfy pajamas and eat a yummy, moist piece of chocolate cake?!? Please tell me I'm not alone in this!! 

Well, in comes the Double Chocolate Snack Cake...

This is one of my mom's recipes and it's so easy. The recipe calls for a 9x13 pan but I usually half it and make an 8x8 because I might will eat it all if I make the bigger recipe. :) Basically you put all the dry ingredients in the bottom of your ungreased pan and then mix up your liquid ingredients in a small bowl. Next, you pour the wet straight into the dry ingredients. Stir it all up in the baking dish, throw some chocolate chips and nuts on the top and bake it. It makes such a moist cake. To me it tastes similar to a texas sheet cake. I absolutely love making it when I just need something chocolatey but not overly rich and heavy. It's the perfect amount of richness and I think that's why it's dubbed a "snack cake". Anyway, I hope you give it a try - stressful day or not. You will love it!

Double Chocolate Snack Cake:
Ingredients:

• 2-2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-1/2 cup water
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup canola (or vegetable) oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and cocoa powder in ungreased 9x13 baking pan. 
2. In a medium bowl combine the water, eggs. oil and vanilla. Beat with a fork to blend.
3. Pour liquid mixture into cocoa mixture in the pan and stir until smooth. Sprinkle chocolate chip and nuts evenly over top of batter. Bake for 40 minutes. Let cool, slice and enjoy!!

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers, grandmothers, sisters, caretakers, babysitters and friends out there!! What would this world be without women? ;)

Looking for more delicious dessert recipes? Try these:

World's Best Fudgy Brownies

Homemade Jolly Rancher Lollipops

Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Cake

The Softest Sugar Cookies & Buttercream Frosting

Click for Printable Recipe

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