Red Robin (copy cat) Fries

Red Robin has the BEST french fries and dipping sauce, in my opinion.
Perfect for summer barbecues.  This dip is GREAT for a burger sauce as well.  

This recipe is so simple but SO yummy!

Fries:

Bag of steak fries from the grocery store (not seasoned or battered, just plain)

Bake according to package, we usually cook a little longer.  Season with Seasoned Salt liberally.  I usually season part way through the cooking time and turn the fries over.

Sauce:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup barbeque sauce

Summer Medley

This is one of my favorites this past summer.

* 1-2 chicken breasts - fry in a little olive oil
In a seperate pan, fry in a little olive oil:
* 2 celerly stalks - chopped
* 2 carrots - chopped
* 1-2 potatoes - chopped

Combine together; add a little seasoned salt; chop a half a head of cabbage and add; cover and let it steam for about 5 minutes. Add a little ranch and you have a summer medley! :) It's very yummy.

Ranch Potatoes

These potatoes are SO good and SO easy!  They make a great alternative to french fries when served with hamburgers, but could go with about anything.

You will need:
2 lbs red potatoes (or whatever kind you have, I have tried all varieties and they all work great!)
1 packet dry Ranch Dressing mix (2 to 3 TB)
2 TB vegetable oil

You could add a variety of vegetables to go with the potatoes as well.  Strips of green pepper, carrots, slices of onion would all be good with this.


Scrub potatoes clean and slice them into bite-sized pieces (leave skins on).   Put potatoes in a gallon zip lock bag with the dry Ranch Dressing mix and oil.  Shake it until potatoes are well coated.  Spray a baking sheet (with sides on it) with cooking spray.  Don't use foil, it sticks to it.  If you spray the pan first it cleans easily.


Bake at 450 for 35 minutes or so.  We leave them in until they are really toasted and a little crispy on the outside.  Sometimes I sprinkle the potatoes with a little coarse salt, just because I like coarse salt on potatoes.

Shredded Potatoes Au Gratin

I found this recipe on a blog I occasionally look at and she had found it on another site here. I'm sure many of you have had "Mormon Potatoes" aka "Funeral Potatoes". These yummy potatoes are just as easy to prepare but without the use of the processed cream soups. If you haven't tried these you should. The cream makes them taste like a cheesey scalloped potato. So now we have a gluten-free potato recipe :)

• 4 cups of frozen shredded hash browns, thawed or 1 (20 oz) bag of refrigerated shredded hash browns (like Simply Potatoes)
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided (I like to use sharp cheddar)
• 1/4 cup sliced green onion
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray dish with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Combine hash browns, cream, 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, green onion, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Mix well
3. Spoon or pour hash browns into prepared dish or dishes and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cook according to below times until bubbly and golden.

•For (8) 1/2 cup ramekins bake 20-25 minutes
•For (4) 1 cup ramekins bake 35-45 minutes
•For 11x 7 baking dish bake 47-57 minutes

Heavenly Potatoes and Ham

It seems like I always have a lot of potatoes that I need to use up so I am constantly looking for good recipes.  I found this one on allrecipes.com and over 19,000 had saved it as a favorite.  I liked it and changed just a few things. So here is what I did:

• 
  
• Ingredients:
• 2 1/2 pounds red potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces

• 8 oz sour cream
• 2 TB melted butter
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup (healthy request)
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2-3 TB milk
• 3 TB chopped green or yellow onion (I sautéed the yellow onion before hand)
• 2 cups cooked, chopped ham (I like the ham steaks at Costco and then pull it apart by hand, which to me, looks better than cubed in this recipe)
• salt pepper to taste (I only added pepper and thought it was adequate)
• 
  
• Topping:
• 3/4 cups Parmesan cheese flavored bread crumbs (= plain bread crumbs, add parmesan and italian seasonings and garlic powder)

• I liked adding a little bit more shredded cheddar cheese into the bread crumbs
• 2 TB melted butter
• -----------------------------------------------------------------------
• Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Place cut potatoes in a large pot of water, and bring to a boil. Boil until slightly tender, about 12 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl.
3. Mix sour cream, butter, cream of chicken soup, Cheddar cheese, onions, ham, salt and pepper with the potatoes. Spread mixture in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, and drizzle with butter.
4. Bake 30 minutes.