Spuds Are Tasty

        Now that I have a large gallon size bag of frozen diced potatoes, it's time to do some other things with all those extra potatoes.  I filled a large casserole dish with the rest of the diced potatoes.  I didn't use a recipe.  Sometimes I just like to just see what happens.  If your new at cooking, or haven't had much practice with this type of dish then I advise you to use a recipe at least the first time around so you understand the basic procedures of whatever you are cooking.  It's good to know cooking times, temperatures, which spices work together and things of that nature.

    Unless your like me and just throw in what sounds or smells good. 

  

For my oven potatoes this time, I started with the diced potatoes.  Then I added oil and mixed it around to  distribute it.  For oil I used expeller pressed coconut oil, but feel free to use butter or the oil of your choice. 

I tossed in some of those onions I had in the freezer all chopped and ready.  Any kind of onion will work, and if you wish to saute' it first that makes it taste great.  I then added some celtic sea salt, pepper, parsley, garlic, cilantro, frozen basil cubes, dulse granules,  and a mixed seasoning.  This is where you can add whatever spices that you like.  Just be careful not to add too much.  Paprika, chili powder, lemon zest would also taste good.  Even just salt and pepper would be fine for this. 

   Then pop it into the oven, I like to cook it at around 350 degrees in my oven.  I like for the potatoes to cook on the inside and then start to get brown slowly.  I usually stir it after about 15 minutes or so to redistribute and check them.  If they start getting a bit soft to stir, they are done.  Or, you can do what I do, jack up the temperature on the oven and get the outside a little more golden brown.

   I was going to show you how delicious these looked when they were done.  You'll just have to take my word for it.  You see, I kept the camera handy so I could remember, but when I pulled the potatoes out of the oven we all converged on them and ate them, and well, it wasn't until later I spotted the camera just waiting for me.  I'll have to work harder at not eating until I get the picture, or at least get a picture of us eating it. 

   There are a ton of variations of oven browned, everyone I'm sure has their favorites.  I sometimes add milk, butter and flour along with the spices to make a creamy casserole.  Throw in some cheese to make it au gratin style.  Add meat and vegetables to make it a complete meal.  That's one of my favorites.  If the casserole is delicious, and you happen to have any leftover, freeze it for an easy reheat meal. 

     Don't forget, cooked potatoes can be frozen, and heat up quite well later.  I first started with mashed potatoes.  It was by accident, or rather, give a man a potato peeler and he just doesn't know when to stop.  So, next time you find good deals on potatoes, stock up on a few bags and start your freezer food collection. 

What Do You Do With Your Potatoes?

     We've love potatoes in this house, just about any way you can fix them.  Or as my husband would say, he's never met a potato he didn't like. 
 

 I found a good deal on potatoes, not great, since it's not potato season.  They were almost past expiration so we needed to use them as soon as possible.

 I didn't even bother to put them away, just dumped them all into the sink and began the peeling process while pondering what exactly I was going to do with all of them.
  

 After the potatoes were peeled and diced I put them into a bowl of cold water to keep them from turning brown.  I decided I would freeze a few batches for one of those busy days. 
    



To do this, I simply boil water, drop the diced potatoes in there for about three minutes.  The main goal is to heat the potatoes through so they don't turn brown.  I then plunge them into cold water, or if I'm lazy, I just throw them into my colander and rinse with cool water and drain. 



Once cool, I put them onto a tray and freeze them.  Try not to pile them too high, like the picture.  A single layer is best, and I try to do that as much as I can. 

Once they are frozen, put them into a freezer bag and that's it. You now have diced potatoes, peeled and ready for a busy day.  Don't forget to put the bag into the freezer.  Label and date the bag also.  Of course it's obvious that it's diced potatoes, but if you decide to add onions or spices you could put that on the label.





What can you do with diced peeled potatoes?   Use them as you would have if you had just peeled them.  They can be boiled, boiled and mashed, fried up or used in soups and casseroles. 


Best Potato Recipes/Freezing Potatoes

Aggie Horticulture   This site uses the blanching method, which is what I do. 

Just When You Think It Couldn't Get Any Worse.....ha!

   You ever have a thought about things, thinking, well, what more could happen?  Nah, two busted pipes, two bathrooms, one living room, one hallway and one master bedroom all damaged with water, and all the carpeting and well, really, what else could happen.  Almost don't want to drive, ya know? 

     So, dummy me, I really had this idea that I could use that new shop vac to suck out a ton of water.  I just didn't realize it was two tons of water.  I plugged in the steam cleaner, so I had two machines, sucking water.  Now, see, I don't know a thing about amps and circuits.  So, I didn't know plugging two things into the same outlet was a bad idea.  Until I found myself sitting on a wet rug in the dark and I hear a two year old screaming from somewhere else in the house.

     Yeah, so, well, uhhh, I blew the circuit.  I mean, really blew it.  It won't go back on.  I burnt something somewhere and as of today we can't find it.  That's the bad news.  The good news is it didn't affect the entire house.  The bad news, well, it's a real pain to try to remember which lights work and which ones don't. 

     The good news, the shop vac still works.  The bad news, well, the hose is a bit shorter.  Taking a break in the kitchen I thought I could smell burning plastic.  I asked, "anyone else smell that?"  Then all of a sudden I hear my husband yelling french words in the bedroom.  At least I thought it was french.  I didn't want to venture any closer right then.  You see, he has this extremely bright light,....that's hot, very hot.  Melt plastic hot.  The shop vac hose was plastic.  You know that's why they make duck tape right?

The bad news, the fan on my ceiling doesn't work.  The good news, the restoration company that came out put a ton of fans in my room.  Yeah, well, can hardly hear yourself think with those things on.  But then it is a fan.  The bad news is that the dehumidifier makes the room steamy which negates anything good the fans are doing.  The good news, just maybe when I fall asleep I can pretend I'm in a heavy wind in tropical weather, like Hawaii. 

More bad news, they can't get the bathroom dry, they might have to rip it apart.  Noooo, it's the only room that's been remodeled in a nice way.  Well, they started to rip at it, but decided to give it one more night with the fans.  In that last picture you see the dehumidifier, yeah, that took most of the bathroom, our only bathroom right now.  So, needless to say, trying to "go" involved getting over a fan, wedging yourself between the toilet and the dehumidifier.  I can't really describe the next thing nicely, so I'll leave it up to your imagination.  Let's just say, having a fan blow on you full boar while using the commode is an awful thing.  And most of the toilet paper is unrolled and blowing in the air above your head. 

   How did I save any money on this venture?  Hmm, tough one.  These things happen and cost.  We did get the claim money.  I refused the restoration people at my expense, they finally conceeded to me and paid for it.  Aha, I saved the insurance company money since I did most all of the wet drywall removal and some of the water removal, and of course water shut off myself.  I thought shutting off the water was a given, but they were surprised at the work I did, joked about how I did their job and told me than many people had no idea to shut off the water.  Well, I think, ( I could be wrong) it paid off for me in that I was paid for better moulding in my room than what I actually had in there, in the closet.  Just little things like that.  Now, I was also paid at what a contractor would charge reasonably for the work that now needs done.  Which means, if I can possibly do the work myself I will save a ton of money.  I can then take that money and upgrade something else. 
Plus, they also paid me for time spent doing removal of damaged materials, and general removal of closet items. 

   It's not like I planned this at all, but when these things happen it does help to work it all out and think it through.  It's not always necessary to hire someone to do some of the tasks.  Or you might know someone who can do it for a better fee.  I still want to call the electrician, for safety reasons.  You also won't see me using a knee kicker on the carpet. 

Now, if I can just figure out where to put all my clothes.....the rest are all over the living room.  A bit of reorganizing for the duration of this will be ongoing.

NEXT:  Some of the projects I did while my house was falling apart. When I had water that is.

Plus:  What Have You Changed In Your Life This Week To Save Money?  (okay, if you must, change week to month) 

Upcoming Groupon Deal on Elf Makeup, BOL (be on the lookout)