Lovin' From the Oven

Bacon Mashed Potatoes

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You can’t always have beautiful food pictures 24:7. Or maybe you can, if you have a room set up just for food with white lights, reflectors, and diffusers. But I don’t. I just have me, my little apartment, and a camera. Usually, I don’t even have time to take pictures of regular food because my DB’s impatiently waiting for dinner half the time.

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This was one of those times. Once the mashed potatoes were done, it was time to eat dinner. If you wait too long trying to get the perfect picture, the food will be cold and dinner won’t be as good. Who wants a cold dinner? You have to know when to pick your battles. In this instance, the stomach outweighs the blog. Sorry, guys.

Fair warning: I’m going to have a couple more mediocre pictures on my blog. For example, all the baking that I’ve been doing at my parent’s house will have ehhhh pictures because I didn’t bring my DSLR down with me from Northern California. I’ve been using my point and shoot. You’ve been warned.

Mashed potatoes is such an easy dish to make. I don’t know why more people make it from scratch. It’s much better than the instant potato flakes that you mix with water. The mixture of sour cream and margarine makes this side dish extra creamy and fluffy. Plus, bacon makes everything better! You can omit the green onions if you want, but I personally think they add more to the dish in color, texture, and taste. Bon appetit!

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Bacon Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

  • 6 large red potatoes
  • 1/2 cup margarine
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 5-6 slices thick cut bacon, cooked until crispy and chopped
  • 2 stalks of green onion, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Rinse the potatoes and cut them into eighths.
  2. Put the potatoes in a large pot of water and cook until soft, about 15-20 minutes.
  3. Once the potatoes are easily pierced by a fork, drain and put the potatoes into a large mixing bowl.
  4. Mix until desire consistency. Add in the margarine, sour cream, bacon, green onion, and salt and pepper. Mix well.
https://lovintheoven.com/bacon-mashed-potatoes/

Oven Baked Fries

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If you were to ask any of my friends from when I was 5-25 years old what they remember the most about my dad, they’ll tell you his french fries. My dad was (and still is) notorious for making french fries whenever any of us had friends over. He’d peel ’em, chop ’em, and fry ’em all by himself. He’d keep making batches of food until our stomachs couldn’t stretch out anymore.

French fries went hand in hand with swimming in the summers. Since my house had a pool, everyone would come over to swim when it was hot out. Whenever that happened, you guessed it… my dad would come out with a platter of golden, crispy fries seasoned with Lawry’s seasoning salt.

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They’re dangerously delicious. Even after eating them for twenty five years, I continue to devour them when they’re in front of me.

Although these french fries don’t come anywhere close to my dads, they’re still pretty tasty. They’re just different since they’re baked and not fried. I also cut them into thicker wedges rather than skinny strings, so they taste more like roasted potatoes than anything else.

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I felt less guilty than normal for eating them nonstop since they’re baked. That makes sense, right? My DB loved these fries. I wish they were a bit crispier on the outside, though.

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I’m also a lot more comfortable making things in the oven rather than scalding hot oil. Have you noticed I’ve never fried anything on my blog? That’s because I’m afraid I’ll burn the house down. That, and get burned everywhere from my waist up. Heck, I’d get my whole body burned throwing something in oil.

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Maybe one day, I’ll get the courage to fry something. After all, I do love my churros.

Recipe from Annie Eats

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Oven Baked Fries

Ingredients

  • 3 russet potatoes (about 24 oz. total), peeled and cut lengthwise into even sized wedges
  • 5 tbsp. vegetable, canola or peanut oil, divided
  • ¾ tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 475˚ F. Soak the potato wedges in hot water for 10-30 minutes.
  2. Put 4 tablespoons of the oil onto a heavy, rimmed baking sheet and spread evenly. Sprinkle the pan evenly with the salt and pepper. Set aside.
  3. Drain the potatoes and pat dry with towels. Return the potatoes to the empty bowl and toss with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil.
  4. Arrange the potato wedges on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 5 minutes.
  5. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the bottoms of the potatoes are spotty golden brown, 15-20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet after 10 minutes.
  6. Using a metal spatula and tongs, flip each potato wedge keeping them in a single layer. Continue baking until the fries are golden and crisp, 5 -15 minutes. Rotate the pan as needed to ensure even browning.
https://lovintheoven.com/oven-baked-fries/

Fiesta Quinoa Bake

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Oops, I haven’t blogged in a week. I’ve been busy reading 50 Shades of Grey and seeing what the hype was all about. After I read that, my book club that I review for decided to send me Diary of a Submissive and the first two books of the Crossfire series. Hmm… is my book club trying to tell me something?

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I do the majority of my reading on the airplane and usually finish a book or two on a trip. Yes, I brought all these books with me on the plane while working. Yes, there were quite a few nosy passengers that just had to know what I was reading. No shame here! As I showed them the cover and gave them a brief rundown, the passengers immediately regretted asking me that question and paced away awkwardly. Hah! That’ll teach ’em.

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Usually when I finish my books, I give them to my mom to read. I had Diary of a Submissive in my hand and quickly shoved it into my bag when my mom asked what books I had for her when we met up. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: “Oh… it’s nothing. This book isn’t for your eyes. It’s not your type of book. I just finished reading it for my book club. It’s kind of like the whole 50 Shades of Grey, but in real life.”
Mom: “50 Shades of Grey? I loved that book!”
Me: “Wait….. what? You read 50 Shades of Grey?!”
Mom: “Yes, I read all three of them in a week. The story is so good!”

Needless to say, I handed over Diary of a Submissive to my mother.

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Parents can be so surprising at times. You think you know them, and then they go and throw you a curveball. But in all seriousness, I love that I can share things like that with my mom. I love that I’ve reached a certain age where I have so much more appreciation and understanding in my life for everything that my parents do, have done, and will do.

They may have been the “bad guys” when I was little, but looking back on it now, I realize I have the greatest parents in the world. Everything they did was to benefit their children and our family, and I couldn’t have asked for a better upraising.

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Whoa, things got a bit sentimental there. I promise I don’t do that often. I just wanted to kick off November with something that I’m thankful for. Speaking of November, I’ll be doing a week of strictly pumpkin recipes next week! Come back for some Thanksgiving recipes.

Now to the quinoa. It kind of became a fad out of nowhere and it took me a while to jump on the bandwagon. I bought a bag from Target on a whim and found a recipe to make with it. I brought this dish along for a picnic and although it’s fairly simple, people loved it. Not only that, the dish itself looks beautiful with all the bright colors from the vegetables. Recipe from Everyday Vegan Girl.

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Fiesta Quinoa Bake

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 sweet pepper (any color), diced
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 cup black beans
  • 1 cup corn
  • 1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 cup cilantro (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375℉.
  2. In a pan over medium heat, cook the onions, garlic and pepper for 5-7 minutes.
  3. Mix the rest of the ingredients with the sautéed vegetables and pour into an oven safe dish. (I used a 9x9 dish and it overflowed a bit, so use one bigger!)
  4. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Garnish with cilantro.
https://lovintheoven.com/fiesta-quinoa-bake/

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