Double-baked potatoes

A really yummy side dish, or you could have it as a meal for lunch!

Ingredients:
Large potatoes for baking (however many you need)- wash and scrub well
milk
butter
salt & pepper
chopped boiled broccoli, or sliced sauted mushrooms
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream (optional)
olive oil

Preparation:
-Bake potatoes in the microwave until fully cooked (it takes about 5 minutes per potato)
-Heat oven to 375 degrees
-Let potatoes cool for about 10 minutes
-Place potatoes on a baking sheet
-Rub the potato skin with olive oil and some salt (so you can eat it after it's baked the second time)
-Carefully cut out a wedge from the top of the potato (this is in order to empty out the inside of the potato while keeping the shell/skin in tact)
-Empty as much as you can from the inside of the potato, leaving some of the potatoe attached to the skin so it doesn't fall apart, and place it into a bowl
-Add butter, milk, salt, pepper, broccoli or mushrooms, cheddar cheese and mix well
-Repack the now mashed potatoes into the potato shells (it'll be more than what you took out, don't worry you can just pile it up high)
-Re-bake the potatoes in the oven for about 15 minutes
-Serve immediately, you can add sour cream on the side if you like

You can always prepare the potatoes ahead of time and bake them right before you're ready to eat. You can also top them with more cheddar cheese on top towards the end of the baking.

Enjoy! :)

Easy Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:
1/2 pound of sliced beef fillet
3 tablespoons light sour cream, brought to room temperature
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth (you can make it by boiling water with a bullion cube)
1 medium sized box of sliced white mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 medium onion, chopped
Salt & pepper
oil

Preparation:
- Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet, add beef. Saute until beef is no longer red, then add the onions. Saute for about 2 minutes then cover, lower the heat to medium-low, and let the beef cook until it's tender. You can add water to it every now and then so it doesn't burn. Add a little bit of salt and pepper after the meat is cooked.
-Add mushroom and saute until the mushrooms are cooked, set aside in a separate bowl.
-Melt butter in skillet, add flour and mix well (on medium-low heat)
-Add chicken broth gradually until you have a nice thick sauce, lower the heat. Add meat and mushroom mixture. Stir in sour cream gradually (one tablespoon at a time), don't bring the sauce to a boil after this point because the sour cream will curdle.

-Enjoy this delicious dish with some white rice, egg noodles, pasta, or mashed potatoes! :)

Dana's special pasta

(sorry, I couldn't think of a better name hehe)

Ingredients:
1 box of farfalle pasta (the bow-tie kind)
1 medium sized carton of heavy cream
1 small broccoli bunch, chopped into small pieces (don't use the electric chopper though)
2 large garlic cloves, pressed/minced
a handful of sundried tomatoes in olive oil, finely chopped (this time use the chopper)
1 medium box of small white mushrooms, sliced
6 chicken breast cutlets, marinated in zesty italian dressing, grilled, and sliced
3 tablespoons butter
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
salt (to taste)
Parmesan cheese (to taste)

Preparation:
-Boil pasta as directed on box, rinse lightly when done, reserve 1 cup or 2 of the pasta water
-Melt butter in pan (I use a large stainless steel pan), add garlic and saute for a few minutes. When garlic starts to brown, add sun dried tomatoes and saute for 3 minutes or so. Then add broccoli and mushrooms, salt, and olive oil.
-Cover and let the veggies cook until they are done.
-When veggies are cooked, add the pasta to it and mix well.
-You can set everything aside at this point until you are ready to serve the food.
-When ready to serve, turn on the heat (medium-high), add heavy cream and half a cup of pasta water.
-Bring the sauce to a boil then lower the heat. You can add more of the pasta water if you want to increase the amount of sauce.
-Add parmesan cheese and mix into the pasta... let it simmer until the sauce thickens...
-Finally add the sliced chicken and mix into the pasta. Let it heat up for a couple of minutes and serve!

Enjoy! :)