Comfort Food
This morning, I was driving to work and thinking about all the meals that have come out of a bag or a commercial kitchen lately. I've lost a lot of weight by not doing that anymore, and I don't want to pack it back on just because we're moving! I thought to myself that we've got a bag of potatoes and I haven't made a gratin in a while.
Hmmm, sounds good. It's one of the recipes that I've been working on for the NFNS thing. Comfort food. It was a staple in my mom's repertoire. Betty Crocker's Au Gratin potatoes with leftover ham chunks in it. Ed's comfort food is meatloaf, this is mine.
Alas, Betty's is full of preservatives and food dyes which prevent us from using her product. So, what do you do when you like to cook, want au gratin potatoes and can't use the package? You create your own.
This is the fourth time I've made the from scratch version since the beginning of the year and I think we've got a winner. It even earned a name tonight: Au Gratins with 2 1/2 cheeses.
Say what? It has extra sharp cheddar, swiss cheese and the half cheese? It's velveeta. I don't rate that as a full cheese folks. Actually, until Ed moved in with me, I never even HAD velveeta. Real (soft) cheese cannot survive on a supermarket shelf sans refrigeration. But it has a cheesy taste, so I'll give it half cheese (rather than faux cheese) status.
Of course, I served it with ham. This time, I was smart: I made two pans of it, using up every last potato. This stuff reheats oh so nicely, and having leftover comfort food beats ANY meal out of a bag. I think Saturday will involve using some pasta sheets and making two pans of another comfort meal, lasagna.
You know it's yummy when Chef Jr eats three helpings!
Suzanne's Au Gratins with Two and Half Cheeses:
If you want the recipe, email me! :) (Gotta save the NFNS)
Hmmm, sounds good. It's one of the recipes that I've been working on for the NFNS thing. Comfort food. It was a staple in my mom's repertoire. Betty Crocker's Au Gratin potatoes with leftover ham chunks in it. Ed's comfort food is meatloaf, this is mine.
Alas, Betty's is full of preservatives and food dyes which prevent us from using her product. So, what do you do when you like to cook, want au gratin potatoes and can't use the package? You create your own.
This is the fourth time I've made the from scratch version since the beginning of the year and I think we've got a winner. It even earned a name tonight: Au Gratins with 2 1/2 cheeses.
Say what? It has extra sharp cheddar, swiss cheese and the half cheese? It's velveeta. I don't rate that as a full cheese folks. Actually, until Ed moved in with me, I never even HAD velveeta. Real (soft) cheese cannot survive on a supermarket shelf sans refrigeration. But it has a cheesy taste, so I'll give it half cheese (rather than faux cheese) status.
Of course, I served it with ham. This time, I was smart: I made two pans of it, using up every last potato. This stuff reheats oh so nicely, and having leftover comfort food beats ANY meal out of a bag. I think Saturday will involve using some pasta sheets and making two pans of another comfort meal, lasagna.
You know it's yummy when Chef Jr eats three helpings!
Suzanne's Au Gratins with Two and Half Cheeses:
If you want the recipe, email me! :) (Gotta save the NFNS)
Comments
But no recipe???