Mashed Potato Pie - Oh My!

Some days I just want something delicious and "comforting" that's not sweet. I know! Who is this talking? But believe it or not, I would take a big bowl of mashed potatoes or mac and cheese over most desserts. So I stood in the kitchen and was looking through my cupboards and then the freezer and nothing came to mind. Then I saw the package of maple bacon and it hit me... loaded mashed potatoes. Yum! But then I saw the pie crust on the top shelf of the freezer and I'm pretty sure I heard harp music playing. Grand idea! Mashed Potato Pie! It can be done. I can do it!

I don't really have a recipe to share. I'll just fill you in on what I did. Change it. Spice it up some. Do whatever you like. Just know.... mashed potatoes plus pie shell equals heaven!

I didn't make my own pie crust (because I don't know how to do that.) I buy the Marie Callender Pie Shells. They are awesome =o)

I cooked the pie shell according to the instructions.


Then I made mashed potatoes. Make them however you normally do. I don't use milk when I make my mashed potatoes. Instead I use ranch dressing. We are ranch dressing nuts in my house. We, I mean my kids, eat it on everything. So I whipped potatoes with butter and ranch dressing.

Cook your bacon. Make sure it's crispy and drain all the fat. Doesn't that look tasty?

Add shredded cheese and stir it all up. Put it in the pie shell.

Top with more shredded cheese. (Because seriously, can you ever have too much cheese???)

And bake in a 350 degree oven until it's heated through.

Looks tasty doesn't it?


Yes, that's more ranch dressing on the side. Because, like I said, we love ranch.

Enjoy!!!!

This is a great dish to make ahead of time. You can put it all together and refrigerate it, then add cheese on top right before baking. And it's great the next day too!

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Taco Soup

It's been one of those months for us. The weather is cold (as it is for everyone) but lots of family and personal things going on right now. So comfort food for me is... well, comforting. You would think that I would crave sweets when I'm feeling frumpy or sad, wouldn't you? I mean, sheesh, I post enough of them. Maybe that's why I crave yummy, hearty dishes like this.

A co-worker of mine gave me this recipe and I'm so glad she did. It's fantastic and so easy to make. (Two things I appreciate!)

And my love for this recipe has nothing to do with the big blop of sour cream and Fritos. =o)

Ingredients:
* 1 pound ground beef (I used ground turkey)
* 1 medium onion (I used a sweet onion)
* 2 packages taco seasoning
* 2 cans corn
* 2 cans kidney beans (I used a can of black beans and one of kidney beans)
* 2 cans diced tomatoes
* 2 cans tomato sauce

Brown the hamburger and onion. Drain off the fat and add the taco seasoning.

Dump everything into a large pot (make sure you don't drain any of the canned goods because you need the liquid!

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 30-40 minutes.


Serve garnished with cheese, sour cream, Fritos, black olives...

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