Dinnertime at our house goes one of two ways…either Evan LOVES the food or he eats nothing. Seriously. That kid eats less than a bird. My job, as his Mom, is to maximize the first reaction and minimize the second. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy. Just because he ate something last week is no indication whether he will eat it this week. I spend a lot of time perusing Pinterest, Twitter and FB for new and different ideas for dinner.
A few weeks ago, I saw my friend Maija post about her Poutine Baked Potatoes. I was intrigued so I saved the link.
Fast forward a week or two and I put a few baker potatoes in my cart at the grocery store. I tweaked the recipe (because that is what I do) to make them more of a main dish. I added chopped italian sausage and mushrooms that I had pan fried before adding to the potato mixture.
Since I just added a couple of ingredients to Maija’s recipe, I’m not going to copy it here. Follow her instructions (link is above) and then add your favorite meat/veggies to the potatoes before you stuff the potatoes and return them to the oven.
Some great suggestions of things to add include:
- Bacon and sauteed onions with gravy on top
- Ground beef and sauteed bell peppers with salsa on top
- Pepperoni slices and sauteed mushrooms with a bit of pizza sauce under the sprinkled cheese on top
- Leftover pulled pork with barbecue sauce on top
My stomach is growling….is yours? This potatoes make a great main dish or when made with Maija’s original recipe a great side dish.
I am also happy to let you know that Evan loved them. In fact, he ate half of a giant potato for dinner and then asked for the leftovers the next day and ate those too. That doesn’t happen very often if ever. You may notice from the picture above that I didn’t include the sausage and mushrooms in his. I love the infinite flexibility of the recipe. It makes it really easy to make potatoes that work for all the members of your family’s varied tastes. We will definitely be making them again soon.
