Shameless Attempt to Get Your Vote

So, I'm pretty proud of myself, I guess. Despite my lack of knowledge about raising kids in general, I do have a pretty sturdy knowledge base of some things, including kitchen basics, and I managed to get another article up on http://www.tweenparent.com/!

If you feel inclined to read it, please vote for it, too. Ego stroking is welcomed.

I even kid-friendlied up two recipes for the occasion: Mini Meatloaf Sliders, a topic I touched on in one of my very early blog posts, and for Cheesy Texas Potatoes, a recipe that I adapted from a recipe generously divulged to me by the Hickman Family (props).

Recipe for Cheesy Texas Potatoes:

• 1 two-pound bag of frozen hash brown (or "Southern Style") potatoes
• 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
• 1 and ¼ cup of sour cream
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup (or 8 oz) of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 stick of unsalted butter
• 1 cup of crushed Corn Flakes

You will also need:

• A big bowl to mix everything together
• A 9" x 12" baking pan (or 9 x 13 works too)
• Measuring cups
• A heat-safe dish to melt the butter
• A plastic Ziplock bag to crush the corn flakes
• A cutting board and knife to chop the onion
• Oven mitts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pull the potatoes out of the freezer and let them sit out on the countertop for several minutes to thaw a little. They should not be clumpy. Cut the stick of butter in half, and melt one of the halves of the butter in the microwave or the oven. In a large bowl, mix together the hash browns, onions, sour cream, the cream of chicken soup, salt, the ½ stick of melted butter, and ½ of the cheese. Stir to combine, and spread the mixture out evenly in your 9" x 12" baking pan.

Melt the remaining ½ stick of butter. Meanwhile, using your hands, crush enough Corn Flakes in a plastic Ziplock bag, so that you end up with 1 cup of crushed Corn Flakes. Pour the melted butter into the bag of Corn Flakes, and squish the bag so the corn flakes get covered in the butter. Spread the remaining ½ cup of cheese out evenly over the top of the potatoes, and then spread the crushed Corn Flakes out over the cheese. Bake 1 hour in the 350 degree oven. Serve with Mini Meatloaf Sliders and a pickle.