Herb Roasted Potatoes

I believe this recipe was originally written down at a Weight Watcher's meeting years ago, but when I searched through my book of Bon Appetite recipes, I found many recipes that were similar.  If you want to change the herbs to Herbs de Provance, or use Lemon Pepper, or whatever, go right ahead!  That is the beauty of these easy-peasy recipes. Enjoy!

Herb Roasted Potatoes

Prep time: 5-15 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Oven temp: 375 degrees F.

Russet potatoes, peeled, cubed into ½-in pieces (I used 5 small/medium potatoes-feel free to try red, blue, Yukon gold, or whatever you have available)

Olive oil

Italian seasoning

Garlic powder

Salt

Black pepper

Minced dried onions (fresh onions will burn in the oven)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place cubed potatoes into 9-in square Pyrex pan.  Drizzle with olive oil, shake seasonings over potatoes.  Toss with hands until coated (the potatoes, though your hands are coated, too!). Add more seasoning, if desired.

Place pan in center of oven for one hour.  Set timer for 30 minutes.  When 30 minutes are up, using metal spatula, flip potatoes over (they might stick to the pan). If they don't seem to be cooking, increase the oven's temp 25 degrees, if it is cooking too quickly, lower the temp 25 degrees Cook for 30 more minutes.

They should look golden brown, like this. This should also give you an idea of how much of the Italian herb seasoning I used.

Sorry, this is from my phone . . . deal with the picture quality.  I placed our plates in the oven to warm, they ended up too hot, so be careful.  A warm plate will keep the meal warmer for longer. Uh, I shouldn't have to say this, but I will DO NOT DO THIS WITH A PLASTIC PLATE!

Served with pan-fried ham steak (@ 1/3 inch thick slice of bone-in ham) and peas.  Heated plates in the oven to keep meal warm.  Excellent!

Enjoy!
Later, Peeps!

Herbed Tomato Soup

I should have taken a picture when I made this, but it disappeared quickly--Oops . . . 

While my kidlet was home due to the two freak snowstorms, I did a lot of cooking.  This recipe was originally a Weight Watcher's 0 point recipe.  Don't worry, we got rid of that pesky goose egg and added points.  I have no idea how many calories per serving, but I do know my 10-year-old had about three or four meals consisting of this soup.

Herbed Tomato Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
2-14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
1- 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 t. basil
1 t. salt
1/2 t. thyme
1/4 t. pepper
4 c. chicken broth
@ 1/2 c. heavy cream

Saute onions in pat of butter until translucent. Add rest of ingredients, EXCEPT cream.  Simmer about 15-20 minutes. Puree soup using hand blender (if you have non-stick pans be very careful not to scratch them). Adjust seasoning to taste.  Add cream until turns the color of cooked salmon.

Sorry, but eyeballing it is part of the deal.  My kidlet tasted the soup prior to the cream and remarked that it tasted too herby.  The cream adds a touch of richness that tamps down the herbs and brings out the tomato flavor.

I'm beat from editing GNOME.  I managed to cut another 20% of the story and tightened it to within an inch of it's life.  It is out with another beta reader