Baked Potato Night and 5 Minute Chili

Sometimes life is just too busy to worry about making dinner.  This is why I love Baked Potato Night.  All you do is wash some potatoes and throw them in the oven.  The house gets warm and smells good too.  My family especially loves this meal because they are all “carboholics” as I fondly refer to them (although I’m not sure if that is really a word)!  I’m pretty sure that they have no idea about the nutrition of a potato, otherwise, they wouldn’t love them as much.  Here’s what I found on http://www.potatogoodness.com/nutrition/…

“A 5.3 ounce potato contains:

• 45 percent of the daily value for vitamin C (this is a huge surprise to me)
• More potassium (620 mg) than even bananas, spinach, or broccoli;
• 10 percent of the daily value of B6;
• Trace amounts of thiamine, riboflavin, folate, magnesium, phosphorous, iron, and zinc

…and all this for just 110 calories and no fat, sodium or cholesterol.”

Who knew right?  I love learning things like this…just makes me happy inside to know that aside from the carbs, we are still eating something that is actually good for us!

So tonight, my friend Diane stopped by on her way home from Idaho to California.  She brought me some very fresh potatoes that she had just picked (oops I mean “dug up”) that morning…Anyway, these babies were fresh.  I had to wash real dirt off the skin and when they baked, they were soft and slightly sweet.  In fact they were so good that I’m not sure if I will be able to go back to store-bought!  Here they are…

Normally when we have baked potatoes, I lay out a bunch of toppings like butter, cheese, cooked veggies, chopped green onions, sour cream and BBQ sauce.  But tonight, I was having a hankering for chili and almost went to the store to buy a can.  But then I decided to just make my own because I was so hungry!  It was super easy and good on top of those amazing potatoes.  A pure “comfort food” dinner for sure…I hope you enjoy!

5-Minute Chili

• • A little hamburger (estimating here…about 1/3 pound)
  • 1 T dried onions
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder (or less if too hot)
  • 1 T sugar
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes with juice
  • 1 small can tomato paste (and a can of water)
  • 1 can of corn or beans (my boys don’t like beans)

Using a regular pot, cook and crumble hamburger.  Throw in all the seasonings, stir.  Add the tomatoes, paste, can of water, corn and/or beans.  Stir and heat through.  Serve on top of baked potatoes with grated cheddar cheese!

For the potatoes…just wash them well, wrap in foil and bake at 400 degrees for about an hour.  Then poke with a fork to see if they are soft; bake longer if they aren’t.