99 Cent Potatoes

Sometimes the store had 5 pound bags of potatoes for 99 cents. It is during these times that our household enjoys what I like to call Irish Potato Feasts. Except I'm not Irish and I'm sure the potatoes aren't Irish, but Husband has been called a "thievin' Mick" before so I guess that's close enough. (Note: He's never really stolen anything.)

I used a potato or two in the Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pie I made awhile ago but now I'm getting serious about potato cooking. Especially since I brought home a metric ton of sweet potatoes from Parents' after Thanksgiving. Do you know what I forgot? The pumpkin I was gonna cook.

This is a recipe I like to call Loaded Scalloped Potatoes. It's like a loaded baked potato, only they're scalloped potatoes. I don't know what the difference is between scalloped and au gratin. I don't need to know, really. They both scared me as a child. Probably because school lunches and church dinners were the only place I came into contact with anything scalloped or au gratin. And during school lunches and church dinners, you must choose wisely. Once at a church dinner Sibling and Friend found a rubber band in a dessert. Pops had a theory about how the rubber band got there--something to do with a newspaper. We call that recipe Rubber Band Dessert at our house. It's good, minus the newspaper detritus.

Despite my scalloped fear, I settled on this recipe because I was going to load it with good stuff. Free ham from Thanksgiving and a box of frozen chopped broccoli. And cheese, lots and lots of cheese. Cheese is always the right choice. I used a scalloped potato recipe out of my BH&G cookbook just to make sure I did the scalloped part right.

Loaded Scalloped Potatoes

1/2 cup chopped onion 25 cents
1 clove garlic, minced 5 cents
2 tbsp butter 14 cents
2 tbsp flour 1 cent
salt and pepper
1 1/4 c milk I use powdered milk for stuff that isn't drinking. 12 cents
1/2 c mozzarella cheese 32 cents
1/4 c Parmesan cheese 21 cents
3 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced 18 cents
10 oz chopped, frozen broccoli, thawed and drained 99 cents
2 cups chopped ham free
1/2 cup cheddar cheese 32 cents

In a pan, cook onion and garlic  in butter until soft. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened. Add the white cheeses and stir until melted.


In a greased 1 1/2 quart casserole, layer 1/2 the potatoes, 1 cup of ham, and 1/2 the broccoli, top with 1/2 the sauce. Repeat.

Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Uncover, top with cheddar and bake 15-20 minutes more.

Total: $2.59

___________________
Breakfast: Oatmeal with cranberry sauce 33 cents
Snack: 1/2 granola bar 10 cents
Lunch: turkey wrap and oreos (from the honor snacks) $1.70
Dinner: Not-so-Hamburger Helper  63 cents

Total:  $2.76

This made about 6 servings so 43 cents per serving. It went very fast!