potato recipes

[EmsMom]

So we need to have a VERY frugal month coming up (maybe two, hopefully not more!).   Potatoes were on sale buy one get one free.  So I have 10 lbs of potatoes and two hungry kids.  Mashed potatoes, oven fried potatoes are pretty common for us.  I really don't fry anything in oil.  Suggestions, please?  Main dishes would be really nice.

[SunRise]

baked potato (chives, sour cream, cheeses... fill it up)

[ollyoxenfree]

Potato salad is the first thing that comes to mind because it's still really hot here and will be for a while. 

Potato chowder is delicious, if it's cooler where you are. You can add a can of salmon for some extra protein. 

Latkes or rosti are easy to make, if you don't mind using a little oil. You can add veggies like shredded zucchini or cooked, diced cauliflower, or corn kernels to the "pancake" batter and increase the nutritional value. I serve rosti for dinner with some bacon and tomato. 

Hope some of those ideas appeal to you. 

[ollyoxenfree]

Oh, and potato curry! You can toss in all sorts of extra veggies - peas, diced carrot, cauliflower...... yum!! 

[crunchy_mommy]

My DH is a potato fiend!! Some favorites:

Irish nachos http://whatsgabycooking.com/irish-nachos/ (use beans instead of meat to make it even more frugal).

Homefries (sauteed, not deep fried!) with onions and mushrooms and black beans

Roasted potatoes -- add in other veggies like carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, onions, garlic, and your favorite spices. Use as a side dish or mix in some protein (my favorite is with toasted pecans, using fall spices like nutmeg & a dash of cinnamon).

[Smokering]

We've been eating more taters than usual recently, also for reasons of cheapness. Here's what we've had:

-Microwaved whole potatoes (baked or steamed would work just fine if you're anti-microwaving, I was just lazy) - sliced thickly and fried in butter. Had 'em this morning with a fried egg each, for a nice big breakfast.

-Leek and potato soup (or onion and potato, which is cheaper) - either chunky with small cubes of potato, or pureed

-Baked (microwaved) potatoes with the middles scooped out, mixed with cheese, onion, garlic, herbs, tomato paste, peas and corn; stuffed back in, topped with more cheese and sesame seeds, and baked until golden.

-Parboil or steam potatoes until partly cooked, and slice very thinly. Layer in a casserole dish with thin slices of onion, cheese, garlic and herbs (thyme or rosemary), and then either drizzle with olive oil and roast until done, or mix some egg with milk, cream, sour cream or yoghurt (or a mixture), pour over and bake until done.

-If I want to make mashed potatoes more exciting, I roast a lot of garlic (at least half a head) and mash it in, with some cheese, cream, butter, salt and pepper. It's gorgeous. You can add finely-chopped spinach, silverbeet, bok choy etc to mash as well; or pumpkin, kumara etc. Leftovers are really nice fried in butter for breakfast.

Hope your finances start looking up soon!

[Ragana]

Apparently, you can also make candy out of potatoes!

http://www.southernplate.com/2010/12/old-fashioned-potato-candy.html

[CarrieMF]

I have a different candy recipe for mashed potatoes.

Baked potatoes, hashbrowns, potato skins, scalloped potatoes

[tropicmama]

I second latkes or potato pancakes! We eat a lot of those around here, can experiment with toppings, with some onions in them, top with sour cream, or eat them with sugar or apple sauce. Can mix zucchini or shredded carrots.. I am Polish and we often had meatless dinners, such as potato pancakes once a week. Also, breakfast for dinner type meals, like eggs and a side of roasted potatoes, or an omelet with veggies in it, peppers and onions and potatoes,   or breakfast burrritoes with eggs, potatoes and beans in a tortilla...

[annaknitsspock]

I second potato chowder. We do a corn and potato chowder. Very cheap, very delicious, can be made in big, cheap batches to last for a few days as leftovers. The recipe I use is from the Student's Vegetarian Cookbook (which has lots of good, cheap recipes) but I'm sure there are a million chowder recipes out there. 

[EmsMom]

Thank you all.  Great ideas.  In fact, since it is cool today, a potato chowder sounds just about perfect!

[JudiAU]

If you have cream or milk and some cheese then potatos au gratin are cause for a celebration.

We rarely fry but love latkes.

[EmsMom]

I made some potato corn chowder tonight with fresh corn from the farmers market.  Excellent.  Wasn't sure the kids would love it (they are good at eating even when they don't love things, though!).  But they ate it all up with some fresh sliced tomatoes on the side.  It was delicious!  And very easy!  AND way cheap!

[tiqa]

My family also likes potato soup, not necessarily creamed (although baked potato soup is delicious!).  But if you cook small pieces of potato in stock (I use chicken) and add bay leaves and a little thyme, and season with sour cream and pepper or paprika - it's very good.  If you use short stock and thicken it with a bit of flour, you can even use it as a side dish.

[tiqa]

Originally Posted by EmsMom 

I made some potato corn chowder tonight with fresh corn from the farmers market.  Excellent.  Wasn't sure the kids would love it (they are good at eating even when they don't love things, though!).  But they ate it all up with some fresh sliced tomatoes on the side.  It was delicious!  And very easy!  AND way cheap!

Any particular recipe you used?  I used to have a great one but lost it somewhere.

[EmsMom]

This is the one I use

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/potato-chowder-soup-i/

 It wasn't clear whether or not to drain the vegetables after cooking them and before adding the milk mixture.   I decided to just cover the vegetables and not to drain them.  I also added small amount of chicken stock to replace some of the water.   And I left out the cheese entirely because neither my kids or I can consume that much cheese at any one meal!  I think a nice sprinkle of shredded cheese on top of the bowl of soup might be better.  Also, I used fat free milk because that was what I had.  And my son (picky eater) liked it but asked for more corn next time.  Seems pretty reasonable to me....