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Start with two 6-7″ Russet (Idaho) potatoes.

Wash potatoes with cold water

Place 2 potatoes on a paper towel on a plate.

Using a fork, stab the top of the potatoes deep enough to simply pierce the skin and allow moisture/steam to escape.

To speed up the cooking process, place plate of potatoes into microwave.

Cook in microwave on High for 15 minutes, flipping the taters over every 5 mins.

After they have been in the micro for 15 mins, remove from microwave and allow to cool 5-10 mins or until they are cool enough to touch.  This is a good time to begin pre-heating your grill.  Heat to medium (400 degrees give or take)

Next, cut the potato length-wise, removing the top 1/3 of the tater.

Now, grab a spoon and gently begin scooping the “meat” out of the potato and place it into a medium size bowl, thus turning the potato into a tater boat.  Try to leave about 1/4″ of the potato against the skin for strength.

Tater boat

In the bowl that you scooped the innards into, add 1/2 cup sour cream, 2/3 cup cheddar cheese, 1 tbsp minced parsley (parsley flakes will work too), a little salt and pepper, and mix around.  Don’t over-mix the filling, leave it chunky.

Scoop the mixture back into the tater boats.  There should be a little too much mixture left over after filling the boats.  Om nom nom…

I like to add bacon pieces on top of my potatoes.  Any salad bacon toppers work fine for this.

Place the potatoes directly on the grill and cook for approximately 10-15 mins.  Try to keep the lid down so that the heat permeates all sides of the taters.

Tater 1

Tater 2 - with bacon pieces

Remove the potatoes once they start to become golden and you can see the cheese mixture starting to bubble out.

Twice baked potatoes, fresh off the grill!

Twice baked potato with thin-cut NY Strip steak (Montreal steak seasoning), both grilled.

Om nom nom!

This is, by far, the easiest Alfredo sauce I have ever made and it was very tasty!  I cooked up some linguine as the pasta base and the entree was delicious!

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/3-1/2 cup butter (I use Country Crock instead of butter)
• 1 8oz package of light cream cheese
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/3 cup Parmesan sprinkle-cheese

Chicken Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning (contains the following)
  • Thyme
  • Basil
  • Oregano
  • Marjoram
  • Rosemary
  • Savory
  • Parsley
  • Red pepper
  • Garlic

Sauce:

1. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat.
2. Once melted, add the package of light cream cheese.
   1. Cutting the cream cheese into smaller chunks will help it mix faster.
3. Once the butter and cream cheese have been blended together (will look thick and creamy), add 2/3 cup milk to the mixture.
4. Add 1/3 cup Parmesan (sprinkle) cheese.
5. Add 1 tsp minced garlic
6. Stir with whisk until everything is blended and smooth
   1. I also added a dash of Parsley to the sauce to give it a bit  color
7. Remove from heat to thicken, stir occasionally

Chicken:

1. Cut the chicken breast into thin (approximately 1/4″) slices.
2. Add 1 tsp (per chicken breast) extra virgin olive oil to pan and warm the oil to medium heat.
3. Place slices of chicken breast into the heated/oiled pan and sprinkle 1 tsp (per chicken breast) Italian seasoning mixture over the slices.
4. Cook both sides of each chicken breast slice for approximately 2 minutes (or until fully cooked).

Place a serving size of linguine (or other pasta) on a plate and spin/twist the pasta to form a nest.  Add chicken on top of the nest of pasta and lightly cover with sauce.

Enjoy!  Om nom nom!

Chicken Alfredo