Welcome Back! (And Twice Baked Potatoes)

Well, hello there! Long time no see. But that's my fault, so I apologize. As most of you know, in addition to being a mom, vegan, and part time super hero, I'm also an Air Force wife. And that means we move. A lot. In November, we moved from Ohio to California. That's a long way. The last few months have been spent getting settled into our new place. And now we have cable. So, a lot my time has been spent watching TV. Sorry. BUT! I'm back, better than ever. And lucky you, I've been cooking up a STORM. Some recipes have been major flops (seitan stroganoff anyone?), but some have been mighty tasty (veggie pot pie is a new fave). So, first on the menu...

Twice Baked Potatoes

These are really good, and really easy. You bake the potatoes in the crock-pot. Seriously. They will be the fluffiest, juiciest, baked potatoes you have ever had. 

Here are the ingredients. The "This is Not a Tub of Cream Cheese. This is a Tub of Non Dairy Spread" from Trader Joe's is a revelation. It is fantastic. You guys know I'm not a huge fan of soy. I don't eat tofu, and I don't particularly like the tofu based "cream cheese" or "sour cream". But this stuff is tapioca based, and it tastes really, really, close to actual cream cheese. I eat it on bagels, it's that close. The other thing is, I get some flack for using a boxed soup mix in this recipe. Here's my response. Bite Me. I would love to put together my own spice mixes, but reality gets in the way. I need food that is easy, fast, and healthy. This soup mix is tasty, and easy. Healthy? I think so, but it's the internet, and someone will disagree with me. Whatever. I like it. 

• However many potatoes you need. We used 5. 
• 1 tub of "TINATOCCTIATONDS" from Trader Joe's
• 1 box of Mrs. Grass Homemade Vegetable Soup Mix

How to make it:

• Wrap the potatoes in foil. I don't poke holes in mine, and they never explode. 
• Throw those bad boys in the crock pot, on high, for 6 hours. 

I love watching a robot cook my food.

• When the time is up, pull them and unwrap them. Be careful, they will be hot, hot, hot. 
• Pre-heat the oven to 350.

• Cut a small part of the skin on the top. Pull the skin off.

The picture does a better job showing what I mean than I do. 

• Scoop all the potato flesh out of the skin. 

Like so. 

• Take the flesh you just scooped, put in a bowl. 
• Add the soup mix, and the "cream cheese", to the flesh (doesn't that sound gross?), and mix it all up. 
• Then spoon the potato guts (is that better? not really...) back into the potato skins. 

• Bake the potatoes for about 30 minutes, or until they are browned on top. 

• Serve and enjoy! We ate them with oddly large broccoli, but all in all, it was a pretty tasty meal.