Cheesy Potato Bake and Planning Printables

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My family is blessed in the fact that most of our family is still around and available for the holidays. This means that I rarely have to host an entire holiday party by myself, which is good because it obviously means less work. But the downside is that we get invited to more parties than we can attend. Our party attendance has definitely taken a hit with the birth of the boys. When we do get to go, most of the lunches and dinners are potlucks. Our families are so large that it makes sense to spread the cooking burden around to everyone. Before having the boys, it was common for my husband, daughter, and I to go to four Thanksgiving meals in the span of an eight hour period. Crazy, huh! I’ve discovered that the best way to be prepared when holiday potluck season rolls around is to plan, plan, and then plan some more. By deciding which dishes I’m making for various parties, I can guarantee that I have all my ingredients when it’s time to get busy in the kitchen. No sprinting to the store at the last minute or running out of an ingredient only to not find it at the local market. After all, I have to make sure all four kids leave the house wearing shoes. My potluck dish should be the least of my worries! If you are like me, and you find yourself attending more potluck parties than hosting parties, then the Holiday Meal Planning and Ingredient Shopping List printables included in today’s post will come in handy. And I’m also going to let you in on one of my top favorite potluck side dishes- a scrumptious Cheesy Potato Bake.

Have a long list of places to go and people to see this year? Need to take a dish to each place? Even if the event is not a potluck, maybe taking a hostess gift is ideal. Using the following Holiday Meal Potluck Plan is easy. Simply right click the image, save it to your computer, and then print it off. Fill in the areas with the event, date, and the recipe or dish that you are taking. Use the additional space for notes, such as the location of the recipe. Or use the space for hostess gift ideas.

Once the Holiday Meal Potluck Plan has been completed, download and print the Ingredient Shopping List printable. Complete it by writing down all the ingredients for each dish that you plan to make. I usually write out all the ingredients that are in the recipes, even those that are already in my pantry. I then go through and mark off the ones that I already have. Of course, you could also only right down the ones that you need to purchase. For some reason, jotting them all down organizes my mind better.

One of my family’s all time favorite potluck dishes is this Cheesy Potato Bake.

Ingredients:

• 5 lbs.Yukon Gold potatoes, washed, scrubbed, and cut into cubes
• 10 ounces Kraft Ranch Dressing
• 8 ounce package Kraft Shreds, plus additional cheese as desired
• 1/2 cup Kraft Parmesan Cheese
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray.

Place all the potatoes into the pan. Sprinkle all the spices on top of the potatoes, making sure the potatoes are evenly covered. Just being honest, but the best and easiest way to do this is to wash up and use your hands.

Insert the butter over the potatoes.

Bake in oven for an hour, stirring the potatoes halfway during cooking.

Top potatoes with the 8 ounces of shredded cheese, ranch dressing, and Parmesan cheese. At this point, stir all the ingredients together and evaluate for “cheesiness.” I wanted mine to be even cheesier, so I added another cup of shredded cheese. The heat from the potatoes will start melting the cheese, but go ahead and pop the pan back in the oven until the cheese is completed melted and bubbly.

The dish has just enough spice to give it a great flavor, and the cheese adds a smooth texture. Everyone from the kids to the hubby in my family is a fan.

I promise this will be a potluck favorite. You know those people who leave the potluck with the same amount of food that they had when they arrived? Yeah, that won’t be you.

I purchased my Kraft ingredients at Walmart. They are easily found in the refrigerated cheese section and the dressing section.

If you need more inspiration, check out the Cooking Up Good website. They have recipes, sweepstakes, loyalty programs, coupons and more! If you’re looking for a new dinner idea or a chance to win some awesome prizes, be sure to check it out!