Stuffed Baked Potatoes: Simple And Delicious, Great For One of Those Busy Days!

Now that some of us are in the heart of the busiest crafting season of the year, we can get a bit caught up in the crafting and forget about the fact that while we can probably go without eating, our families certainly need meals as usual! Dinner? Lunch? Whoops!  Here's a recipe that just might save you. Nothing new, just a helpful reminder, and your family will thank me. Hot baked potatoes right out of the oven is true comfort food and perfect for those chilly nights.......and if you decorate the plate with some attempts at Japanese vegetable cutting, well, the little hands just won't be able to resist!

Ingredients:

• Baking potatoes
• kosher salt
• olive oil (or canola)
• something to stuff the potato with like: grated cheese, low fat sour cream, baked beans, egg salad, stir fried onions, cooked vegetables and tofu, get creative!

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 200 C or 350 F
2. Wash and dry potatoes
3. Pierce each potato with a fork in two places
4. Place potatoes in a large bowl, add a little bit of oil and mix with your hands to coat the potatoes with just a bit of oil
5. Sprinkle some kosher salt into the bowl and mix again to distribute the salt, not too much but enough so that it's visible on the skins of the potatoes
6. Put the potatoes into the oven directly onto the rack (or if this just doesn't appeal to you, so put them on a piece of aluminum foil or baking paper)
7. Bake for about 1 hour or until soft.
8. Cut open the potatos either lengthwise or with two criss crossing cuts, and stuff. If you use cheese, be sure to close the potato back up so the cheese will melt.
9. Dig in!
10. This would be a great meal to serve, along with a delicious salad for some unexpected guests, or even as a meal idea for a party — a buffet of potato toppings would be great!
11. Dig in!

Note: I don't cook in the microwave because I've read that it causes food to loose some of it's nutrients, but if someone arrives at your door and needs a hot meal quickly, it might be a good idea to use the microwave in the name of human kindness.

Follow steps 1-7 above and then:

1. Place a paper towel over a ceramic plate (not plastic!) and place the potatoes on the plate.
2. For a large potatoes, bake  on HIGH for about 5 or 6 minutes. For a medium potatoes, bake on HIGH for 4 minutes. For a small potatoes, bake on HIGH for 3 minutes.
3. Let the potato stand for a couple of minutes after you've taken it out of the microwave. The steam that is still trapped in the potato will help it finish cooking.
4. Serve to your hungry guest with a smile. 

Oh, and did I ever mention that I dream of learning how to sculpt with vegetables? Some people specialize in fancy desserts, I'd like to specialize in fancy vegetable trays! These decorative carrots were just a beginning attempt, I hope to show you more in the future. And if you want to try it to, just cut vertical triangular wedges from a whole carrot, and when you slice the carrot it looks like a flower! A great trick for getting the little ones to eat their vegetables, don't you think?