Irish Nachos

To get into the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, I wanted to whip up something Irish. Have I mentioned here that I have four kids in my home? What does that have to do with food you ask? Well, three of them eat. When I say eat, I mean complain about what I am serving for ten minutes and then pick at it until, if I'm lucky, they realize they in fact like the meal.

Serving something Irish could be a huge meltdown risk. What is a determined mama to serve? Irish Nachos. It has Irish in the name, so it counts, right? It works for me.

I love Irish Nachos but wanted to make sure we weren't just eating a pound of preservative loaded, who knows what's really in it, nacho cheese. So I made my own. These were delish.

Ingredients:
Cheese Sauce:

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 heaping cup fresh shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

a few dashes red pepper flakes, optional

Everything else:

5 Large Potatoes

1Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp dried Thyme

1 tsp Seasoned Salt

Sm. Package Sour Cream

Green Onions

Bacon

Instructions:

We are going to start with our potatoes since they take the longest. Preheat oven to 425. Cut potatoes to desired size. I use a handy dandy gadget for this. {Tip: to make cutting potatoes easier, first microwave them for about 45 sec per potato. Let them cool and BAM!} Once cut, rinse some starch away. Pat dry. Coat in oil. Cover in seasonings and pop them in the oven for 30-45 min depending on your thickness and how you like your fries. Make sure to flip them at the halfway point of baking.

Now the sauce. Melt your butter over medium heat. Add milk. Whisk in the flour. When all mixed in, whisk in the cheeses. Continue whisking until it is all melted and well blended. If you are adding in your pepper flakes, do so now. Let simmer until you are ready to drizzle it. Make sure to stir often so it doesn't stick or burn. 

While you wait for your potatoes to finish up, fry up your bacon and chop the green onions.

Okay, now that our potatoes are ready, let's turn them into nachos. Put them on your plate and go to town layering on your ingredients. Cheese, then sour cream, bacon and a little green onion. I use a ziplock to put the sour cream on and make it pretty. Enjoy with the whole family.