Recently I was looking for some different thrifty ideas for dinner meals, this one my family loves including my husband who is a big eater, "Baked Potato Night". I purchase some baking potatoes on sale, if they are big I plan on one per person the average amount spent is $1.50 to $2.00.
This page contains the following solutions.
Preparing baked potatoes in a microwave takes far less time than baking them in an oven, but sometimes the wonderful texture of an oven baked potato is missing. Take the following steps to give microwave potatoes an oven baked texture.
When we have baked potatoes we often have some left over. I scoop out the insides and use it to thicken home-made soup. It adds a delicious flavour.
To bake potatoes faster, start them warming in microwave a minute or so to get them heated through and through. Pop in oven and they will bake faster for your meal.
Potatoes, if boiled about 5 minutes before putting in a hot oven, will be thoroughly baked in about half the usual time.
Forget "good" potatoes; make EXCELLENT baked potatoes. Using larger bakers, scrub clean and pierce several times with tines of fork or sharp paring knife.
I bake them in aluminum foil in our toaster oven. Most of the time I will need the toaster oven for something else so I have to remove the potatoes.
I like the taste of potatoes better when they are baked in the oven, as opposed to the microwave; however, it takes ever so much more time to do it this way. If you are in a time-crunch, and want to hasten baking time, then place a well-scrubbed nail into the middle of each potato before you put them into the oven.
Want a quick baked potato? I use this when I am in a hurry. Take potato and wash. Dry, then put in microwave for 4 minutes. Press to see if cooked soft, (if not, then MW for about 2-3 mins more.
White potatoes are very starchy and cause our blood sugars to rise sky high, but sweet potatoes are very good for you. Just bake them, cut a slit on the top of the potatoes and add brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and any other specialty.
Although I have seen "cloth bags" to bake potatoes in the microwave, there is nothing like a real baked potato from either the oven or toaster oven.
At the beginning of the week, I wash a 5 pound bag of potatoes and bake them for 1 hour. Having these partially cooked potatoes allows me to make quick, nutritious sides that can go along with entrees such as french fries with hamburgers, home fries with omelettes, or mashed potatoes with a roast.
In the past, I seldom baked potatoes because it takes so long to bake them in the oven, however, I do love them. Today, I tried baking some in the crockpot and they were scrumptious.
