Baked Potato Casserole

I have been craving potatoes all day, but have been busy working around the house, so did not have time to plan out and cook a big meal.  I also forgot to take any meat out of the freezer, so I was left with few choices of something that would defrost quickly.

I settled on bacon, and then remembered my potato craving, so baked potato casserole it is!  I am sure you have seen something like this on Pinterest, or somewhere else on the internet.  This is my own version.

My ingredients: potatoes, bacon, cheese of your choice, seasoning of your choice and butter.

My first step is to cook the bacon.  I throw it in the oven to cook up, way less mess that way.  Seriously if you have never tried cooking bacon in the oven give it a shot.  Throw some aluminum foil on a baking sheet, put your bacon on that and put it in the oven at 400* for about ten minutes.

While the bacon is cooking wash and cut up your potatoes.  I like to do them in rounds, about 1/4" thick.  You can also cube them.  Next I parboil them so they don't take as long in the oven.

When the potatoes are done add them to a casserole dish.  I used a pyrex dish that I lightly buttered.  You could also use cooking spray, I just didn't have any at hand.   Add your seasoning of choice (in my case salt, pepper, garlic powder and basil), add a couple of dollops of butter, and put in the oven at 400* for about 15 minutes.

Add your bacon and cheese, I used parmesan and cheddar and put back in the oven until the potatoes are fork tender and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

I served it wish some steamed broccoli, and sour cream on the side.