UM HELLOOOOOOOOO May 26th = last day of school. Woop woop wooopppppppppp boom shacka lackaaaaaa. All done with my first year of teaching, whew! It has been an amazing year, but…suummmaaaaaaa time.

In the words of Mr. Flatts,

Summer nights, everybody, are you with me?
Let that Igloo cooler mark your piece of paradise.

Well said Mr. Flatts. And yes, I am with you. Thank you for asking.

I suppose it’s not actually summer yet is it…when does summer officially start? May is still spring right? MAN let me tell you, spring in Kansas is CRAAAAYYYYYYYY. Like…tornadoes every 34 seconds. Boone and I have trekked into our basement many-a-time already this year to hide from the wind funnels of death. We were down there last night, too. And guess what is happening right now as I type this post? A tornado watch in Kansas. In fact, my power just flickered as I was finishing that last sentence. It is possible that I will lose power and not be able to finish this post. I MUST HURRY.

On that note…potatoes!

Twice baked potatoes, to be exact. Let me just start off by saying this: twice baked potatoes are kind of a pain in the butt to make. They take longer than a simple mashed or roasted potato recipe. But they are SO MUCH BETTER. Worth the work. Fo reals.

Why are they so delicious? Great question! It is because you combine every delicious element of the various potato cooking techniques into one mouthwatering potato.

The creamy, soft deliciousness of mashed potatoes? Check ✔️

The cheesy, meaty, flavorful toppings of baked potatoes? Check ✔️

Crispy skin of roasted potatoes? Check ✔️

It’s the best of all the potato worlds. There are three ways to eat such deliciousness:

Eat the super yummy filling until all you have left is crispy, salty skin. Proceed to eat skin.
Slice off bites that include the filling AND the crispy skin and experience a medley of flavors and textures. Look at you getting all creative and fancy!
Take a bite of the filling. Eat. Slice off a bite of dat skin. Eat. Switch off between the two for some variation.

It’s like an oreo. There are multiple methods of eatery.

My choice? Numba one.

It’s hard to decide which is better, the filling or the skin. I would probably have to say the filling…

Potato
Browned turkey sausage
Cheddar cheese
Greek yogurt

Mash together, stuff inside potato shells, top with more cheese, bake to perfection. YAASSSSSSS.

The filling is so hearty and melty and gooey and soft and creamy and wonderful. Not to mention it is a little lighter than your average twice baked potato because of the Greek yogurt and turkey sausage.

But then there’s that skin…we season it liberally with salt and pepper before baking, and it just becomes so crispy and flavorful. I like both parts…DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE.

Allow me to point something out. I have been talking for most of this post about the various ways to eat these potatoes and which part of the potato is better: filling or skin. This could be for one of two reasons. My brain is like “I’M DONE” now that it’s finally summer break, or these potatoes are delicious enough to warrant this amount of strange conversation. Actually, both are probs true.

Yum.

For you 21 Day Fix people, here are your container amounts:

1 yellow container (potato)
1 blue container (cheese)
3/4 red container (Greek yogurt and turkey sausage)
1 teaspoon (olive oil)

Click here to see more 21 Day Fix recipes!

Sausage Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes

Author: Annie Chesson
Prep Time: 25 mins
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins
Total Time: 1 hour 40 mins
Yield: 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale

2 medium russet potatoes
4 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 lb Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup cheddar cheese
Sliced green onions (optional topping)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Using a fork, stab the potatoes about 10-15 times in various areas so that steam can be released while baking
Drizzle 2 teaspoons of olive oil over the potatoes on a baking sheet and season well with salt and pepper. Rub the oil and salt and pepper into the potatoes until they are both evenly coated
Bake for about an hour – could be more, could be less – it will depend on the size of your potatoes. Remove from the oven when you can pierce the potatoes with a knife and it goes in without resistance
Reduce the oven temperature to 350
Let the potatoes cool until you can handle them without burning yourself
Meanwhile, add your remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil to a skillet over medium high heat.
Remove the casings of your turkey sausage and add it to your skillet – season with salt and pepper.
Break the turkey up with a wooden spoon and cook in the skillet until all the meat has browned
Slice the potatoes in half and scoop out the filling. Transfer the filling to a medium bowl. Leave a thin later of potato still in shell for stability
In your bowl, mash your potato filling. To that, add your Greek yogurt, 3/4 cup (3 blues) cheddar cheese, and browned turkey sausage. Stir together until totally combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper
Spoon an even amount of filling into each of your 4 potato shells
Top potatoes with remaining 1/4 cup (1 blue) of cheddar cheese
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes
Top with sliced green onions (optional)