This spring, we invited thirty food and recipe bloggers to Simply-fy their weeknight meals with Simply Potatoes. They could choose from a wide variety of Simply Potatoes – traditional or flavored mashed potatoes, plain or spicy hash brown potatoes, diced potatoes and more. Our bloggers were encouraged to find inspiration from one of the many recipes on this site and create their own recipe or a simple side dish with our products right from the package.

The result? Great ideas and tips from our bloggers that we’d love to share with you:

Classic Potato Salad with a Twist
Kelly from Kelly’s Lucky You used Diced Potatoes with Onion to create our Classic Potato Salad, with a twist! She used leftover Easter eggs to garnish the potato salad with slices of hard-boiled eggs topped with paprika, just like her mom used to.

New Mom Discovers Helpful Shortcuts
After having a baby two months ago and going back to work, April at Sweep Tight loves mealtime shortcuts. April tried Diced Potatoes with Onion and Garlic Mashed Potatoes and says she loved the short prep time and homemade taste – in fact, her husband even complimented on her homemade potatoes!

Trading Instant-from-a-Box for Fresh
Darcy from Tales of the Nursery confessed to using instant box mixes for years before trying Simply Potatoes. Her family tried Sour Cream and Chive as well as the Garlic Mashed variety. Darcy says, “These are perfect for busy families who are trying to get a good meal prepared quickly!”

Keeping it Simple for Homemade Taste
Kimberly at She Scribes says the simpler, the better! She tried our Mashed Sweet Potatoes and added cinnamon and butter for the perfect sweet side dish. Kimberly also tried the Shredded Hash Browns and loves how easy they are to prepare and how much they taste like they were made from scratch.

Amazing Time Savings from Simple Bag of Potatoes
Beth and Brian at Simply Budgeted created a recipe for a Spanish Vegetable Tortilla made with Shredded Hash Browns or Diced Potatoes with Onion and fresh veggies. They said, “What seems like just a simple bag of potatoes is actually a huge time saver on a busy weeknight.”

Thank you to all of our spring bloggers, we really appreciate all your creativity, effort and articles!

Do you have a cooking or recipe blog? If you’re interested in becoming a Simply Potatoes blogger just let us know.

Breakfast Egg Rolls Recipe for Mother's Day

Spring has sprung! And this spring, Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 13th.

Show your love by preparing a delicious, home-cooked breakfast or brunch just for mom. Sundays are the perfect day for families to relax and enjoy a meal together.

Cooking tasty brunch recipes the whole family will enjoy is so easy with Simply Potatoes. We’ve created simple recipes anyone can make. Try an American dinner classic like Breakfast Hash or a quick, easy recipe for Italian Quiche.

Or, are you ready for something really unique? Try our recipe for Breakfast Egg Rolls (shown above). They’re a lot easier than they look. Just brown the sausage, scramble the eggs, mix in Simply Potatoes Southwest Style Hash Browns and cheese and before you know it, your tasty filling is ready!

Then all that’s left is to fill the egg roll wrappers, roll them up and brush with butter. These delightful little wraps are baked and ready in just 14 minutes.

Here are more simple ways to prepare a memorable, delicious meal for a Mother’s Day breakfast or brunch:

Italian Quiche with Hash Brown Crust recipe	Breakfast Hash recipe
Cheesy Hash Brown Cups recipe	Cheesy Hash Brown Pie recipe
Spinach and Potato Frittata recipe

Preparing a lovely Mother’s Day brunch doesn’t have to be tons of work. Peel your prep time in half with fresh, never frozen, Simply Potatoes® so you can spend more time with mom on her special day.

Ready. Set. Cook! Recipe Contest with Simply Potatoes

Over 300 recipes were submitted for a chance to WIN $2,000 in our Ready. Set. Cook! Contest. Today, we’re excited to announce the winners!

Participants had to include one of the following Simply Potatoes products and at least 4 additional ingredients from a special list.

• Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns
• Simply Potatoes Diced Potatoes with Onion
• Simply Potatoes Traditional Mashed Potatoes

Professional chef and popular food blogger, Kristy Bernardo of TheWickedNoodle.com selected the Grand Prize Winner who will receive $2,000 and First prize will also see their original recipe featured in the July/August issue of the Food Network Magazine. A second-place prize of $750 will be awarded to the recipe with the highest community-rated votes.

Grand Prize Winner

Congrats to user May I Have That Recipe on the $2,000 Grand Prize for Spinach and Goat Cheese Hash Brown Nests.

Ready Set Cook! Grand Prize Winner: Spinach and Goat Cheese Hash Brown Nests

People’s Choice Prize

User mcollins316 was rated by the Food.com community and won $750 for Breakfast Shepherd’s Pie recipe.

Thank you to everyone who participated, created and rated the recipes!

Easy, Delicious Easter Dinner Side Dish Recipes

Preparing for an Easter feast is easier than ever when you choose Simply Potatoes to create delicious, quick and easy potato side dish recipes. From the very popular Cheesy Hash Browns casserole recipe to classic Candied Sweet Potatoes.

Once your main entrée is planned, surrounding it with celebratory side dishes is the fun part of planning an Easter feast.

Whether you’re looking for ham side dishes, lamb side dishes or turkey side dishes, we’ve put together a simple way to pair delicious potatoes with the main course on your menu.

Easter Lamb Side Dish Recipes

Easter Lamb Side Dish Recipes: Choose from tasty sides like Roasted Garlic and Herb Potatoes. They’re so easy to prep in just 5 minutes and they serve 6 guests.

Easter Ham Side Dish Recipes

Easter Ham Side Dish Recipes: With two easy au gratin recipes, several casseroles and mashed sweet potato recipes like Candied Sweet Potatoes, there are so many delicious and quick sides to enjoy with your ham entree.

More Easter Side Dish Recipes: With so many dishes to choose from, there may be an Easter side dish you simply can’t wait to make! Is it a nice warm bowl of Sweet Potato Soup or Easy Mock Twice Baked Potatoes?

With Simply Potatoes, serving homemade Easter side dishes is so simple. We do all the washing, peeling, slicing and mashing so you don’t have to. Just enjoy the celebrations of the spring season with tasty, easy recipes from Simply Potatoes.

Simply Potatoes St. Patty's Day Recipe Contest

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by entering our Simply-fied Recipe Contest for a chance to WIN $500 to spend at Cooking.com!

Just start with fresh, never frozen Simply Potatoes. They’re all peeled, prepped and ready to be used in your excellent recipe creation!

So enter your recipe here by March 16 and may the luck o’ the Irish be with you!

Ready. Set. Cook! Recipe Contest with Simply Potatoes

Show off your culinary creativity with a chance to WIN $2,000!

Find out more about the Ready. Set. Cook! contest…It’s simply brilliant!

Here are the yummy details about what must be included in your recipe submission so you can start planning:

1. 5 Contest Ingredients

Use 1 of these Simply Potatoes products:

• Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns
• Simply Potatoes Diced Potatoes with Onion
• Simply Potatoes Traditional Mashed Potatoes

AND use 4 of these ingredients:

• bacon
• shrimp (fresh or frozen)
• eggs
• spinach (fresh or frozen)
• carrots (fresh)
• sundried tomatoes
• corn
• green onions
• red bell peppers
• cilantro
• chicken broth
• Alfredo sauce
• goat cheese
• taco seasoning
• cumin
• black beans
• white wine vinegar

2. Make a dish!

• main dish
• appetizer
• side dish
• other?

3.  Add any ingredients you choose.

4. Enter your recipe by Wednesday, March 7, 2012.

5. Watch the community votes roll in March 7 – March 21.

6. Winner announced April 11!

We’ve invited professional chef and popular food blogger, Kristy Bernardo of TheWickedNoodle.com to select the Grand Prize Winner. She’ll be testing and tasting the five highest-rated recipes in her very own kitchen!

Plus, the recipe with the highest community-rated votes will receive a $750 second-place prize.

Oh…and did we mention: First prize will also see their original recipe featured in the July/August issue of the Food Network Magazine? That’s right! There’s so much to love about the contest!

Contest begins 2/15!

Click here to ENTER!

"Steamables" the First Line of Refrigerated Steam-in-the-Bag Potatoes

We’re excited to announce the launch of our NEW product: Steamables™, a fresh (never frozen!) line of steam-in-the-bag potato varieties.

Steamables™ are the first refrigerated steamable potato out there. Steaming in the bag keeps all the nutrients while still maintaining that fresh potato taste everyone loves.

Here are the new varieties:

NEW! Simply Potatoes Steamables Rustic Italian Seasoned Russet Wedges

Rustic Italian Seasoned Russet Wedges are the perfect side to any dish!

NEW! Simply Potatoes Steamables Ranch Seasoned Wedges

Ranch Seasoned Red Wedges have the unique steam-in-the-bag cooking which seals in flavor.

NEW! Simply Potatoes Steamables Zesty Garlic Diced Russets

Zesty Garlic Diced Potatoes delivers mouthwatering taste in 5 minutes or less.

“Steamables are part of Simply Potatoes’ ongoing commitment to provide your fans with fresh, high-quality side dish ideas for busy lifestyles” said Jeff Twomey, product manager for Simply Potatoes. “The average family has potatoes with dinner at least once per week. Steamables involves no preparation and is ready to eat in five minutes.”

“Simply Potatoes has always been a great option for convenient side dishes,” said Kristy Bernardo, professional chef, author of The Wicked Noodle blog and Simply Potatoes’ fan. “Steamables save me the time of washing, peeling and dicing. I can steam them fresh in the microwave five minutes before dinner is on the table.”

Simply Potatoes NEW Garlic & Herb Hash Browns

Cooler weather keeps most everyone indoors on dark weekend mornings. Warm up a cool morning with Simply Potatoes Garlic and Herb Hash Browns. They have just the right amount of delicate seasoning and they fry up perfectly to a crisp, golden brown because they’re made from fresh potatoes.

They’re always fresh, never ever frozen so you don’t have to worry about disappointing freezer burn. This delicious new variety has the same simple benefits of all our shredded hash browns: already peeled, already shredded and now…already seasoned! Weekend breakfasts couldn’t be easier!

As a simple side just follow the instructions for making easy hash browns and after 1 single minute of prep time, you’re on your way to enjoying the perfect side to your steak and eggs or pancakes and bacon.

The mingling seasonings of garlic, onion and parsley in the New Garlic & Herb Hash Browns are a perfect medley of flavor for traditional hash browns.

If your weekends are luxurious, consider making the Italian Quiche recipe. It only takes 10 minutes to prepare and while it bakes you can enjoy your guests or family since it serves 6 hungry people.

Either way you choose to enjoy these new seasoned hash browns, they’ll always taste just like homemade without you having to wash, peel, shred and season potatoes. Simply Potatoes. Simply better!

Simply Potatoes is proud to announce our “Holiday Hysteria” Twitter Party coming up on Thursday, December 8, 2011 from 8:00-9:00pm Central Standard Time.

Come tweet with The Wicked Noodle’s Kristy Bernardo for cooking and kitchen tips on ways to manage the busy holiday season.

To RSVP and find out some ways Kristy is ready to give you the best holiday season, yet, keeping reading!

1. Prepare ahead of time. Cutting, dicing and chopping are the most time-consuming steps of meal preparation. Getting this done the day before will give you maximum family time!
2. Don’t make every dish a showstopper. Choose one or two and keep the rest simple but delicious. Focusing your energies on the appetizer and dessert course, for example, will result in a fantastic start and end to the holiday meal.
3. Plan out what serving dishes you’ll use, or set your table the night before. That way, you won’t be searching your cupboards for a dish before realizing it’s already in use, in the dishwasher or still packed away from the last holiday get-together.
4. Make a list! A list keeps everything streamlined, and you need a back-up plan when the unexpected occurs – e.g. missing an ingredient, non-functioning food processor, the mixing bowl topples over, etc.

Join the fun and enter to win a bunch of fun prizes!  To be eligible for prizes, you must RSVP by 12/8 by 7:30pm CST & include your Twitter handle. If you don’t have a Twitter handle, go to Twitter.com to create one. That way you won’t miss out on all the fun!

Click here to RSVP!

Whether new to Jewish traditions or having enjoyed the culture for years, one delicate, delicious Hanukkah recipe to make this year are traditional potato latkes. With Simply Potatoes, latkes are easier to make than ever before.

Potato latkes are more than merely potato pancakes with a fancy name. Potato latkes are unique because they’re cooked in oil.

All foods cooked in oil during Hanukkah are done so to remember the miracle of oil when, in 168 BC, the Maccabees liberated the Jews from the Syrain-Greek King Antiochus. Once the battle was won, the Maccabees rid their temple of idols and lit an oil lamp with just enough oil to last one day. Tradition has it that the oil lasted for 8 days–just the amount of time needed to press olives for new oil. This is the reason Jews around the world eat foods cooked in oil during Hanukkah.

What makes these Potato Latkes so simple is we’ve done all the peeling and shredding ahead of time so in just 5 minutes all the ingredients from shredded potatoes and eggs to flour and spices are easy to mix and ready for shaping into small pancakes.

A favorite way to enjoy latkes is with a topping of sweet applesauce or a dollop of sour cream.

This year, make a traditional Jewish potato latke recipe and share its history with those enjoying their fried goodness.