Save Your Potato Skins!

I must admit that as thrifty as I am, I can not force a potato skin down with a baked potato or even a twice baked potato. Shameful, I know! My only consolation is knowing they are going to feed the chickens. However, using them to recreate this little appetizer/side dish is another story! I just tell everyone at the meal, "save your skins!" 

I place the tragic looking peels into a tupperware and the next day is a brand new side dish with new appeal. These are quick and easy to make.

First, preheat your oven control to "broiler". Now, line your baking/cookie sheet with foil because this will save on a potential baked on mess. Slice up your skins to resemble the approximate size above. You can see that anything goes on this one.

Brush your skins with melted butter and broil with potatoes 4-5 inches away from heat. Let them go for about 8-10 minutes or until they start to get nice and brown and crispy.

Sprinkle shredded cheese over potatoes (I use mozzarella for almost everything since I buy a huge block of it in bulk but you can also use Colby/Monterey Jack cheese, or anything else that suits your fancy).

Now, place these back to broil for another 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until your cheese is nice and melted. I pull mine out when bits of brown bubbles begin to form on the cheese.

Now, serve them with some homemade salsa of diced tomatoes, onions, squeeze of lemon or lime and with a bit of fresh parsley or cilantro. Of course, you can use a bottled salsa as well as some sour cream if you like.

And this is the new way we use potato skins in our home. I hope someone else out there can appreciate this double duty meal of the potato as well. This was a real hit in our home...

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