Oven space is at a premium when you are fixing a holiday dinner for the entire family. It is a real trick to keep all the food warm enough to serve at the same time.

Your crock pot is a great tool to use during the holidays, because you can keep side dishes plenty hot, no matter how full your oven gets. If you have more than one crock pot, bring them all out and spread them around the house. You can cook a dish anywhere you have an electrical outlet! (Just make sure to not plug all the crocks into a single outlet!)

Baked potatoes are a wonderful side dish. They compliment any main course you want to serve, and are usually a favorite dish. You can make baked potatoes in your crock pot. The trick is planning ahead and having the potatoes prepped the night before, so they can bake all day.

I bought a bag of potatoes last week that contained some of the largest potatoes I have ever seen. No kidding, one potato covers an entire plate! Keep serving sizes in mind, and cut large potatoes like those into two or even three pieces.

Crock Pot Baked Potato Recipe

Ingredients:

4 large Potatoes
Aluminum Foil
½ c. Water

Directions:

1. Wash the potatoes.
2. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil.
3. Poke with a knife to allow a vent for steam to escape while the potato bakes.
4. Place ½ cup of water in the bottom of the crock pot.
5. Place wrapped potatoes in the crock pot.
6. Bake on low heat 8-10 hours or high for 6-8 hours.

Approximate Nutrition Information: Servings Per Recipe: 1, Amount Per Serving: Calories: 278, Fat: 0g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 30g, Total Carbs: 63g, Protein: 7g.

Make it a Meal: Serve with your holiday dinner. A great side dish to ham, steaks, or even as a full meal when topped with vegetables and cheese.

Variations: You can use this preparation with any type of white potatoes as well as with yams and sweet potatoes. Toppings: chives, butter, salt, pepper, chili powder, cheese, broccoli.

Top your baked potato with your favorite goodies. We had chopped green onion, butter, cheese, bacon bits and sour cream on ours the other night. That counted as a complete meal, since the potato filled our plates.

We have been known to add some diced ham and chopped broccoli to the potato and covered the entire thing in Ranch dressing.

Another option, if you are into spicy, top your potato with chili and hot sauce. I would suggest adding some sour cream to smooth out the spices.

Baked potatoes will keep in the refrigerator for a week or so. If you want to freeze it, leave wrapped in foil and place in the freezer after cooled. Potatoes will keep frozen for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and heat to serve. Remove aluminum foil if you are heating in the microwave.

Interested in one of the books pictured above? You can purchase on Amazon here.