Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes

We're home from our vacation.  It was a simple and wonderful one this year.  We had spent so much money this year already on travel (Kentucky for my Grandma's funeral & Tennessee with my 2 boys for their DI competition) that we weren't able to do anything extremely expensive.  So, we ended up just spending a week at my husbands families home & then a week down at my family's cabin.  IT WAS WONDERFUL!!  I'll take that kind of vacation anytime!  Actually we do that almost every summer...we were just able to spend more time at the cabin than we usually do.  It was so nice to to worry about blogging, facebook, pinterest, and all things electronic!  What a nice break!  (my husband liked that break too...he says I spend way too much time on the computer anyway!:))

But we're home now and going to get back into getting you fabulous recipes all week long!

This is one of our favorites and I don't make it near often enough for our liking!!:)

Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

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8 potatoes, washed

1 cup butter, sliced into pieces

1 cup real bacon pieces (fry your own or buy it from the store)

1 cup sour cream

1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus 1/2 cup for topping

pepper to taste

1 green onion, sliced

Wash potatoes well with skins on.  Place potatoes in 400 degree oven without covering them in tinfoil, just the plain ol' potato all by itself.  This will help the skins hold their shape after they are hollowed out.  Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done. 

Just before they are ready to be removed from the oven, place butter, bacon, and sour cream in a large mixing bowl.  When the potatoes are finished, cut them in half lengthwise (use a towel to hold the potato while you are doing this...they are extremely hot!) and using a large spoon scoop the insides into the bowl with the butter, bacon and sour cream.  Don't scrape the potato all the way to the skin, leave a little bit of potato there to help hold it's shape.

Place hollowed out potatoes on a baking sheet.

Mash potatoes until desired consistency.  I like them a little chunky, but you can mash them smooth if that's your preference.  Add the seasoned salt, 1 cup of cheddar, and pepper, and mix.  Add the green onion and mix.

Fill each potato skin with mashed potatoes.  Sprinkle cheese on top and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until heated through.