Cheese Potatoes (Recipe)

Hello everyone!  I hope you had a fantabulous Thanksgiving!  Do any of y'all go Black Friday shopping?  I go every year with my mom and sister and my aunt (when she's in town).  I just love it.  However, they are really getting out of hand with these start times!  In years past, we at least got a little bit of sleep, but this year we got none!  I made up for it though...I slept 14 1/2 hours last night!  I was asleep by 6 last night and didn't wake up until about 8:30ish.  Whew, I got off on a tangent there, huh?  I'll post tomorrow with all the deals I got!

Today I'm going to share with you a recipe for Cheese Potatoes.  I make these every year for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  I actually don't really eat them anymore because I have grown to love my mom's mac & cheese, but it is quite delish.  Warning:  This is NOT a low fat dish!  But, it's for special occasions, so it's totally okay to partake. :)

Excuse the photos...I took almost all of them with my phone!

Cheese Potatoes (serves a lot!)
1 pint half and half
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 lb. Velveeta
2 sticks of butter or margarine
2 bags of hash browns

Here are the stars of the party!  I strongly recommend letting anything that is cold (basically everything except the Velveeta) sit out and get room temperature.  It won't take as long to melt.  You can see I used margarine, but butter would be fine. This was the last of my margarine, as I've recently switched to all butter.

First, grate your cheese.  I usually use already grated since I'm not quite as tempted to grab a fistful of the stuff.

Add everything except the hash browns to your pot.  I would definitely cut up the Velveeta and butter into small pieces.  I am all about not standing over the stove for long and I'm sure you peeps are too :)  Plus, the less time you spend over the stove is just more time to work out in preparation for eating this.  I'm thinking ahead people!  Stir regularly over medium to low heat.  I had mine over low, but it was on my "power burner" so it was probably a 'regular' burners medium to high heat.  You want to melt until it looks like this:

There should be no chunks of Velveeta left (that usually seems to take the longest to melt).

Put the hash browns into a large bowl.  Poor the melted cheese mixture on top and stir until well incorporated.  Turn your oven on to 325 degrees.  I don't know about you, but I never turn my oven on at the beginning of the recipe like they all seem to state. 

Pour into a 9x13 pan.  You don't have to grease or spray with Pam or anything...I never have.

Bake for 1 hour, or until golden brown and bubbly.

That's it!  Easy peezy!  My family loves this dish, and I hope you do too if you try it!  I'm off to finish getting ready for the USC/Clemson game.  Super excited!  Go Cocks!