Mom and dad leave for the evening and the responsibility for dinner is yours. Often the first thing that comes to mind is, ?order some pizza? or ?I think there are still some TV dinners left in the freezer from last summer?.

Just because you are in charge of dinner and want to do something easy, does not mean that it is impossible to prepare a nutritious and tasty meal; teenagers can do much better.

This dilemma can be remedied with some single planning and preparation of a baked potato.

The first step is to gather ingredients:

1 large russet potato
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/8 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon crumbled bacon
Garlic salt to taste
1 tablespoon chopped chives or green onions

Fry 1-2 pieces of bacon in a skillet on low heat or a simpler option is to microwave until crisp. When done, crumble into small pieces.

Scrub potato until clean and dry with paper towel. Poke several holes on top of the potato with a fork, to release heat during the cooking process. For those who do not have a “potato” button on their microwave, cook on high until tender (approximately 6-7 minutes), but cooking time will depend on size.

Rinse and chop the chives into tiny bits and grate the cheese.

After cooking, cut potato open lengthwise. Careful, it will be hot, and there will be a lot of steam coming out. Load potato with butter, cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle chives and bacon on top. Salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste, if desired, then enjoy.

Other suggestions to go with the baked potato:
–Garden salad
–Caesar salad
– Any Campbell?s soup