Spicy Mac and Cheese

This recipe is one of my favorites that I've tried recently. I've made it twice now, and I liked it even more the second time. It comes from one of my favorite food blogs: Annie's Eats.

I'm a big fan of homemade mac and cheese, but Paul tends to find it a little bland for his tastes. He likes this recipe because it is packed with flavor. Definitely not bland at all! It's not too spicy, but it has a nice kick and a wonderful flavor. The combination of the different types of cheese and the spices and vegetables is just really yummy. :)

If you love cheese, you should definitely give it a try!

Spicy Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

4 c. pasta shapes (this time I used mini bowties, and it was fun)

1/3 c. onion, finely chopped

1/3 c. roasted red peppers*, finely chopped

1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped (If you want it to be spicier, you could leave in some seeds...I prefer the flavor of the jalapeno without the overwhelming spiciness, so I scrape the seeds and membranes all out with a spoon.)

6 1/2 T. butter, divided

2 1/2 c. milk, plus additional to thin out sauce if needed

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

1/4 t. onion powder

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

8 oz. colby jack cheese, shredded

4 oz. pepper jack cheese, shredded

4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

4 oz. baguette or crusty Italian bread (or about 1 1/2 c. bread crumbs)

*Roasted red peppers are sold in jars in the same aisle as the pickles and olives. They are a little on the expensive side, but one jar can make this recipe twice. You can also roast your own if you are talented that way. I am not. ;)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta according to directions on package. When the pasta is done, drain and return to pot. While waiting for water to boil, saute the onion, red peppers, and jalapenos in 1/2 T. butter for 5-7 minutes or until tender. Set aside until needed.

Then, while pasta cooks, melt 4 T. butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Whisk in flour and stir continuously for about two minutes. Be careful not to burn the mixture. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook until mixture boils and thickens, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low. Whisk in spices, and then whisk in the cheeses until well incorporated. If the sauce seems too thick, add some milk to thin it out a bit. (I added 1/2 c. this time, and it was still thick and creamy, but not overly so.)

Combine pasta, vegetables, and cheese sauce. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan (or 2 quart casserole dish).

Cut baguette into chunks and pulse in a food processor until coarse crumbs are formed. Melt the last 2 T. butter in the microwave and pour over bread crumbs. Pulse a few times to distribute the melted butter. Sprinkle bread crumbs evenly over the pasta and cheese. Bake for 25 minutes (or until mixture is bubbly and topping is golden brown). Allow to sit 5-10 minutes before serving.

Here's a link to the original recipe: Spicy Mac and Cheese.

This is definitely one that will be making repeat appearances in our household. :)

Apple Cider Pudding Cake

Alright folks, today starts a massive effort for me in catching up with posting my recipes. I have tried so many wonderful new recipes in the past couple months! I really would like to post them all here! I'm calling it my version of nesting (I'm not prone to the real kind, unfortunately. ;) )

What better way to start than with a glorious dessert from the ever-reliable My Kitchen Cafe! (By the way, check out her newly redesigned site. It's pretty slick!)

I made this on Valentine's Day as the finale to my lavish and over-the-top dinner that I prepared for Paul. I overdid things that night, that's for sure. Two people do NOT need three appetizers, FYI. ;)

This dessert was delicious, though! I know the season for apple desserts is pretty much over now, but if you ask my husband, he would say apple desserts are wonderful all year long! So, here it is.

Apple Cider Pudding Cake

(Please forgive the messy counter. Like I said, I did a LOT of cooking that night. And by the time I was dishing this out and taking pictures, I was SO ready to crawl into bed and go to sleep!)

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. baking soda

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. ginger

1/4 t. nutmeg

1 egg

1 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. milk

2 T. butter, melted

1 t. vanilla

2 c. Granny Smith apples, chopped

Boiling mixture:

1 c. apple cider (apple juice works too, that's what I used)

1/2 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. brown sugar

Streusel:

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. brown sugar

2 T. butter (cold)

Directions:

Grease 8x8 pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare cake batter by whisking together the egg, brown sugar, milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg) until just combined. You can combine the dry ingredients separately first like the original recipe calls for, but I rarely do. Gently fold in chopped apples, and spread into your prepared pan.

In a small saucepan, bring the apple cider, cinnamon, vanilla and brown sugar to a boil. Carefully pour boiling mixture over cake batter in prepared pan, and bake for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare streusel topping by combining the flour, brown sugar, and cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You can do this using a pastry cutter, two forks, two butter knives, a food processor, or--my preferred method--your hands. After the cake has baked for 35 minutes, sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the cake and bake for 8-10 more minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the top cake layer comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream! :)

The pudding layer gets somewhat absorbed into the cake layer as it cools, so this dessert is much better immediately after being cooked. Paul and I, of course, couldn't finish the whole thing by ourselves, so we had leftovers. It was still tasty, just not quite as good as the first day.

Here's a link to the original recipe: Apple Cider Pudding Cake.

Enjoy!

Menu: April 1 - April 7

My good streak continues! I haven't been posting my menus every week, but I have been planning and using them. :)

Here's this week:

Thursday (Today): BBQ Chicken Pizza (from Pioneer Woman)

Friday: Chinese Haystacks (using a new recipe for the gravy that doesn't use condensed soup from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

Saturday: Creamy One Pot Pasta (from Paula :) Thanks!)

Sunday: Easter Dinner with friends! Chicken Cordon Bleu (MKC) and Cauliflower Bake (MKC) are my contributions, plus this Banana Cream dessert. :)

Monday: Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli (from a website on frugality that I've been reading: Frugal Wife=Wealthy Life)

Tuesday: Crockpot Beef Stroganoff (also FW=WL)

Wednesday: leftovers!

Also on the docket for this week: Banana Bars with Whipped Cream Cream Cheese Frosting from MKC for Paul's work get together, and Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls for Saturday morning General Conference. :)

Chicken and Dumpling Soup

This is a recipe that Brian and I tried when we were first married from the back of the bisquick box. The recipe is actually just for the dumplings and you just add them to whatever soup you want (with a chicken broth base). We love this recipe, especially during the winter (which seems to be ending here...maybe).

Ingredients:

2 cups bisquick
2/3 cup milk
chicken broth soup

Directions:
Mix bisquick and milk until combined. Drop heaping spoonfuls of dough into boiling broth, reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes uncovered and then 10 more minutes covered.

This is how I make our chicken soup base:
Bring however many cups of water to boil you are going to need (about 10). Add boulion cubes (one for each cup of water). When dissolved add chopped onions, carrots, celery and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes then add shredded chicken. At this point I add the dumpling dough.

*If you're making this for a small crowd like I usually am do half of this recipe. Half this recipe would feed about 2-3 people. And just so you know, leftovers of this aren't the best so make what you think you'll eat.

* We've found that really small dumplings don't cook as well. They don't fluff and cook through. Weird, but true.

Creamy One Pot Pasta

I made this recipe recently when my family was in town and everyone went back for seconds. So yummy, but also very basic and healthy. The sauce is very light and flavorful and mixes great with the veggies. It's also nice to have another meatless meal (since most of the meals I make have meat in them and that gets expensive at times). I got this recipe from my sister-in-law and I believe she got it from the pampered chef website or something like that.

Ingredients:
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 jar of sun dried tomatoes*
3 cans (5 and 1/4 cups) chicken broth
1 lb. uncooked pasta (I used bow tie)*
1 head broccoli (2 cups)
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
grated parmesan

Directions:
Cook garlic in 1 tbsp. oil in stockpot for a couple minutes. Add broth, cover, and bring to boil. Stir in pasta, cover and cook for 6 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile, chop broccoli and carrots and slice tomatoes. Cut cream cheese into cubes. Add veggies, cheese, salt and pepper to pot. and stir until cream cheese is melted (do not drain pasta). Reduce heat, cover and cook 4-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

* Sun dried tomatoes are pretty pricey ($6 a jar at my store)...so I substituted chopped red pepper and I loved how it turned out. I think you can use pretty much whatever veggies you feel like.
* The recipe actually calls for penne or ziti, but I used bow tie pasta because that's what my sister-in-law used the time she made it and I really liked it with that kind of pasta. So I altered the amount of time to cook the pasta (penne would take longer).
* If you like your pasta more on the firm side, I would put the veggies in a bit sooner so they have time to get tender before the pasta gets too soft.

Menu: March 20 - 25

Saturday: Pork Tenderloin w/ Cabbage & Apple Slaw

Sunday: Mom's House

Monday: Blackened Salmon w/ Broccoli & Raisins

Tuesday: Mediterranean Chickpea Patties

Wednesday: Spaghetti w/ Quick Meat Sauce

Thursday: Chicken w/ Brussel Sprouts

Finally! I think I'm starting to get things together...

Meatballs with Cream Sauce

I made this recipe a couple months ago and it was a hit! It had good flavor and was a fun change from the normal meatball recipe I use. And the sauce was flavorful and creamy, but light. I will definitely make it again. I found this recipe at my kitchen cafe. I really do like basically everything I try from this website.

Ingredients:

Meatballs:
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 T. ketchup
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
3 T. flour

Cream Sauce:
2 T. butter
3 1/2 T. flour
1/4 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
14 oz. can chicken broth (If you want your sauce thicker, cut down the chicken broth to 1 cup)
2/3 cup milk
2 T. minced fresh parsley

In a bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients except the beef and flour. Add beef and mix well. Shape into balls. Roll in flour, shaking off excess (I actually forgot to do this step and mine turned out great). Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheet and bake, uncovered, at 400 for 10 minutes. Turn meatballs, bake 8-10 minutes longer or until no longer pink. Meanwhile, for the sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, thyme, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add broth and milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, until slightly thickened. If using the full can of chicken broth, the sauce doesn’t thicken overly much, but it is delicious that way. If you want it slightly thicker, cut down the chicken broth to 1 cup. Drain meatballs on paper towels; transfer to a serving dish. Top with sauce and parsley. Serve over rice or egg noodles.

So good!