Tried and True Macaroni and Cheese

I'm not going to start this post commenting on how macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food - I'm sure you already know that. The sad fact is Kraft has all but ruined such a wonderful dish with their day-glow orange powder stuff!! I actually know kids that prefer that stuff to the original. Well, not my kids - thank heavens!! This is my T&T macaroni and cheese recipe. I love it to death - I can even mix it all up in the baking dish!! My photo doesn't do the dish justice. We like ours a little "brown" on top with sliced American cheese, but the original recipe calls for a breadcrumb topping. I'm sure that would be good too, but with kids around, you can't go wrong with American cheese!! I have no idea where I got the recipe, so I'm unable to give the original creator their dues. Whoever you are, I am eternally grateful!!

I think this photo says it all:

This is my son Chris giving me the "thumbs up" for my macaroni and cheese and Pioneer Woman's Chicken Strips. That was one good meal!!

Tried and True Macaroni and Cheese

8 oz. dry elbow macaroni

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

12 oz cottage cheese

8 oz sour cream

1/4 c. Parmasean cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Additional sliced American cheese, buttered bread crumbs, or shredded cheese (your preference)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil macaroni for about 8 minutes or al dente. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Add cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream and Parmesan cheese to the baking dish. Drain macaroni, but do not rinse. Add to baking dish. Mix all ingredients, add salt and pepper to taste. Spread out even in baking dish. Top with sliced American Cheese, or buttered bread crumbs, or additional shredded cheese (your preference). Bake about 30 minutes, or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Finally, I'm finishing this post up with a non-food photo. I just thought it was so neat last night to watch this deer walk through the wooded area behind our home. I was so lucky to have my camera and be able to get this photo. There's a creek right by the deer that she was walking to. I hope you enjoy!!

Turkey Reuben Sandwich - Sort of...

I'd love to say this is a photo of MY Turkey Reuben Sandwich, but it's not. Let's start with a couple of facts. First, I love reuben sandwiches. One of my first posts was about making corned beef and a corned beef reuben. A second fact, which you may not think is relavent, but it is, is that all my friends are drama queens. Honest, if the least little thing happens - clogged drain, dead car battery, etc., they're on the phone to me screaming and carrying on. I'm the oldest of the bunch, and sometimes I think I've been through that crisis and it's no big deal. Sometimes I think having three boys makes you a tougher chick. I don't know. So, last night I'm making up a batch of these wonderful Turkey Reubens and just about ready to get out the camera, when the phone rings. Let's just say the rest is history. The cavemen of my family scooped up the reubens - even mine! - and ran off to eat. My friend had another life crisis that wasn't, and the photo was never taken. (Insert heavy sigh). So for me, no photo and no Turkey Reuben. But all was not lost - I made a batch of Heath Bar Oatmeal Toffee Cookies. And this photo IS mine!!

They may not look like much - the first time I made them I thought I did something wrong - but they are a delicious cookie!! If you like Heath Bars or Skor Bars, these are the cookies for you!! An added bonus - they have oatmeal in them, so in my book that makes them an excellent breakfast cookie too! :)

Oatmeal Toffee Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 eggs

2 cups packed light brown sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups quick cooking oats

1 1/3 (8-oz pkg) Heath Bits 'O Brickle Toffee Bits

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; beat until blended. Stir in oats and toffee bits with a spoon.

Drop by rounded teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove to wire rack. Cool completely (yea, right!). Makes about 4 dozen cookies

My Girl Paula's Baked Spaghetti

I admit it, I goofed! I didn't look at My Girl Paula's blog and see that we weren't suppose to make this for two more weeks!! Yikes! Last week was a blur and when I got to my menu/grocery list I just "assumed" this was the next recipe. Don't ask me why - no logical answer!! Anyway, I was going to hold off on posting it until the "correct" week, but I realized there are a couple of twists in this recipe that might deserve a "heads up" before making.

First, don't be like me and not read/comprehend the recipe. I go to make this at 5:00 pm last night, after fighting rush hour traffic and a screaming three-year-old coming home from the dentist (another stressor all to itself!!). So I'm feeling rushed and a little "snippy" (ya all know what I mean?), and I grab the ingredients and start reading. YIKES! It takes the sauce a full hour to simmer, then another 20 minutes after you add the browned ground beef, then 30 minutes to bake. Based on all this, I'm guessing my family won't be eating until 7:30 pm!! The cavemen will revolt! My husband, who was home early (figures, right?), said it would be fine to "order pizza". NO! (yep, I'm shouting now!!), I won't be defeated!! So I begin........

This is actually a very simple recipe. I really didn't know what to expect. I was thinking something like a lasagna, only with angel hair pasta. No, not really. More like "Cincinnati Style Chilli" - if you've ever had that. The sauce is really more chilli than "lasagna sauce". Got all that?

Now, here's a pet peeve I've got with a lot of recipes. If a recipe calles for canned, diced tomatoes, then it's a MUST they tell me whether or not to drain. I mean, don't make me assume anything. I can't tell you the recipes I've bombed because that was so obvious to the author. No offense, Paula, just my own ignorance. Luckily, this recipe is also on Paula's site - and based on the comments, I'm not the only one confused. While this recipe gets 5 stars, some said too watery, while others thought it was fine. After speed reading through the comments (I'm on a time crunch here!!), I decided not to drain the tomatoes, and I only added 1/4 cup water (not one cup). Just thought I'd let you all know that. You also add 2 bay leaves to the sauce. The recipe never tells you to remove them - but I think it's a good idea to remove them just before you add the hamburger (after the first hour). It's too hard to find them after you add the hamburger. Finally, I think you might want to add just a little more cheese - make sure you cover the entire top of the casserole or you will get some "crunchy" pasta! No one seemed to mind, though!

So, how'd we like it.........A big 5 stars with the cavemen going back for seconds and thirds (and I think one got a 4th!!). Really, it's rare that I make a 9 x 13 casserole and the whole thing is eaten up (with one son running his fingers around the pan!).

I served it with some homemade artisian bread and a tossed salad. I will make this again (and again, and again) for sure. But I do think I'll make the sauce up early so the dinner prep time is kept shorter.

No, that's not really my salad - but that's about how I felt by the time I got dinner on the table!! So don't stress yourself out, read the recipe, and give yourself plenty of time - just a tip from me!! :)

A Father's Day Dinner fit for the Fathers!!

I know, it's not Father's Day yet, but we celebrated today, along with my Father-in-law's birthday, because our two oldest children will be at camp on Father's Day. I think my husband considers that to be enough of a gift!! So this morning I got up early and finished the preparations for the big feast. I boxed everything up and off we went!

We grilled London Broil at my In-laws home. I have to admit I didn't know what London Broil was until just last week. While checking out a new "favorite" blog, How to Cook Like Your Grandmother, I got a whole tutorial. Here in Columbus, Ohio we have a grocery store chain called Giant Eagle that gives weekly buy-on-get-one-free specials. I suspect they aren't that great of a deal, since when I leave the store I've way overspent, but they were running a special on top round for London Broil. I decided we'd give it a whirl, and I'm so glad we did. While our London Broil was not quite as juicy as Drew's on How to Cook Like Your Grandmother, I think it was up there as "excellent". We are in the process of switching out our grill and getting a charcoal grill (which we had when we were poor!!), and I think the charcoal flavor and cooking would have made this an absolute "10". Check out Drew's site and his tutorial for fixing London Broil - you won't be disappointed!!

So, to go along with our London Broil, I fixed Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes. Not only were these delicious, but the colors were beautiful!! I found the recipe on Recipezaar.com (I love, love, love this site!!), and only modified it slightly by adding a tablespoon of Penzey's Spices Epazote. If you have a Penzey's Spices store in your area and you've never gone - you need to go soon!! No, I'm not a family member, but I swear by their spices!! You can get a small jar of a spice and try it for next to nothing!! Honestly, the grocery store spices are way overpriced and not nearly as good. If you don't have a Penzey's in your area, then you can order online. But finish reading my blog first!! :) Ok, back to the beans. These were a hit and everyone loved them. The colors were beautiful, too (bright green, red, brown of the bacon - major yum!!). The only thing is, these beans are ONLY for special occasions because you saute them in BACON GREASE! Yep, you read that right. These guys will kill you if you eat them regularly - really!! So maybe I'll make them again at Christmas after everyone submits a doctor's cholesterol screening!!

Finally, I added in Aunt Gert's Macaroni Salad from RealMomKitchen (from Paula Deen). We had this over Memorial Day weekend and it was wonderful. I wish I had a photo of the entire meal on a plate, but we were too busy eating!! All I can say is that the flavors were wonderful. My husband wanted everyone to tell them which part of the meal was their favorite - but we all said the whole thing combined was what was so good.

So now comes the moment of truth. My Father-in-law asked for cherry pie for his birthday. I tried to make a cherry pie back in the 1980's, but it was a total failure (like the filling never set and ran all over the plate). I never tried again. Too much stress. Makes me nervous. Also, my Father-in-law said he couldn't get a good cherry pie when he went out to eat, and wanted a GOOD cherry pie. Yep, not just ANY cherry pie - it had to be GOOD. Yikes!! My nerves were shot!!

After some "googling" (we use to call that "research") I discovered a "good" cherry pie was tart, and usually made with Michigan cherries. I placed an order and got my cherries in a couple of days. A little more "googling", and actually reading the back of the cherry can (same exact recipe) I discovered the best cherry pie recipe. Now this is a "sour" cherry pie - not a "sweet" cherry pie. I didn't know there was a difference, but after I tried this pie, I sure know now. It's great, but it pulls a pucker!! I want to try this again around July 4th with a combination of sour and sweet cherries, just to see how that tastes.

So, this was a really good birthday/Father's Day for the guys (and the gals!) - hope you all had a great weekend too!!

BLT Pizza and a new twist on the brown paper lunch bag

Last night was pizza night, and as tradition would have it, we made one pepperoni pizza and one specialty pizza. I LOVE a good BLT pizza. If you've never had one, you are doing yourself a disservice. You need to get right out there and make one of these up tonight - the are delicious! I found the original recipe on AllRecipes.com, but mine's a little modified.

BLT Pizza

Slightly changed from the original on AllRecipes.com

6 slices thick cut bacon, chopped up (not diced)

1 recipe for your favorite pizza dough

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 Roma tomatos, chopped

2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce *

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon mayonnaise (or to taste)

1 teaspoon Penzy's 4/S seasoned salt (or Lawry's or salt and pepper to taste)

*My grocery sells shredded iceberg in a bag, which is convienent. It is finely shredded, so I reduced my mayonnaise to this amount. If your lettuce is not finely shredded, I would suggest 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, or according to the directions for your pizza dough (we preheat our oven to 450 degrees, and we have a pizza stone).

Place bacon in a heavy skillet over medicum-high heat, and fry until browned, but not crisp. Drain on paper .

Stretch out pizza dough onto your pan. Brush the dough with olive oil. Spread the shredded mozzarella over the crust and arrange about 3/4 the chopped tomato over the cheese. Sprinkle chopped fried bacon over the pizza.

Bake pizza for 10 - 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the crust is golden and cheese is melted in the center. While the pizza is in the oven, toss the shredded lettuce with mayonnaise, and add seasoned salt (or salt and pepper). Top the finished pizza with the dressed lettuce and remaining 1/4 chopped tomatos and serve immediately.

Now today I've been working on preparing our meal for my Father-in laws birthday/Father's Day tomorrow. I'm marinating the London Broil, making Aunt Gert's macaroni salad (Thanks Laura at RealMomKitchen!!), and next I'll be rolling out my pie dough to start my cherry pie and custard pie (I'm tired just just typing all that!!). But in by spare time (LOL!!), I whipped up this cute twist to the traditional "brown bag" luch sack. I made one for my son this spring, and now the kids at his school are saving their Capri drink bags so I can make them one. This takes 14 drink bags, and really isn't hard to make (if you have some basic sewing skills). I wish some of my stitches were neater, but sewing a juice bag is a little different than sewing fabric!! ;) If you want the full tutorial, then click here. Hope you like it!!

Menu for the Week of 6/6/09

Well, I sat down early this morning and made up my menu for the week beginning 6/6/09. I begin my "menu week" on Saturdays and end with a Friday night pizza. I hope to post my recipes and photos when the following day for you all to enjoy! Saturday 6/6/09 Grilled hamburgers and waffle fries Sunday 6/7/09 (FIL's birthday and Father's Day) London Broil Green Beans Aunt Gert's Macaroni Salad Homemade Cherry Pie and Custard Pie Monday 6/8/09 My Girl Paula's Baked Spaghetti Salad Artisian Bread in 5 minutes a Day Tuesday 6/9/09 Grilled Turkey Ruebens and chips Wednesday 6/10/09 Pioneer Woman's Chicken Strips Homemade macaroni and cheese Thursday 6/11/09 Grilled Bratwurst, pasta salad, chips Friday 6/12/09 Homemade pepperoni pizza Homemade BBQ chicken pizza

My Girl Paula Apple Crisp

Well, things are really busy around here. It's the end of the school year, and with it comes all kinds of activities. One of my sons has a Scholastic Bookfair going on at his school, and I've been "asked" to help. I honestly don't know how to say "no" to those things, but I've got to figure it out!!

I'm a little late on this post, but I got the apple crisp made from My Girl Paula. I followed the instructions from Mommy's Kitchen and made it in a cast iron skillet. It took about 80 minutes to get good and bubbly, and the oatmeal topping to set, but Oh My Gosh - it was good!! Everyone loved it. I made mine with five Granny Smith apples. The apples with the lemon were tart, and the topping was sweet and crunchy - but not burned or dried out. Very, very good. I think we all had seconds.

I noticed the recipe for Paula's apple crisp on the Food Network site is a little different than the one in her book. On Food Network it's a recipe for a campfire, and the proportions are a little different. The one in the book says to make it in an 8 x 8 pan, and I just can't figure out how you'd get all the filling and topping into such a small pan. I used a 10 inch cast iron skillet and it was full. If anyone reads this and wants the recipe, leave a comment and I'll get it to you. Since I haven't seen this recipe posted yet from Paula Deen, I'm going to hold off.

My garden is growing - even with all the rain and cool temperatures we've had around here lately. I've got to get out there today and start digging around. I'm excited to get some green beans, beets and carrots that I planted from seed. I'm going to plant some lettuce in a new, clean cat litter box and place it in some dappled sun to see how it does. From what I've read I should be able to get it to grow over the summer. My herbs and container flowers are doing great too - the flowers are really blooming. I've got three strawberry planters and I'm getting some red strawberries on them. I doubt if I'll get enough for my own strawberry shortcake, but maybe a few for our cereal!

This weekend is my father-in-laws birthday/father's day party. We're celebrating them all together since my older sons will be at camp over Father's Day. I'm preparing to make a cherry pie for him tomorrow. He said he can't seem to get a good cherry pie when he goes out to eat. I did a little research, and discovered you need to use a tart cherry. I ordered some from King Orchard in Michigan, and they just came yesterday. I'm excited to make it - and to make a lattice top!! I'll post when I get it made.