Macaroni & Cheese

Once again, I'm working on updating my foodie blog :).

I love cheese.  Like really love it.  Ergo, almost any kind of macaroni and cheese is on my "favorite foods" list.  Not the healthiest of choices.  But what can I say?  I like the good, but not-so-good-for-you stuff.

This is my mom's recipe.  Not that she made it up.  Just that this is the recipe she has made since I can remember.  Sometimes she substitutes the cheese for whatever cheese she happens to have in the fridge.  That's never as wonderful.  So here is the original recipe.  Because it's just too good not to share :).

Macaroni & Cheese

1 1/2 cups macaroni
3 cups shredded cheese (mixture of Monterey Jack, mild Cheddar, and Parmesan -- light on the Parmesan)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 onion, chopped (or 2 tablespoons freeze-dried or dehydrated onion)
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup milk

Boil macaroni according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.

In a saucepan, make white sauce by melting butter over medium heat and adding onion and garlic.  Cook until onion is clear.  Add flour, whisking while adding (it will still be lumpy due to garlic and onion).  Stir until combined.  Add milk and combine.  Bring to a boil.  Boil 1 minute, then mix in cheese almost all of the cheese (reserve about 1/4 cup for sprinkling later) until melted.

Pour cooled/drained macaroni into cheese sauce and mix well.  Pour into greased 2-quart casserole dish and bake covered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Remove from oven, sprinkle with reserved cheese and bake uncovered another 5 to 10 minutes.

Artichoke Mushroom Lasagna

I found this recipe several years ago in a Taste of Home magazine.  I tore it out, knowing it was Monday Meals worthy and that it was right up my alley.  This past week, since the weather cooled off, I fired up my oven and made it for Monday Meals! 

We liked it.  A lot.  Even though my husband says it's "fake" lasagna, since it's not a red sauce.  Whatever.  Red sauce is over-rated.  :).  So if you like mushrooms, cheese, and artichokes, this is totally for you.  If you're weird and don't like any of those things...  Steer clear :).

1 pound sliced baby portobello mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cans (14 ounce each) water-packed artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and chopped
1 cup white wine (I would have used chicken broth, but I omitted because I pre-cooked my lasagna noodles -- see below)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Sauce:
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups 2% milk
2 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup white wine (I subbed chicken broth)

Assembly:
9 no-cook lasagna noodles (I used regular and pre-cooked them)
4 cups mozzarella cheese, divided

Saute mushrooms in butter until tender.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.  Add the artichokes, wine (broth), salt and pepper; cook over medium heat until liquid is evaporated.

For the sauce, in a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add milk.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened.  Stir in Parmesan cheese and wine (broth).

Spread 1 cup sauce into a greased 13x9-inch baking dish.  Layer with three noodles, 1 2/3 cups sauce, 1 cup mozzarella and 1 1/3 cups artichoke mixture.  Repeat layers twice.  Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.  Bake, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.  Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.

Recipe from Taste of Home April/May 2011.

Tomato Biscuit & Cheese

As I mentioned here, I got this recipe from my mother-in-law.  It is a great way to enjoy fresh garden tomatoes when the tomato harvest is on!  And ours definitely is!!!  In fact, last night's dinner featured tomatoes and zucchini from our garden.  I made these plus the zucchini garden cakes.  It was delicious! 

This recipe is relatively simple -- and it's one of those I like to call "accordion" recipes.  You can make more or less depending on how many people you are feeding.  There is something about the blend of flavors that really makes this a refreshing and delicious meal, in my opinion.  I'd never had it before I tried it last summer when all our tomatoes were ripening.  But now that our tomatoes are ripening again, I made sure to put it on our list (particularly since the temperatures have been in the 70s the last several days -- you know my rule about heating up the house with the oven in summer!).  So I'm hoping the temperatures drop while we still have fresh tomatoes.  Because I want to make this again :).  (Especially since my sweetie came home from work last night and gobbled up 6 of them ;) -- leaving none for leftovers!  I can't say I blame him, though...  He works 10 hours and doesn't eat lunch.  Poor guy.)

You could probably enjoy this as a side dish as well, but we usually use it as a main dish -- meatless style!  I always use cottage cheese, which has a decent amount of protein, so I feel like we get what we need.

I made the biscuits from scratch, though you can use English Muffins or other pre-prepared biscuits.  The biscuit recipe I used can be found here on my THRIVEing Nilla blog, since I used THRIVE butter powder to make the biscuits.

And here is the recipe for Tomato Biscuit & Cheese:


8 English Muffins or biscuits or home-made recipe of biscuits already baked
8 slices of tomato (thickness of your choice, but probably not super-thick as you want them to get hot and cooked somewhat in the cooking stage)
salt, pepper, oregano, and basil to taste
1/2 cup cottage cheese (or sour cream or plain yogurt -- I always use cottage cheese)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 to 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Place biscuits (or English Muffins) on a baking sheet.  Place a slice of tomato on each biscuit.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, oregano, and basil.

Mix cottage cheese and mayonnaise.  Distribute evenly over tomato slices.  Sprinkle all with cheese.  (If you push the biscuits together, you can keep the cheese sprinkling more contained :)).

Bake at 450 degrees until the tomato is hot and cheese is melted (I did about 5 to 7 minutes).  *You can also microwave these individually until the tomato is hot and cheese is melted.

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

(I need to get new bowls -- so my food "pops" more...)

I'm telling ya... I have a serious Pinterest addiction...  And mostly in the food area. 

Every pay period, when I make my menu list for the following two weeks, I generally like to choose a recipe or two from my "to try" pins...  I'm supposed to be working my way through a binder of collected print recipes too...  But that binder got put out of sight...  And now it's mostly out of mind.

So this was a recipe I found a while back and decided to try, since I had a large majority of the ingredients :) (that's always a good reason!).  I happen to love spinach artichoke dip, so I thought this might be a fun and delicious recipe to try. In fact, this recipe appealed to my tastes so much (visually and taste-ily) that I actually pinned it twice.  This is a Pioneer Woman recipe.  I've seen her stuff a lot, so I'm assuming she may just be a house-hold name ;).

I followed the recipe, with the exception of the crushed red pepper flakes.  I try not to give my munchkin too much heat in her young age.  I did still include the cayenne, though.  I halved the recipe, so here is what I did:

3 Tablespoons Butter
2 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
1 bags Baby Spinach
1 cans Artichoke Hearts, Drained And Halved
1 1/2 Tablespoons Flour
1 1/2 cups Whole Milk
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Salt And Pepper, to taste
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated
1/2 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth (less Or More)
1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni, Cooked Until Al Dente
1/4 cup Seasoned Panko Breadcrumbs
Crushed Red Pepper, To Taste (optional -- I opted out)

Melt 1 tablespoons butter in a large pot or skillet. Add garlic and throw in the spinach. Stir it around until it's wilted, about 1 minute. Remove spinach from heat and set aside.

Add 1 tablespoons butter to the same pot and raise the heat to high. Throw in the halved artichokes and stir it around until they get a little color, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the artichokes from the pot and set them aside.
Reduce the heat to low. Add 1 tablespoons butter to the pot. When melted, sprinkle in flour and whisk until it's combined. Pour in milk and whisk to combine. Let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until starting to thicken. Add Parmesan, Monterey Jack, salt and pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir to melt, and if it's overly thick, splash in chicken broth.

Add artichokes and pasta, tossing gently to combine. Gently fold in spinach, then pour the pasta into a serving bowl. Sprinkle the top with crushed red pepper flakes and plenty of Panko breadcrumbs for crunch.
Serve immediately!

Personal Notes:  I used unseasoned Panko, because that's what I had.  I also didn't feel the need to use chicken broth, so I didn't.  I am now realizing I wilted my spinach down too much and probably didn't cook my artichokes long enough...  Her finished product looks way better than mine.

Verdict:  It was good.  Not as stellar as I'd hoped, but still good.  The munchkin loved it -- except the artichokes.  I think some bacon could actually really add some extra depth to this dish (not that I usually have any bacon to include).  I might make it again one day, but it wasn't so awesome that I'd consider it a favorite.  Also, with the ingredients being what they are, it's not exactly the most budget-friendly meal, even though it's meatless.