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Food, Savory

Crockpot Mac N Cheese

CrockpotMacAndCheese

There is something inadvertently sexy about a crockpot made meal. Perhaps it’s the slow cooking, maybe it’s how it just makes meats fall apart with the poke of a fork, or even maybe… it’s how easy it makes life. Like this recipe, which I made this recipe for the company Christmas party. It was such a big hit that there weren’t any seconds for anyone. And it took little to no effort. Don’t tell them that, they might make me cook all the time.

Next time I better make double the amount, though. I put it down on the table, turned around, and it was almost gone. Crazy delicious, but I think I also want to experiment with some various other ingredients, like bacon, veggies, or even different cheeses. Let’s get crazy!

Crockpot Mac N Cheese

Gather:
2 cups of cooked shell pasta
4 tablespoons of butter
2 1/2 cups of grated Pepper Jack cheese
3 eggs
1 cup of sour cream
1 can of condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

In a medium sauce pan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until melted.

In the slow cooker (a.k.a. crockpot), mix the cheese mixture, eggs, soup, sour cream, salt, milk, pepper, and garlic powder. Add the pasta and stir again.

Cook on low for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

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January 14, 2013 by
Food, Savory

Chipless Cookies

When it comes to food, I’m not always on the same page as everyone else. Take the basic chocolate chip cookie. I am the person who looks through the pile of cookies and tries to find the one with the least amount of chocolate. Yes, you can gasp at my sinful decision each time I reach for a sweet goodie. But I have to tell you that the best part of the cookie, for me anyway, is the carbs in those glorious treats. So why not make them without all the messy chocolate chips and save those morsels for something else, right?

So while I was relaxing the other night I thought I’d try it out. This is what I came up with…

Chipless Cookies

Gather:
1/2 cup shortening (Yes, I’m thinking I have an aversion to butter. Sorry Paula.)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a bowl, blend together the two sugars and shortening. Then add the eggs and continue to mix for one minute or until combined.

Gradually add in flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir until all combined.

With a spoon, scoop out one inch balls of dough, place onto baking sheet and press lightly down on each dough ball. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on a cooling rack and enjoy. Let me know what you guys think!

 

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January 10, 2013 by
Food, Savory

Winter Cookies

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Pretty Italian Cookies

Not sure if you’ve figured it out yet, but I’m Italian. So anise cookies are kind of this thing my family likes to make. I’m not a fan of licorice, so the cookies aren’t my first go-to cookie. However, I have no problem making them, especially since I get to decorate them.

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Gather the goods, just no need for the remote

 

You will need:
2 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoon butter
2 tablespoons anise oil

Icing:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 teaspoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and anise oil and continue mixing until combined. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder. Add dry mixture to wet in small batches until combined.

With a spoon, drop small one inch cookies onto baking sheet. Bake for about 12-15 minutes. Let cool on cooling rack.

While those are cooling, mix the icing ingredients until smooth. I added some red to make the icing colorful, then dipped them into the icing and put back onto the rack. Decorate with sprinkles or whatever you’d like. Enjoy!

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January 8, 2013 by
Food, Savory

Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone! Anyone else have a mass amount of leftovers? We figured we had to do something with the leftovers and turkey pot pie just seemed like the way to go.

The other night we decided it would be much better to make something good and hearty with the leftovers instead of just smothering turkey in mayo and putting it on a slice of bread. Genius struck… well, kinda. One of my friends pitched the idea of making turkey pot pie. I almost died – with excitement – right there with the idea of making my first pot pie. So we gathered all the leftover veggies and turkey and got to work.

Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

Gather Up:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 celery stalks
1 small onion, diced
1 cup of mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup frozen peas
4 tablespoons of flour
3 cups of shredded, already cooked turkey
2 1/2 cups of chicken broth
spices (ground pepper, salt, cayenne, garlic powder)

Preheat the oven to 350. In a skillet, heat up the butter and oil. Add the celery, onion, and mushrooms. Saute until onions and celery are soft.

Then add the flour to the pan make the roux. You’ll want to stir and cook that for about four minutes, until the mix is dried out. Slowly add and stir in the chicken stock. (At this point, it’s going to look pretty brown, so it may not be totally pretty. Dump in your spices. Add to your liking.)

Then you can throw in the turkey and frozen peas, and just think, you’re almost done. Just missing one thing… the pie crust. I used my pie crust recipe, cut it in half, and rolled out the final dough for the top. Don’t forget to poke a hole or two in the top, I almost did.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Before you put it in the oven, you might want to put the pan on a cookie sheet in the event of spillover. When the timer dings, pull out and let it cool for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

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November 26, 2012 by