home made mac and cheese

I loathe Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. The ingredient list scares me and I dont even think it tastes very good. But apparently the American Public disagrees with me because according to a company spokesperson, "Kraft now sells more than one million boxes of the dinners every day"! Really? A million boxes A DAY? And how dare they call it dinner.

My little kids dont even recognize the famous blue box. We have eaten a few boxes of Annies Organic Mac and cheese in our time, but not enough for my kids to be huge fans. We only eat it about 2 times a year.

I am really trying to stick to a tight grocery budget this month, so I am forced to get inventive. Looking thru the cupboards, I realized I had some stuff that I could use to whip up some mac and cheese. It was really easy and pretty fast. Most importantly, it tasted like food.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces macaroni, cooked and drained (we used whole wheat shells)
  
• 2 cups fresh grated sharp Cheddar cheese (not the preshred stuff)
  
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (not the powdered stuff!)
  
• 3 cups milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I used wheat flour)
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 pinch paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Directions

1. In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to make a roux. Add milk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses, and cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is a little thick.
   
2. Combine sauce and macaroni. Sprinkle with paprika, salt and pepper.
   

I was just googling around for a picture and found this recipe:
http://www.evilshenanigans.com/2009/03/stove-top-macaroni-and-cheese/
I am going to try it next.

Homemade chips

I am not a huge fan of fried food, but we do eat it a few times a year.

Whenever I make (or buy) tortillas, there seems to always be some left over that we dont use up. If there are extras, I like to fry them up and make some chips with them. They taste a million and one times better than any store bought chips. Just cut up your corn or flour tortillas like a pie, and drop them in hot oil. Leave them for a few minutes til they get hard and start turning a little brown. VIOLA!!! You cant beat the taste. They are delicious! (and yes, I know not very healthy. But in my opinion homemade is always best!)

Sweet Pork Burritos

All this is off Sisters Cafe.

These burritos are the best ever! But they are super time intensive, so its nice to get a crowd in on the dinner. Give everyone an assignment and then eat pot luck style. These are great for a crowd because they are so versatile.

You can add whatever you want to your burrito. Just be sure and have all the fixings on hand: giant tortillas, salsa, tomatoes, avacado, sour cream, cheese, etc.

Shredded Sweet Pork

3 lb pork roast

1 c brown sugar

1 c Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp powdered ginger

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

2 Tb dried minced onions

Cook all ingredients in a crock pot on low all day (abt 8 hours). One hour before serving, remove roast and shred it. Dump out all cooking juices and place shredded pork back into crockpot and add...

1 c brown sugar

1 c red enchilada sauce

Cilantro Lime Rice

3 cups chicken stock

3 c white rice

4 tsp garlic, minced

1 Tb canola oil

2 Tb fresh lime juice

1/2 bunch of cilantro

1/2 onion

1 can green chilies

Blend cilantro, onion, and chilies in food processor. Add all ingredients to rice cooker and cook per directions. (you can use minute rice too, but I have never bought or used it so I dont know how to change it up)

Garlic Black Beans

1 can black beans (I use cooked beans from my food storage)

1/3 c tomato juice

2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp)

1 tsp cumin

2 Tb canola oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tb chopped cilantro

Heat oil then add cumin and garlic until garlic begins to pop. Add rest of ingredients and serve warm.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

3 tomatillos, peeled and quartered

juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 c buttermilk

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/2 c sour cream

1 pkg dry buttermilk ranch dressing

1 c fresh chopped cilantro

6 green onions with ends, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp)

3 tsp sugar

1 jalapeno, sliced thin - add to taste

Place all ingredients in food processor or blender and mix well. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Bodacious Brown Bread

I am a sucker for homemade bread. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Give me a side of chocolate chip cookies and I would be in heaven!!

Of course, I have to limit my consumption of either of those foods. But hands down, they are my favorites.

This is an easy, quick and hearty bread. I like it because it is substantial enough to eat with soup or on its own. Most breads that I make to go along with dinner take HOURS. With all the rising, kneading, rising again, then baking....not this one.

And I like it because I have had a sourdough start for years. I mostly use it for pancakes and pizza dough. Now I have something else to use it in.
this is my picture of the bread:

And here is the bread pictured by a professional and posted on line. It is much better than mine, but theirs doesnt have a cute little boy in the background.

Heres the recipe. Since its fall, everyone should bust this out next time they make soup.

For the bread:

1. 2 cups (480 ml.) buttermilk
2. 2 large eggs
3. 1½-2 cups (360-480 ml.) dark molasses (Teri is partial to Grandma’s®)
4. ¾ cup (180 ml.) sourdough starter (see recipe below)
5. 1 cup (240 ml.) all-purpose flour
6. 6 cups (1.44 lt.) whole-wheat flour
7. 1 scant tablespoon (<15 ml.) baking soda (use your judgment; Teri says the full amount leaves a baking soda taste.)

* Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
* Mix together the buttermilk, milk, eggs, molasses and sourdough starter in a large mixing bowl.
* Sift together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours and the baking soda.
* Add the dry ingredients gradually to the wet and completely mix together between each addition.
* Pour the batter into 2 lightly buttered 9×5-inch (22.8×12.7-cm.) loaf pans.
* Let stand for 20 minutes.
* Bake for 50-55 minutes or until bread is firm when tested with a toothpick and comes out clean.

The original post and recipe can be found here
http://www.thetasteoforegon.com/2010/04/12/the-otis-cafe-and-bodacious-brown-bread/

Biscuits and Gravy

First off let me say: if you have ever made Bisquick biscuits, these are a million and one times better than those. Do yourself a favor, skip using the yellow box and try these biscuits. They are crispy on the outside and soft and light inside.

Biscuits and gravy is my favorite breakfast meal. And my kids like to help make it, so its win - win.
Our boys helped me set the table for dinner (we eat breakfast for dinner quite often). When I realized I had a plate with Lightning McQueen on it at my place, I opted to just take a picture of the food while it was still on the stove. I am not sure a CARS plate lends itself to a good picture.
(biscuits and gravy with scrambled eggs)
Drop Biscuits

2 cups flour (You could use any combination of wheat and white. I use all wheat and they are still fluffy. If they turn out a little dense, they get smothered with gravy anyway, so it doesnt really matter.)
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
3 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup shortening ( I use Spectrum, its non hydrogenated)

Preheat oven 425. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add shortening and use fork or pastry cutter to combine until it looks like coarse meal. Add milk, stirring until blended. Scoop dough out by spoonful and drop on cooking pan. Bake 12 minutes

Gravy

Brown a little sausage and set aside. In the same cooking pan combine 1 1/3 cups magic mix and about 2 cups water or milk. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Add the sausage back in and serve over hot biscuits.

Big Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe comes from my good friend Allyson. These cookies are hearty and thick so scoop em up big, cuz they are suppose to be substantial.

Cookies are another good way to disguise wheat. Everyone loves cookies, dont they? They are still filled with other stuff that is not necessarily good for you, but they are cookies. Supposed to be a treat. In my opinion, treats are supposed to be good.

A friend brought me some cookies a while back. They were sweetened with honey, the eggs had been replaced with flax and water, and she had omitted the raisins called for in the recipe. The cookies were edible and fit in the category of a healthy food, but they were not very good. If I am going to make a treat and have it in our house, I think it should taste just like its intended to, a treat.

And on the occasion we do have treats, they are homemade. No funky ingredients or additives.

Ally Bs Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 1/3 cups flour ( I use 2 cups wheat and 1 1/3 all purpose)
3/4 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks of butter, melted and cooled
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs and 2 egg yolks
1 Tbs. vanilla
choc chips

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions. Preheat to 325. Whisk flour, salt, and soda and set aside. Beat butter and sugar on medium speed 1 - 2 minutes. Beat in yolks and eggs and vanilla until just combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and mix in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

scoop out cookies on pans and place 2 in the oven at a time. Bake for 8-9 minutes then switch pans and cook for an additional 8-9 minutes.

Let cool on pan a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Incorporating wheat in dinner rolls

People ask me all the time "What do I do? I want my family to eat wheat. Where do I start?" Then they give me a long list of reasons their families wont eat wheat bread. The bread is hard, its too dense, its dry, it doesnt taste good, the loaves are too big so the bread cant be used for sandwiches because it doesnt fit in zip lock bags, it takes too long to make.....there are lots of reasons.

I think learning how to incorporate wheat is a process. Its important to start off small. Try putting a cup of whole wheat flour in a batch of cookies, or substitute a cup or two when making rolls. The trick to good whole wheat products is a good recipe and learning the recipes technique. Sometimes, you might have to try a recipe a few times before it works out. But the most important thing is not to give up. Keep gathering recipes and keep trying. If you are at a pot luck and the homemade rolls are delicious, ask for the recipe. Ask whoever baked them to give you some tips if you need. Somewhere in your baking things will work out. One day you will know just what the dough should look like or just how glossy your rolls should be and that will be the determining factor when adding ingredients. You will realize your dough "looks right" when you add 3 cups of flour instead of the 5 that the recipe calls for.

When I use whole wheat in recipes it is fresh ground. I dont know how that compares to whole wheat flour you can purchase at the store but I imagine they would be interchangeable. (Although, fresh ground grains are always superior in nutrition to the pre ground stuff you buy at the store. But if you dont have a grinder, or dont know someone who does, the store bought stuff will work)

Tonight I made a few dozen of these:

I used 2 cups of fresh ground white wheat and about 3 1/2 cups of regular ole white flour. They were light and fluffy and very flavorful. I dont think anyone would have guessed there was a little bit of actual nutrition in them.

So if you are just starting out with grains and want to incorporate some in a recipe, this is an easy starter. Follow the recipe using 2 cups wheat flour and the remaining 3 or 4 cups will be all purpose flour. Hope you get rave reviews!

recipe here

Crockpot Lasagna

We have a recipe club in our ward, and this month we focused on crock pot recipes. I made this lasagna for the first time and it was pretty yummy.

Ingredients:
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1tsp. italian seasoning
1 jar (28 oz.) Spaghetti sauce (or you could make you own)
1/4 Cup water
1 carton (16 oz) cottage cheese
2 Cups mozzarella cheese, grated

break noodles in half. Place half of the noodles in the bottom of a greased slow cooker. Stir italian seasoning into meat and spread half over the noodles already in the slow cooker. Then layer half of the sauce, water and cottage cheese, and half of the mozzarella cheese over the beef. Repeat layers. Cover and cook on low heat for 4-5 hours. Do not cook more than 5 hours. makes 6-8 servings.

Chicken Enchiladas

This was the first thing I made with magic mix. When I made up my own cream of chicken soup, I wondered about its taste. I stuck my finger in the pan and when I licked it clean I was surprised. I could have sat at the table and eaten just the soup. It was flavorful and had a great consistency.

I have posted an enchilada recipe before. And it even had homemade cream of chicken base. This one surpasses it in flavor and texture.

Chicken Enchiladas

You can adjust the portions to what you like, enchiladas are forgiving.

2 cups homemade cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 or 2 cups chicken (adjust to your liking or use how ever much comes out of your can)
1 can green chilis
1 cup cooked brown rice (just use this if you have left overs, omit if its not on hand)
1 cup white beans
grated cheese
12 corn tortillas

mix first 6 ingredients plus a handful of shredded cheese in a bowl. Smear the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan with a little bit of the mixture. A thin layer, just enough to keep the tortillas from getting hard or sticking to the pan. Spread 6 tortillas in the bottom of the pan. Spread half the filling over them. Repeat. 6more tortillas, the rest of the chicken mixture and then top with cheese.

Cover and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. serves 6 -8.

Home made cream of chicken soup

please read here before continuing on with this post.

There are a few things that I absolutely will not buy at the store. On that list is the whole line of condensed creamed soups. I looked at the label on a can of Cream of Chicken Soup about 5 years ago. Then I took the can to the computer and googled the ingredients. After reading about all the stuff in those cans, I vowed to never have them in my house.

This takes just a little more effort than opening a can but it is worth it. Flavor, nutrition, texture...its all so good!

The magic mix I posted about earlier is very versatile. It can be used as a base for white sauce, creamed soups, even fudgsicles!

I busted out some cream of chicken soup with it a few days ago. Easy peasy. And delicious!

Last year, I canned a bunch of chicken so when ever I open a jar and strain off the water, I save it and put it in the freezer. It is perfect for adding to this recipe. You can also use chicken stock. If you purchase chicken stock, READ THE LABEL. We are going for nutrition here, so be sure to buy stock without additives, preservatives, flavor enhancers, sugar, or anything that shouldnt be in stock/broth.

Cream of Chicken Soup



1 cup magic mix
3/4 cup chicken stock/broth
1 t dried parsley (I didnt use any parsley)
1 t minced onion (optional)
1 t minced garlic (optional)
salt
pepper

Combine magic mix and chicken broth/stock. Stir constantly over medium high heat until mixture thickens. Add spices and continue whisking until all combined. Use this as a substitute for canned soup.

MAGIC MIX

I was so happy when I found this base for cream soups. 3 ingredients, simple and easy. No fillers, enhancers, additives, or preservatives.

I have tried to replicate creamed soups a number of times. Some times it works, some times it doesnt.

I found a basic white sauce recipe in a book I borrowed from a friend.


It is easy, economical and nice to have on hand. Not to mention, it is a zillion times better for your health than anything Campell's can provide.

Magic Mix

2 1/3 cups powdered milk (use that food storage!!)
1 cup all purpose flour or 1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp.

Combine dry milk, flour or cornstarch, and butter in a large bowl. Mix with an electric mixer until it looks like cornmeal. Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. Keeps up to 8 months.