Tasty Tuesday: Mac N Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

1 lb. box short, tubular-shaped pasta, such as elbows, penne, rigatoni orcavatappi
1 T. salt, to season the pasta cooking water
1/4 cup (4 T.) unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 tsp. dry mustard
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 pound cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a large baking dish and set aside.

Bring the pasta water to a rolling boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the pasta.  Cook the for about half the recommended cooking time listed on the box.  You want the pasta to be underdone since it will finish cooking in the oven.  Drain and set aside.

In a large pot, melt the butter and add in the flour.  Cook for about 5 minutes over medium-low heat, whisking constantly.  Adjust the heat to make sure the butter/flour mixture does not burn.  Pour in the milk, and add in the dry mustard and whisk constantly until the mixture is smooth and has thickened, about 5 minutes.  Reduce the heat to low.

Add 1/4 cup of the bechamel sauce to the beaten egg and whisk constantly until well incorporated and smooth.  Pour the egg mixture into the pot of bechamel sauce and whisk until well incorporated.  Add in all but 1/2 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese and stir until it melts into the sauce.  Season the sauce with the salt and pepper and taste to adjust the seasoning if necessary.  Remove the sauce from the heat.

Pour the drained, cooked pasta into the warm cheese sauce and stir well to combine.  Pour the pasta mixture into the buttered baking dish and top with the reserved 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese.  Bake for 20-15 minutes, or until bubbling and golden on top.

Tasty Tuesday: Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix * a frugal gift too*

Ingredients

• 21.8 oz container chocolate beverage mix (I use Nesquik)
• 16 oz powdered non-dairy coffee creamer
• 25.6 oz instant nonfat dry milk
• 16 oz (1 lb) powdered sugar

Instructions

1. In a very large bowl, combine ingredients well. Divide into individual sealable, food-safe containers.
2. To serve, combine 1/2 cup mix with 1 cup boiling water. Stir well.

Tasty Tuesday: Easy Parmesan Chicken

I wish I could take credit for this one, but

this is one of my Hubby's dishes he loves to make...

So easy and yummy, steam some veggies,

add a pasta and WALA! Dinner is served!

Easy Parmesan Chicken 

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/4 c parmesan cheese, shredded (not grated)

4 tsp bread crumbs, italian seasoned

Directions

1. Mix mayo and parmesan cheese.

2. Lay chicken on backing sheet. Spread with mayo mixture. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

3. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes.

Tasty Tuesday: Mexican Chicken

MEXICAN CHICKEN 

1 pound boneless chicken breasts 

1 teaspoon Seasoning for Tacos 

Salt, to taste 

1/2 cup enchilada sauce 

4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded 

3 green onions, chopped

Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with taco seasoning; grill or sauté. Cut the chicken into cubes and place in a greased 8x8" baking dish; season with salt to taste. Add the enchilada sauce and toss to coat the chicken. Sprinkle the cheese over the chicken and bake at 350º for 10-20 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Scatter the green onions over the top.

Makes 4 servings 

Tasty Tuesday: Spicy Sausage Pasta

Spicy Sausage Pasta

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb smoked sausage
1.5 cups diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, Mild
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz penne pasta
1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, each
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions

1. Add olive oil to an oven-safe skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and onions and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Add broth, tomatoes, cream, pasta, salt and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil, cover skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.

3. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with scallions. Broil until cheese is melted, spotty brown, and bubbly.

Makes 4 servings. 

Fix it & Forget it Friday: Lemon Garlic Chicken

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken

Author: Melissa @ No. 2 Pencil

Recipe type: Dinner

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  4 hours

Total time:  4 hours 10 mins

Serves: 4

 

An easy slow cooker recipe for Lemon Garlic Chicken.

Ingredients

• 4 lemons
• 2-3 heads of garlic
• 1 whole chicken 4 to 5 pounds
• Fresh rosemary, or any fresh herbs
• All-purpose steak seasoning or salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Cut garlic heads and lemons in half and lay in bottom of slow cooker.
2. Cut the bottoms off the lemons so they lay flat.
3. Add a sprig of rosemary, or any herbs.
4. Remove insides from chicken, rinse chicken and pat dry.
5. Season chicken well, inside and out, with all-purpose steak seasoning or salt and pepper.
6. Lay chicken on top of garlic and lemon slices and stuff the chicken with a garlic head cut in half, and a lemon cut in quarters.
7. Cover top of chicken with additional lemon slices and rosemary.
8. Turn slow cooker to high, and cook for about 4 hours, or until chicken reaches 165 degrees.
9. Slow cooker cooking times vary.
10. Important: Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness.
11. When chicken has reached 165, turn off slow cooker and let chicken rest for about 15 minutes.
12. Remove from slow cooker, carve and serve.
13. Liquid from slow cooker can be strained and served over chicken.

Tasty Tuesday: Crock Pot Candy

Crockpot Candy

Ingredients

• 2 pound white almond bark
• 4 ounces German chocolate bar
• 12 ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips
• 24 ounces dry roasted peanuts

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to slow cooker. Let cook on low for 1 hour without messing with it. After an hour, stir to combine everything. Allow to cook for another hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
2. Drop spoonfuls of the candy onto wax paper and allow to cool completely.

Tasty Tuesday: Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken

Let me know what you 

think of this one :)

Ingredients

4-5	frozen chicken breasts
2	small yellow squash
1	medium zucchini
1	medium purple onion
3	bell peppers
2	tbsp Worcestershire sauce
¼	cup Balsamic vinegar

Place frozen chicken breasts in the bottom of a medium/large crock pot

Slice all of your veggies – squash, zucchini, onion, and bell pepper – and throw into the crock pot over your chicken

Add Worcestershire sauce and Balsamic vinegar.

til ready to serve. - you can shred or leave your chicken whole Keep heated on Warm until ready to serve.

Cook on High for 4 hours. Keep heated on Warm.

Tasty Tuesday: Oven Fried Catfish Nuggets

Tasty Tuesday!!! YUMMY!!!
I have had catfish nuggets in my freezer for 
forever. I wanted to find a healthier version to make them :)





Oven Fried catfish Nuggets:

Serves 2

1/2 pound catfish

1 Tbsp cornmeal

1 Tbsp seasoned bread crumbs

1 Tbsp I can't believe it's not butter light!

1. Preheat your oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with a nonstick cooking spray.

2. Wash and dry fish and cut into 1 inch chunks.

3.  Melt the butter and mix together the breadcrumbs and corn meal.

4. Dip the  chunks into the butter and then dredge through the breadcrumb mixture,

5. Place the chunks on the baking sheet and cook  for 15 minutes, turning halfway.

Tasty Tuesday: Back to School lunch Ideas

Here are some Frugal Tips for packing your own lunch:

• Make your own lunchables: Buy a reusable container. Fill it with your own selections such as cut up cheese, bologna, ham or turkey, and crackers. Add a cookie if you want.
• Make your own pudding, jello and repackage in reusable containers.
• Buy large containers of yogurts and repackage in reusable containers.
• Make your own Uncrustables or you can make a week's worth of PB&J 

• Make  your own trail mix. I do this for my Grace because she is allergic to nuts... we  use sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chocolate chips, pretzel balls.
• Invest in a thermos. You can put hot dogs in hot water in the thermos, and they can have hot dogs, along with leftovers from dinner ( chili, soups)
• Don't buy the prepackaged snacks, repackage larger bags into small ziplock bags.
• Free First Day of School Lunch Printable here: free-back-to-school-printables
• Muffins are cheap and great way to add fruit or veggies to lunch.. You can also make things meatloaf in muffin pans for an easy lunch.

Here are some other cute frugal back to school ideas:

Back To School Countdown

Sew your own -zippered-pencil-school-supplies-case

Reusable Snack Pouch

Tasty Tuesday: Lemon Blueberry Cake

I found the original version of this here Berry Cobbler . I decided to make some changes and use what I had in my house. So I had fresh blueberries, reg. sprite, and lemon cake. I LOVE lemon and blueberry anything together.. so I decided to give a good ol' try. Aidan rates this as 4 star's, and Grace said 2 stars. She's not a big berry dessert person. I loved it..

Ingredients:

Enough fresh blueberries to cover your cake pan/baking dish ( these were picked last night LOL)

2 boxes Lemon Cake Mix

1 can of sprite, or sierra mist

You can do the regular dump method which is:

Place blueberries in a 9x13 baking dish. Add dry cake mix over the top. Pour soda slowly over cake mix. DO NOT stir the cake mix and the pop - this will give you a 'crust'. ( if you want more of a bar type look, use 1 box of cake mix)

Or you can mix the cake and sprite in a bowl and spoon it over the berries.

Bake 350 for 45-50 min. ( 30 - 40 for one box)

Tasty Tuesday: Lazy Cake Cookies

Lazy Cake Cookies 

Ingredients: 

1 box of yellow or white cake mix

 2 eggs beaten

 1 stick melted butter

 2C chocolate chips 

Mix together and bake in 9X13 pan on 350 for 20 min. 

Spray with Pan with Pam before adding mixture. 

When cooled, cut into squares

Tasty Tuesday: Back to School Treat

Well for us, it's that time of year again.. My next few Tasty Tuesday's 

will be cute Back to School ideas!!  Here is a cute idea..

Apple Rice Krispy Treats

You'll need...

marshmallows

rice krispies

red food coloring

tootsie rolls

fruit roll ups

gummy worms

I make my rice krispie treats different than everyone else- I add more butter and less cereal. So, just tweak the recipe on the bag of marshmallows. When the butter and marshmallows are melted, throw a few drops of red food coloring to it. When it's all stirred, start shaping into fist-size balls. Poke a hole in the middle with your finger, then place an umwrapped tootsie roll into it. For the leaf- I used a leaf shape pie crust cutter and cut a leaf out of the greenest fruit roll up I could find. Then, I stuck a gummy worm into the treat.

So easy, right? 

Tasty Tuesday: 2 Ingredient Cake

This comes from Spend with Pennies

Ingredients

• 1 can of crushed pineapple with juice (20 oz)
• 1 box of angel food cake
• Optional: Whipped topping
Follow Spend With Pennies on Pinterest for more great recipes!

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine crushed pineapple including the juice and angel food cake. Pour into an ungreased 9x13 pan.
3. Bake 30-35 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched, do not over bake.
4. Top with whipped topping if desired.

Tasty Tuesday: Shrimp Po Boys

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb	medium shrimp, shelled, deveined with tails removed
3/4 c	fine corn meal
3/4 c	flour
1 Tbsp	cajun seasoning
1 tsp	salt
2	eggs beaten
	peanut oil, for frying
1/2	lettuce head
3	tomatoes sliced about 1/4 inch thick
4	french bread sandwich rolls
1/4 c	mustard, preferably creole mustard
1 1/4 c	mayonnaise
1 tsp	dill pickle juice or vingar
1 tsp	hot sauce
1	large garlic clove, minced and smashed
1 Tbsp	sweet paprika
1 tsp	cajun seasoning

Directions

1

 if your going to make your own remoulade, mix mustard mayo,pickle juice,hot sauce,garlic,paprika and cajun seasoning all together in a bowel and set aside while cooking, it will be better with time.

2

 pour enough peanut oil in a large frying pan to come up about a 1/4 inch, and set pan over medium high heat until a small amount of flour sizzles immediately when you drop some in.

3

 mix the corn meal,flour,cajun seasoning and salt in a large bowel. working with a few at a time dredge the shrimp in the eggs then in the cornmeal-flour mixture. shake off any excess and fry until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes total. set fried shrimp on paper towels to drain.

4

 to assemble sandwich, slice the bread rolls almost all the way through and smear the remoulade on both top and bottom. lay down a layer of shredded lettuce on the bottom of the bread, then arrange the shrimp ontop. lay 3-4 slices of tomato on the shrimp and press the top of the bread down on the bottom, compressing the sandwich a little. serve right away with hot sause and maybe a beer.