"I'm not going to the store" Macaroni and Cheese

My brother-in-law John just moved into a new apartment, and this past Sunday he invited his parents, Joe and I over for dinner. John was making oven fried chicken (which was super delicious, by the way) and I offered to bring a side dish. I decided macaroni and cheese would be a perfect compliment to the chicken, but I did not know what John planned to make until Sunday afternoon so the mac and cheese was a last minute decision. I was NOT in the mood to run to the store so I decided I would make do with what I had in the house. I searched around for a good recipe that would use the ingredients I had and finally chose this one from Erika at Bean's Bistro. I made a few changes to accommodate my ingredients and it turned out very well. Next time I will add some more spices (I was out of dry mustard, which might have added more flavor) to give it a little kick, but all in all it was creamy and delicious! Below is the recipe as I made it.

Macaroni and Cheese

1 box elbow macaroni
1/2 stick butter
2 tbsp. flour
1 cup skim milk
3/4 cup half and half
salt & pepper to taste
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz asiago cheese, shredded
breadcrumbs, enough to coat top

Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Cook macaroni according to package and drain. Pour into a large casserole dish and set aside.
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour, adding slowly until mixture is smooth and a little thick.
Slowly whisk in the milk and half and half, bringing to a gentle boil, thickening the sauce until smooth and creamy,
Stir in the salt and pepper to your tastes.
Stir in the cheeses until melted.
Pour the cheese sauce over the cooked macaroni in the casserole pan. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on the top.
Bake in oven until hot and bubbly, about 20 minutes.

I Want Kandy

If you live on the East Coast, chances are you've had a Kandy Kake. Kandy Kakes are a creation of Tastykake, which is located in Philadelphia, PA. I know that Tastykake products are not available in stores throughout the US, because it is not uncommon for family friends living in other parts of the country to ask us to ship them some Tastykake products so they can get their fix. If you haven't had the pleasure of enjoying Tastykake, you're missing out! Their treats are delicious! Both Joe and I have always been partial to Kandy Kakes, however. A Kandy Kake is essentially a little yellow cake topped with peanut butter and covered in chocolate. How can you go wrong with that?

So I was excited to attend a recipe exchange at my friend Karen's house last year and receive a recipe for homemade Kandy Kakes from Karen herself. Joe tried them and fell in love, so I decided to make a batch for him to bring to his fantasy baseball draft today. I made them yesterday, and Joe proceeded to eat four of them after dinner. They're good, but in my opinion there is too much cake and not enough peanut butter and chocolate! I don't own a jellyroll pan, so I used the largest cookie sheet I have that will fit in my small oven, which probably accounts for my thick layer of cake. Next time I'll divide the batter between two baking pans for thinner cake. Joe had no complaints though.

The only change to the below recipe I made was that I did not measure my peanut butter or chocolate. I just spread on enough peanut butter to make a nice coating over the cake - about 2/3 of a jar. For the chocolate, I just melted a small bag of milk chocolate chips and spread them on until I had a good coating. You can use your judgement (and preferences) for these steps! As I said, next time I'm using more peanut butter and chocolate!

"Kandy Kakes"

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking powder

2 c. flour

2 tsp. butter

1 cup hot milk

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

2 (8 oz) Hershey bars

Beat eggs. Add sugar, vanilla, baking powder and flour. Melt butter in hot milk and add to batter. Pour mixture into greased jellyroll pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Spread at once with peanut butter. Refrigerate until peanut butter is hard. Melt Hershey bars and spread on top. Refrigerate until chocolate is hardened. Bring to room temperature before slicing into bars.

Chicken Piccata

It seems only fitting to me that I got this Giada recipe off of Lauren's blog. I associate chicken piccata with her, since it was one of the dishes we made the first time we attended Super Suppers together and the first time Joe and I had chicken piccata. As Joe and I were eating our Super Supper chicken piccata, he commented on how much he liked it and I assured him it was easy to recreate and I would make it for him soon. Well, I guess soon is a relative term, since that conversation took place a year ago! So when I saw this recipe on Lauren's blog I figured it was finally time to make the dish. I only wish I'd made it sooner! This chicken is delicious and no trouble at all to whip up. I'm pretty sure I won't be waiting a year to make this again.

I served this with some whole wheat spaghetti tossed with olive oil, garlic, Parmesan and Italian seasonings and roasted broccoli. I've come to the conclusion recently that all vegetables taste better roasted! I just sprayed the broccoli with some cooking spray, sprinkled on salt, pepper and garlic powder and roasted in the oven for about 20 minutes at 375. Delicious!

Chicken Piccata

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved crosswise
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
all-purpose flour, for dredging
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons EVOO
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (approx 2 lemons)
1/4 cup drained capers, rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I omitted)

Season the chicken with the salt/pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour to coat lightly.

In a large saute pan, melt 2 tbsp of the butter with the 2 tbsp of oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until brown, about 3 minutes per side (I did mine a bit longer because, as per usual, I forgot to pound it!). Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a plate.

Add the broth, lemon juice, and capers to the same pan and bring to a boil, scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan.

Return the chicken and simmer until cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a platter, and whisk the 2 remaining tbsp's of butter into the sauce. (I didn't add this butter, I didn't think it needed it!) Pour the sauce over the chicken, garnish with parsley, and serve.

Albino biscuits

Otherwise known as cream biscuits. But mine came out so pale that Joe and I renamed them. I saw this recipe on Ashley's blog and they looked too simple not to try. And they were definitely easy to make. The only change I made was to use 1 cup of heavy cream and 1/2 cup half and half. I think I may have under-baked them a tad, but overall they were very good! Nice and creamy - Joe really enjoyed them. I'll be making these again, just baking them a little longer to try to give them a healthy glow!

Cream Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk dry ingredients together in medium bowl. Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon until the dough forms, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather into a ball. Knead the dough briefly until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Pat the dough into a 3/4-inch thick circle. Cut the biscuits into rounds using a 2 or 2-1/2″ biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits on the parchment-lined baking sheet. The baking sheet can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 2 hours. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Yields: 1 dozen 2″ biscuits

I Love Carbs

And I have a t-shirt to prove it. My bright orange shirt proclaims "I heart Carbs" and features a little dancing pig and cow on the front. I wear it to the gym and it always makes someone laugh. But I truly, truly love carbs. I have also become obsessed with making bread ever since I had success with yeast. This past Sunday my friend Karen was coming for dinner and I planned to make a simple baked ziti. I of course, wanted to make some fresh bread to go with it, but Karen and I were seeing a movie before dinner so there wasn't time for me to rise and bake the bread. I opted for a bread machine recipe instead, so we'd have fresh warm bread when we got in after the movie. I chose this recipe for rosemary bread from All Recipes because it had great reviews and was compared to the bread at Macaroni Grill, which is delicious. This bread, however, I thought was just okay. It had a decent flavor but it was on the dry side. I've had such success with my last two bread making attempts that this one was just okay. But, carb addict that I am, "just okay" bread is certainly better than NO bread and I still managed to eat several slices ;) I used the basic cycle on my bread machine and chose medium crust color.

Jo's Rosemary Bread

1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select white bread cycle; press Start.

Simple from the Skillet

I came across this recipe months ago in a magazine ad for Campbell's soup. For some reason it appealed to me - most likely because tacos are one of the very few Mexican dishes I will eat, so I'm always looking for variations. I pulled the recipe out tonight when I knew I needed a quick dinner since I would be late at the gym. This recipe certainly is quick - it took under 15 minutes from start to finish. And it was surprisingly tasty! Looking at it as it cooked I thought it looked like it needed something to go with it. I didn't want to wait for rice to boil, so I opted for a much classier side dish - Tostitos. Yum! Both Joe and I really enjoyed this, and I will make it again. The only change I made to the recipe was to add seasoning to the beef as I was afraid it would be too bland without it. I used several shakes each of garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes and oregano, but a few teaspoons of taco seasoning would work well too.

Beef Taco Skillet

1 lb. ground beef

taco seasoning or seasonings to taste

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Tomato Soup (Regular or 25% Less Sodium)

1/2 cup salsa

1/2 cup water

6 flour tortillas (6-inch), cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Season beef and cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet until well browned, stirring to break up the meat. Pour off any fat.
Stir in the soup, salsa, water, and tortillas. Heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. Stir. Top with the cheese.

Hooray - I'm Excellent!

A huge thank you to Robin at Made with Love for giving me the E for Excellent award! As a big fan of Robin's blog, I was thrilled to see that she enjoyed mine as well - thank you, Robin! Now in keeping with the tradition of the awards, I now get to recognize five blogs that I think are excellent!

My first pick is Amanda at Mommy and Monster. Her recipes are always simple and to the point, which I appreciate and I love that she's started to get adventurous and participate in groups like the Daring Bakers! I also enjoy the cute pictures she posts of her dog and son.

The next E goes to Melissa at Mrs. Sac's Purple Kitchen, because she cooks the kind of food I want to eat!

My third pick is for Brianna at Oishii. I find her posts about cooking in Japan to be extremely interesting, and I like that she includes her cat in the blog too ;)

Next is for Elizabeth at Ugg Smell Food. I enjoy her posts, and as someone who is called "Chicken" by her husband, I appreciate that Elizabeth calls her husband "Ugg."

My final E goes to Nikki at Pennies on a Platter. Not only do I love her blog, but she introduced me to the glory that is Hawaiian rolls and for that I will forever be grateful.