Creamy Mac and Cheese

I've made this recipe a couple times now - I LOVE recipes with a low number of ingredients. LOVE.  And here is one from Heavenly Homemakers.

It was pretty creamy, I think next time I want to add water or something to break it up a bit. But it was easy and we all liked it. And I don't have to worry about getting weird ingredients or spending a long time making a roux.  So here it is:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta
3 cups whole milk
1/2 t. sea salt
1 cup shredded cheese (I use white cheddar)

Mix pasta, milk and salt in a large sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat STIRRING ALMOST CONSTANTLY until the pasta is tender (10-15 minutes). Remove from heat. Add cheese and stir until melted. Serve immediately.

Apple Strudel Muffins

Delicious! I found these on Allrecipes.com and they were wonderful. I made a double batch - mini muffins for work ("they're like vitamins!") and big muffins for home.  Awesome.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped apples
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
2.In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3.In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.
4.In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.
5.Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

I Want...

A Keurig.  Anyone want to oblige me?

(Photo: amazon)

Easy Cinnamon Butter Buns

Inspired by Baked Bree, I pulled these together the other weekend. And the husband demanded a repeat the next day, so I guess they're good!

Here's what you need:
1 can Pillsbury Simply Buttermilk Biscuits
1/4 c butter, melted
cinnamon
brown sugar
powdered sugar
splash of milk

Roll the biscuits out a bit with your rolling pin.  Spread with butter, top with cinnamon and sugar.  Roll the biscuit, and then slice into thirds. Put in cupcake pans, edge up. 

Bake as directed. 

Let cool a bit, then mix powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle icing over biscuits. Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday - 8-15-11

Welcome back. To me, that is. I've been MIA for a while on Menu Plan Monday. We are trying to meet some grocery budget goals, and while that lends itself well to menu planning, it's not very exciting food.

But I am hoping to change that in the next few weeks. We'll up the budget a bit to allow for some experimentation. And we'll try some new foods in the meantime.

Speaking of being MIA, I've been posting about my husband's weight loss journey. He is down 84 pounds as of Monday.  Which is just incredible to me.

Here we go!

Monday - Grilled chicken breast, parmesan orzo, steam veggie packet
Tuesday - Taco salads w/beef
Wednesday - Pesto chicken florentine, crusty bread
Thursday - Pork sandwhiches, side salads
Friday - Fresh cherry and goat cheese crostini, caprese salad, wine

Also to try: Double cheese and bacon egg biscuits


For more menu plan ideas, visit http://www.orgjunkie.com/!

Microwave Popcorn

Delicious. And cheap.

All it takes is a brown paper lunch bag, popcorn, and whatever you want to put on it. A much better value than those microwavable bags! 

Here's the link:  http://www.squawkfox.com/2010/07/27/popcorn-recipe-gourmet-popcorn/

And here's what I did:

Take a brown paper lunchbag (on hand). Add 1/2 cup of popcorn ($2 for a big bag).  Drizzle with olive oil. Throw some kosher salt in there too.  Fold the top of the bag over twice and throw it in the microwave for 3 minutes, or until done.

Enjoy!!

EDIT: Cheap until your 2 year old son drops the ENTIRE BAG OF POPCORN KERNELS on the kitchen floor. Eh, actually it's still cheap. :-)

Freezer Cooking

No photos today, but I wanted to share my accomplishments!

I did a bunch of freezer cooking yesterday!  Here are the recipes I (sort of) followed:

Cheesy Stuffed Baked Ziti
Pepperoni Pizza Pasta
Original Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cooked rice (for rice bowls and Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole)

I feel so productive.  And now the next time I am running late, I can have the husband throw something in the oven on my way home. Although we'll still have to figure out a protein and veggie (no-carb) option for him...