Stove top Mac and Cheese

Decided the other day to try a stove top mac and cheese recipe, something easy. This was a pretty good recipe and easy to whip up. I added some peas to make it a little "healthier."  Haha, like mac and cheese can be healthy.



Stove Top Mac-n-Cheese 

Ingredients

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
6 ounces evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

Directions

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot and melt in the butter. Toss to coat.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the pasta and add the cheese. Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.

Recipe Source: Alton Brown

Sangria

I decided I wanted to make some Sangria for Easter. I love sangria ever since I first had it while I studied abroad in Spain while in college. I looked through pinterest for different recipes and settle on a very simple one. It was quite good.



Sangria

1 bottle red wine, chilled
lemon juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar ((or less..to taste))
1/2 lemon, sliced
1/2 lime, sliced
1 small orange, sliced
1/2 cup strawberries, cut in half
10 oz. ginger ale

Directions:
Pour bottle, or three cups, of wine into large pitcher. Stir in sugar, orange juice, and a few squirts of lemon juice.

Take sliced lemon, lime, & orange and put into pitcher. Stir.

Let chill in refrigerator for several hours, or overnight.

Just before serving, add strawberries & ginger ale.

Recipe Source: Adapted from Oh Sweet Joy!

The original recipe calls for club soda but other recipes I looked at used ginger ale and I like ginger ale so I went with that instead. I also didn't have any orange juice on hand, so I used a tropical juice that I already had.

Easter 2012: Easter Egg Rice Krispie Treats

Baby Bear and I made some Rice Krispie Treats for our Easter Celebration. She really loved them.



Inspired by various pins found on Pinterest, we made them into Easter eggs shapes and added a little stick and dipped them into chocolate and gave them some sprinkles for fun.

Easter 2012: Potato Rounds

Another recipe that I found on Pinterest. Simple and a good side dish. The original recipe calls for bacon, but I totally forgot to prepare the bacon, so I went without it. It was very good and I imagine with bacon it would be really good. We will have to make it with bacon next time.



Potato Rounds

Ingredients

4 baking potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/4 cup melted butter
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Brush both side of potato slices with butter; place them on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned on both sides, turning once.

When potatoes are ready, top with cheese, and green onion; continue baking until the cheese has melted.

Recipe Source: Adapted from All Recipes (Bookmarked via Pinterest)

Easter 2012: Prime Rib and Roasted Veggies

The main course was prime rib. No special recipe since I bought the meat already marinated with seasoning from Costco. It was easy and so yummy.



Prime Rib

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Bake the roast uncovered in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, decrease the heat to 200 and continue cooking the roast uncovered for about 20-30 minutes per pound.

Remove roast from oven and allow it to rest at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before carving.

Roasted Vegetables

Preheat oven to 350. On a lightly greased baking sheet, place all vegetables on single layer. Drizzle vegetables with Italian Salad dressing (I often prepare the night before). Bake vegetables for 30 minutes until slightly al dente (or preferred softness).

Easter 2012: Deviled Eggs

We used the eggs that we colored for Easter the day before to make deviled eggs. I made them more festive by giving them little chick faces something that I had seen around Pinterest. I use olives for eyes and bits of carrots for the beak. Fun and yummy.



Ingredients

12 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with enough water that there's 1 1/2 inches of water above the eggs. Heat on high until water begins to boil, then cover, turn the heat to low, and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and leave covered for 14 minutes, then rinse under cold water continuously for 1 minute.

Crack egg shells and carefully peel under cool running water. Gently dry with paper towels. Slice the eggs in half lengthwise, removing yolks to a medium bowl, and placing the whites on a serving platter. Mash the yolks into a fine crumble using a fork. Add mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper, and mix well.

Evenly disperse yolk mixture into the egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika and serve.

Recipe Source: adapted from Food Network (bookmarked via Pinterest)

Easter 2012: Bacon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

This was a huge hit! How can you go wrong with cream cheese and bacon. I will be making this again. In fact, my father-in-law already requested that I make it for his birthday in May.



Ingredients

8 oz bacon
1/2 cup finely minced sweet onion
1 clove garlic, minced
16 oz white button mushrooms
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Using scissors or a sharp knife, cut raw bacon into small pieces. In a large saute pan, over medium heat, cook bacon until nice and crispy. While bacon is cooking, remove mushroom stems from caps and chop stems into small pieces. When bacon is done, remove from pan and set aside; reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease and pour the rest from pan. Saute onion until soft about 5 minutes, scraping up any brown bits on bottom of pan. Add chopped mushrooms stems and garlic and cook a few minutes longer. Reduce heat to low. Add cream cheese and Parmesan cheese and stir until cheeses are melted. Add reserved chopped bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper. (Mixture can be made, cooled, and stored, covered, in the fridge for up to two days.) Remove mixture from heat and stuff each mushroom cap generously with mixture. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until mushrooms are soft and filling is nice and hot.

Recipe Source: Mountain Mama Cooks (bookmarked via Pinterest)

Easter Feast 2012

We had a wonderful Easter feast with some family. It was a great opportunity to try a few new recipes that I had pinned on Pinterest.



The Menu

Appetizers
Bacon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
Deviled Eggs

Main Course
Prime Rib
Roasted Vegetables
Potato Rounds

Dessert
Cake made by Auntie Mary
Easter Egg Rice Krispie Treats

Special Drinks
Sangria