cheeseburger macaroni and blonde brownies

OH MY GOSH THIS IS GOOD (dinner and dessert!).  I could not eat fast enough as I was so excited to post about this!  Thanks to Laura over at Heavenly Homemakers, I was able to make this scrumptious dinner (with some modifications).  See original recipe here.  I'm not sure if I have not seen this way to make homemade macaroni and cheese before or if I just forgot, but either way I'm never turning back to my old method!!!  If you are a vegetarian, make this macaroni and cheese and omit the ground beef.  Still so creamy and magnificent.

Here's what I used:

1 quart (4 cups) 2% milk
3 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta
1 lb. hamburger
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
2 garlic cloves
1/4 onion, finely diced
salt and pepper
1-2 cups white cheddar cheese

First, add the ground beef, onions, and garlic to a pan and brown over medium heat.  (I did not have onion and garlic powder so this is one of the modifications I made to this recipe).  Add some salt and pepper and the cumin and chili powder.  Remove pan from heat and drain off any excess oil.

Next, make the macaroni and cheese.  Add the milk, a dash (1/4 tsp.) salt, and pasta to a large pan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat (stirring constantly), then reduce to medium heat and stir constantly for ~8min. or until pasta is done to your liking.  If you forget to stir, the milk may burn and then you will ruin your pot of gold!!! Do not do that!   Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese.

Try a few bites of this before adding the ground beef.  mmmm  This is the best macaroni and cheese.  You are basically making ice cream but adding pasta instead of straight sugar.  The starch from the pasta and milk thicken to make a wonderful cream sauce.  I cannot believe I never thought about doing this!!!  Then, add the cooked beef.

Try a few bites of this before plating.  mmmm   Serve with a veggie, such as sugar snap peas.  I boiled these in salted water for a few minutes, strained, and added some butter.

This meal takes 20 minutes or less and it's so good you will never go back to hamburger helper.  Preservatives?  Excess sodium?  Artificial colorings?  Not here.  Too challenging?  Nope!   You will love this recipe!!!


And now...without any further ado....I would like to share the best brownie recipe ever....blonde brownies!!!  I do not believe I've shared this recipe yet on my blog, which is surprising!  These are so yummy they will not last long in your home and they are always the first to go at parties.  And they are SUPER EASY to make!!!  You can mix with just a fork; no need to dirty a mixer.

2/3 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
chocolate chips and walnuts

Mix together the butter, eggs, and vanilla. Then, mix in the brown sugar. Then, add dry ingredients (mixed in separate bowl already) and stir until blended.  This batter should be a little more liquidy than cookie dough.  I usually use white flour with this recipe, but I have tried it with half whole wheat and half white and they turned out fine.  You might want to add a little less (~1/8 cup less) flour if doing that. Spread batter in a greased, floured 8"x11" pan. (works fine without flouring the pan) Sprinkle chocolate chips (and walnuts if desired) over top.  I usually use about 1/2 cup chocolate chips, but you can use as many or as little as you like.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick or knife comes out clean when you stick it in the brownies.  Also, you want them to be golden brown.  Place on a drying rack until they cool down.  Cut into small squares.  Enjoy with a cold glass of milk!

THESE ARE SERIOUSLY BEYOND GOOD.  TRY THEM!

finally, some posts!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile...life has been busy!  Here are 3 new posts for you!  I hope to post more consistently starting next week!  Enjoy!  Leave comments!  Thanks!  Like the exclamation points?!!  oh yeah!!

chicken thighs, broccoli, sweet potato

This was a simple dinner, but I redid this broccoli recipe with walnuts and it was delicious!  For the chicken thighs (always a great idea!), just pop them in a glass pan (after sitting out for 30min. or so to come to room temperature), salt and pepper, and bake at 350 until no longer pink, about 30 minutes.

enjoy!

veggie & dumpling stew - you do NOT want to miss this!!!!

OMG this was AMAZING!!!!  Who knew veggies tasted so good???!!!!  You absolutely have to try this recipe.  Takes ~40minutes to make and you can probably substitute or add different veggies to your liking.
1 tbsp. butter
3 carrots, peeled
2 medium zucchini, sliced
1 russet potato, cut into chunks
1 sweet potato, peeled, cut into chunks
1 bell pepper, cubed (I used an orange one)
1/4 onion, chopped
handful fresh parsley chopped
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2 small can tomato paste
1 can white kidney beans (or any kind of beans you like)

dumplings:
1 1/2 cups flour (I used 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white)
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
3 tbsp. butter

First, let's start the stew.  In a large pan (I did not use a big enough one) melt 2tbsp. butter and add the carrots, zucchini, potatoes, onion, and bell pepper and cook for ~10min.

Add salt and pepper while cooking and stir every couple of minutes.  Then, cover with vegetable broth (I got Trader Joe's organic vegetable broth..do not use low sodium kind!) and add the parsley, bay leaf, beans, and tomato paste.  Stir to incorporate tomato paste.  Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for ~10 minutes. 

During that time, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt and chop in the butter.  Work with your fingers until the mixture is coarse.  Then, stir in the milk and parsley.  Using 2 spoons, scoop balls onto the top of the stew. 

Let simmer for 10 minutes uncovered.

Then, carefully put a lid on the pot (mine overflowed so I had to remove some of the liquid temporarily) and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Then, uncover and voila you have a delicious, healthy meal!!!  So GOOD!

Spoon some stew into a bowl and top with a couple of the dumplings.

steamy photo

Mmmm...bet your jealous of our lunch for tomorrow..haha.  Let me know if you try this and if you love it as much as we do!

meatball, potato, carrot stew

This was delicious! 

1/2 to 1lb. ground beef
handful chopped parsley
1 egg
1 slice bread soaked in 1tbsp. milk
salt and pepper
beef broth
tomato paste
3-5 carrots, peeled and cubed
2 russet potatoes
1/2 onion, chopped, cubed
2 garlic cloves, minced


First, mix together the meat, parsley, egg, bread (squeeze out the milk before adding), and salt and pepper and form into meatballs and refrigerate for 30min.



Brown in a pan with some olive oil.  Turn to brown all sides.  I did not let mine chill long enough so they fell apart!  So, I chopped it all up instead of trying to make my meatballs work.  oh well!

Next, remove the meat and add the onions and garlic and cook for a minute or two.  Then, add in the potatoes and carrots chopped into uniform pieces.  Pour over beef broth (enough to cover everything, probably ~3 cups...this broth will get soaked up!) and add 1/2 of a small can of tomato paste.  Stir to incorporate the tomato paste, cover, and simmer on low for ~30min. or until veggies are tender.  Stir occassionaly during cooking.

before:

after:

Top with some parsley if desired.  Yum!  Eat alone or with some bread or cornbread.

cod, red bell pepper, zucchini, tomato stew

This stew was DELICIOUS.  One of the best recipes I've tried in a long time.  Unfortunately, I did not get a picture:(  But, when I cook this again I will post the recipe along with some pictures.  This will be a must-try recipe on my blog!

squash, brussel sprout, mushroom pasta and gratituesday

Here's another one of my pasta creations.  These ingredients gave an incredible flavor combination!  yum 

Add as much or as little of these ingredients as you want, but here's what I used.

1 roasted squash
1/4 onion
1/2 pint mushrooms
~15 brussel sprouts, quartered
2 cloves garlic, sliced in half (to be removed later...or you could mince the garlic)
pasta - enough for ~4 servings

Add some olive oil (~1tbsp.) to a pan over medium heat.  Let heat up for a couple of minutes.  (Note:  olive oil gives you the best health benefits when consumed unheated...room temperature.  however, occasionally I do cook with it)  Add the onions and garlic and stir for ~1 min. 

Add in the brussel sprouts and mushrooms and cook for ~4 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste during cooking process.


not cooked yet

 Then, add in chunks of your roasted squash.  You could boil the squash or microwave it to cook it faster.  Or, you could quarter it before cooking and then sautee it until tender.  I chose to roast it because that's easy to me.  To do this, cut the squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and stuff, salt and pepper, place in a pan with ~1/2" water and roast at 375 for 45min. to 1 hour or until tender.

Toss in some cooked pasta and ~2tbsp butter.

Top with some parmesan cheese (not shown) and you have a great. healthy meal!

more please!

I imagine this pasta would be great with some cream.  To do this, I would add ~1cup at the mushroom/brussel sprouts step and then omit the butter at the end.

And for Gratituesday, I'm grateful for awesome coworkers, especially my officemate!  She is a sweetheart and a wonderful woman!  I hope to be in similar shoes to hers some day.  Having fun and nice people to work with sure makes the work day better and enjoyable!

homemade poptarts and cupcakes

These treats may not be super healthy nor are they meals, but at least they are free of preservatives or artificial colors.  These poptarts make great snacks or a great addition to eggs for breakfast and the cupcakes make a delicious dessert.  I try and stick to one treat a day or less (and definitely no soda).

Ever buy greek yogurt and not like it?  Use it up in this recipe!  I added 1-2tsp. sugar to the dough to help get rid of some of the tartness of the yogurt.  I filled these with Trader Joe's organic rasberry jam with 50% less sugar.  All natural and less sugary...pefect!

before:

after:

And, follow the dark chocolate cake recipe on the back of dark chocolate cocoa powder container for some delicious cupcakes!  Instead of pouring the batter into cake pans, pour it into paper lined cupcake pans and bake at 375 for ~15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Top with an easy frosting as below.

2 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/8tsp. cream of tartar

Add sugar, water, and baking powder to small pan and bring to boil over medium heat.  Stir constantly until sugar dissolves.  Add this mixture slowly to the egg whites and beat on medium speed until stiff peaks form, ~5-7 minutes.  The boiling sugar syrup will cook the egg whites.  Top on cooled cupcakes.  This frosting keeps its shape surprisingly well!  You can top with sprinkles or dark chocolate pieces.  yumm

added some mini chocolate cupcakes without frosting to the platter:)

"to die for" toast

Some of the best toast you will ever have.  If these pictures do not convince you to try the whole wheat pretzel recipe I have been posting about, then I don't know what will!  You can freeze some of the pretzels and pull them out one at a time whenever you want!  So convenient and makes for delicious snacks or meals.

Slice a pretzel in half, toast, and spread some butter on top. 

Serve with some eggs for a wonderful breakfast.  Or eat as is or add some jam.  These are so good toasted!

Also, the whole wheat cinnamon raisin swirl bread makes divine toast.

Boy do I love bread, especially bread that I made:)  Hope you can experience the amazingness of homemade bread!  Try it!  Let me know how it goes!

meatballs!

Easy and delicious.  The carrots and potato made these very tender and tasty!

1 large russet potato
2 large carrots
1/4 onion
salt and pepper to taste
1tsp. italian seasoning (or a mix of basil, parsley, thyme, and oregano)
1/8 cup ketchup (eye-ball it)
1 egg
~1/2 to 1lb. ground beef

Grate potato, carrots, and onion (or just throw them in a food processor) and add to large bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients (I had ~1/2 lb. ground beef on hand, but this recipe would probably be fine with up to 1lb. beef) and mash together until ingredients evenly distributed.  Roll into balls. 

Bake covered with foil at 350 degrees for 45min. to 1 hr.  Then, remove foil and place under broiler (500 degrees) for a couple of minutes to brown.  Watch carefully so they don't burn! 

For a side dish, I sauteed 1/4 onion and 3 medium zucchinis in a bit of olive oil, cut into thin strips, for ~10 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve them together and you have a healthy, easy dinner!

Sorry this picture isn't the best, but it was delicious!  And hard to take the time for a picture as it all smelled so good:)



Also made these meatballs w/ 1lb. meat and without the carrots and baked at 375 degrees uncovered for 1 hour and they turned out great! 

chicken n' veggie curry dish

This was super easy, light, and delicious.

3-4 chicken breasts
2 russet potatoes
1 onion
4 carrots
5 small tomatoes, remove stem
2 zucchini
1 can garbanzo beans, washed and strained (chickpeas)
2tbsp. curry powder
2 tsp. ground ginger
pinch of cinnamon
1/2 tsp. chili powder
salt and pepper to taste (lots of pepper, not so much salt because it's in the chicken broth)

Cut the chicken, potatoes, carrots, and zucchini into 1" chunks (roughly).  Cut the onions into thin strips.  Add the chicken, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and onion to a pot.  Add the seasonings and pepper (really however much you like of each).  Cover with chicken broth (full sodium kind), ~2.5 to 3 cups.  (I used 4 cups and it was too thin).  Bring to a boil and then turn down to low to simmer for ~40min or until potatoes become somewhat soft.  Toss in the zucchini and chickpeas and simmer another 20 minutes.  Serve in a bowl with some rice or couscous.  Or, serve cornbread on the side.  Yummy, healthy dinner!

simple pasta with zucchini, asparagus, tomato, and pine nuts

This recipe is similar to one in a previous post, but prepared a little differently.  Both were yummy.

2 medium zucchini
10 asparagus stems
1 medium tomato
1/4 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1/8 cup pine nuts
fresh basil
salt, pepper
parmesan cheese

First, sautee the zucchini chopped into small slices and the asparagus chopped into 1" long pieces over medium heat in 1tsp. olive oil until tender and browned.  Add a little salt and pepper while cooking.

Place asparagus and zucchini into a separate bowl.  Next, brown the pine nuts in the same pan for 1-2 minutes.  Then add the chopped tomato, onion, and garlic and cook over medium heat ~5 minutes or until tomato and onion are tender.

Add the tomato mixture to the green veggies and cover bowl with foil to keep warm. 

Mix in some whole wheat spaghetti (enough for 3-4) and top with some chopped basil and parmesan cheese!

Serve with a hard boiled egg for some protein.  To make the perfect boiled egg, place eggs in a pot with a lid and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and immediately turn off heat.  Let sit in hot water for 10 minutes.  Remove eggs using slotted spoon and place in a bowl of ice water.  Let them sit for 5 minutes.  Crack them and the skin/shell should come right off!