Taco inspired mac and cheese

More catching up!

One of the things i made in late spring, which i thought was very tasty, was a Mexican inspired dish. I made a home made cheese sauce with a mexican cheese blend, bleu and feta cheese crumbles, and whipping cream. and it was a very creamy, and tasty sauce. it was a big hit for the family, but not good for left overs. maybe next time i will consider making it as a casserole or removing the noodles, and making it like a party dip.

ok heres the recipe

-8oz Heavy Whipping Cream

-2 cups (eye ball it) of shredded cheese (i used a mexican four cheese blend, and added bleu/feta cheese crumbles for tang)

-8oz bag of elbow or egg noodles

-black beans

-taco seasoned beef (turkey, or just add taco seasoning to the cheese sauce and add pinto beans or another favorite alternative)

-sour cream

Brown your beef in a skillet (or turkey) and add taco seasoning according to package. (i'm not cool enough to do my own mix yet)

In a sauce pan, warm up the whipping cream on a low setting of the stove, once the cream starts to steam up (not boiling) start stirring in your cheese. You want your sauce to be thick and creamy. it will string up, so keep stirring it so it doesn't stick to the bottom.

in a pot, boil your noodles until they are almost soft but still firm. strain noodles return to pot

poor your cheese sauce over your meat and blend well, once you blend the cheese and meat add it to your noodle pan. and fold it in until your noodles and meat are even through out.

serve in a bowl with black beans and sour cream on top.

This was the first time i made a cheese sauce and it was truly delightful!

guest blogger: roo plus two

i too am becoming domesticated. i see opportunities to express my artistic desires in food while my children nap and my husband is already fed. well, i find the reason to be artistic edibly-like, because i don't necessarily have time to paint a picture on fourth of july weekend. oh yeah, happy fourth, peeps.

i threw together two dishes to bring to a bbq: blueberries atop jalapeno strawberry jam atop a whipped cream cheese smear on a wheat thin; and a

delish baby platter, bananas sliced and arranged into a star formation with Nutella and crushed graham crackers.

now, i wait until my 17 month old (today, tear) babies wake up and we can go play.

cheers!

roo plus two

(www.gratitudeandwellbeing.blogspot.com

and www.trimandchewthefat.blogspot.com)

Home made pizzas

So... last month I experimented with pizza crust.... trying to make food more interesting, even if there's some different ways to prepare the same thing-just helps change it up.

I made 2 different pizzas in the same night.

Buffalo Ranch Chicken pizza, and a BBQ pizza

both turned out interesting-but not as good as left overs

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Buffalo Ranch Chicken Pizza

1 12in batch of pizza crust (so many recipes/ready mixes find the one you like best)

1 large chicken breast-cut into fairly small pieces

ranch dressing

hand full of blue cheese crumbles

2 carrots

1 piece of celery

couple hand fulls of mozzarella (or Monterrey jack)

wing sauce (the most popular is franks-mmm)

if you have a 'magic bullet' this comes in handy while mixing ranch dressing with blue cheese crumbles-it gives you an evenly blended paste like sauce perfect for spreading on pizza crust

if not, use a mixer, or do it by hand.

-mix blue cheese and ranch evenly together, then

let chill in the fridge while your doing the next steps

-prepare your dough-cover with a cloth towel that is lightly floured so it doesn't stick

-dice your chicken into

small pieces and place into a skillet and add the franks-be generous.

cover with a lid and cook on a low medium (cooking chicken too high will make it rubbery)

-wash hands and work with dough. stretching it onto your pan. (don't forget to remove your rings too... dough can be pesky)

-spread sauce liberally but evenly

-add cheese-and once chicken is done cooking,

add chicken

-on the very top add your veggies and bake for 12-15m until crust is golden brown (or other wise directed on your crust directions)

beer serves well as an addition to the pizza (wings....pizza.....beer...) so pick the beer you like best to go with wings or pizza!!

**for a vegetarian twist you may be able to use finely cut tofu... or use a chicken substitute just make sure to toss it in franks sauce**

BBQ pizza

bbq sauce (use your fave!)

fresh corn-2 cobs-corn cut from cob

cheddar cheese

mozzarella cheese

prepare crust

cook chicken on low medium-you can actually grill this chicken-yum!!

and follow the previous directions to put this pizza together.

I'm not quite sure what would be a yummy vegetarian twist for the bbq pizza-so if you have one, please let me know and ill update this!

Like i said, these pizzas were yummy fresh out of the oven-but not the next day. so make sure your hungry!!!

Playing Catch up... Condensed to include multiple recipes!

Hello again. Its been a while since i have been able to catch up on my Domestic-ness. I have many new things to address. I have made more new yummy food, started cleaning my house 'more' than i was able to before, set up my down stairs living area to be much more livable, and cozy for every one, this also includes my little 'Hair-Ty Studios' salon in my large laundry room.

i have taken my mommy role to another level as well, by getting creative to save and make money! there will be a post (or two) about how i am going about doin this as well!

over the next few days ill get these new blog posts up to satisfy your curiosity and blow your mind-or not... either way, ill be caught up hopefully by this weeks end!

love

Ty

Yummy spring dessert--you can't beat the yummy

My mom used to make this for pretty much every occasion-because its that good.

so now i make it when ever i see strawberries on sale... because lets face it.... its worth every bite

1 sour cream angel food style cake (or plain angel food cake... )

1 lb strawberries-greens removed-cut into quarters (or halves depending on the size of the berry)

8oz carton of heavy whipping cream

1tbsp confectioners sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1tsp vanilla (optional)

in a bowl mash strawberries and granulated sugar together-mix thoroughly leave some of the leave some larger pieces of berries

poor the whipping cream and confectioners sugar into a blender, use a mixer or a hand mixer, and blend till fluffy and firm,

cut the cake into pieces (i like to cut it into smaller pieces

top with strawberries and whipped cream

get creative build it how you see fit

and most of all enjoy

7 cheese lasagna

I made this dinner about a week ago, we have not been financially able for me to splurge on new recipes (seeing how my hubby didnt like a few of the dinners, we were needing to make sure that he would like dinner enough to take it for lunch the next couple days to work as well) i have been trying to venture out of the box within my budget.

This recipe was assisted by my hubby, and it ended up being great! a new twist on a timeless recipe

ingredients

2 eggs

16oz ricotta cheese

2tbsp blue cheese crumbles

2tbsp feta

2 cups mozzarella (plus a handful for the top)

1 cup sharp cheddar (plus a little for the top)

1 cup Monterrey jack (plus a little for the top)

4tbsp fresh Parmesan

1lb box lasagna noodles

1lb hamburger

1/2 lb Italian sausage (spicy sausage would make for a tasty addition)

(or for my veggie friends, some steamed spinach would be perfect! and throw a little tofu in with the ricotta blend for the spread)

2 cups red (or white)

sauce (we like Prego because its finely blended and mild)

first thing i did was blend feta, blue cheese and ricotta together, and then i let it cool for 30 minutes (i have a magic bullet so i just lidded it and put it in the fridge

then i started the pot to boil with salt and a little olive oil.

cook burger and sausage together in a pan, and once cooked-drain excess fat and add sauce (eye ball it) season to taste

Once i added the noodles to the pot i mixed together all the cheeses and 2 eggs

after the noodles are done (little softer than AL Dente) i drained the water, and began to build my lasagna.

put a small amount of sauce on the bottom of the pan before you make your pasta layer. and depending on the size of your pan (13x9 is best for this recipe) use 3 or 4 strips.

layer as follows

pasta

cheese mix

meat sauce mix (or sauce then spinach)

for the top layer add fresh cheese and Italian seasonings

little to no money, means little to no blogs....sigh

I have not written in a week or so. New trials of the domestic life have taken its toll.

However, i have tried to continue cooking from scratch where i can.

i have made home made pizzas (crust included)

and strawberry shortcake!mmm

I have gotten all of my school stuff in line, and i am ready to start school in the fall! i sign up for classes on monday (at midnight sigh) and i am semi scared because im diving into full time and 90% all online classes through the school!

things have been hectic around here, but i will start updating my dinners very soon!