Creamy Mac & Cheese

I did something this week that I have never done before.. I ordered food via mail order! The girls at My Bargain Buddy were all a twitter about the big Hickory farms sale and I was intrigued. The prices definitely couldn't be beat, and I've never had Hickory farms cheese before.. so I was willing to give it a try. Honestly, since Cheese is so expensive in the supermarket I was all about trying what they had to offer for 75% off (Plus MBB had a coupon code for an extra 15% off!) I wound up with Smoked Gouda, Cheddar & Havarti blend, Mission Jack blend, Big barn Cheddar, Smoked Cheddar blend, Jalapeno & Cheddar Blend. There were some summer sausages, crackers, mustard and other assorted goodies in there.. but really I was just interested in the cheese and what I could make with it! I was so happy with what I ordered I went in and ordered some more cheese, lol!! (Hey, I'm all for a good bargain, but when I can get a box of Cheese and meat that was $25 for $3.75 and is gonna make my meals even better, I'm all for it!)

The box arrived at my door on Thursday (I ordered Monday afternoon) and I was so excited, I couldn't wait to open it up and try the goods! Even before it had all arrived I had Mac & Cheese on the brain, so last night I sprung into action with my old stand-by Mac & cheese recipe... the only difference was the blend of cheeses I used.. and it did not disappoint!

Yummmmm!! (the cell phone camera picture does not do it justice.. real camera coming soon)



Creamy Baked Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked Spiral pasta
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a mix of cheddar, cheddar & Havarti blend and Jalapeno & Cheddar Blend)
1/2 c. bread crumbs (seasoned or plain)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°f
2. Cook pasta as directed on package
3. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in saucepan over low heat.
4. Mix together flour, salt, pepper and mustard and add to the melted butter.
5. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and bubbly.
6. Remove from heat and whisk in milk
7. return to the stove and heat to boiling, stirring constantly.
8. Boil and stir 1 minute
9. Remove from heat and add cheese, stirring until melted
10. Drain pasta and gently stir pasta into cheese sauce.
11. Pour into ungreased 2 Quart casserole.
12. Top with breadcrumbs and bake 20-25 minutes.

Food Allergies Suck

When I was a kid the only thing I couldn’t eat was raw tomatoes, something I apparently inherited from my dad that was all fine and dandy with me, I didn’t like raw tomatoes anyway. After The Kid was born I found out the hard way that I was allergic to shellfish while peeling shrimp for bisque in culinary school and my hands blew up like balloons and then my throat proceeded to swell up after tasting (not a fun experience at all!) Now, out of the blue I have found myself with an allergy to Cayenne pepper.. I didn’t quite realize what was causing the rash on my wrist after eating the Cowgirl Chocolates since I also suffer from a sulfate allergy, but certain foods have the potential to set off a slight reaction so I avoid them at all costs. I had contacted Marilyn at Cowgirl Chocolates and when she suggested Cayenne, I was 99% positive it was not. It didn’t occur to me until after the second bowl of Chili and racking my brain running through everything I had eaten for the previous ten days. It had to be the cayenne.. And I was totally crushed.. I mean, how else am I supposed to give my chili a kick? My love for Buffalo Chicken Pizza from the restaurant by work..dashed, Ugh.

Now, I’m not one to consume spicy foods all the time, it was an occasional indulgence and I never took it too far since I can’t handle HOT... But my buddy Mary told me that allergies can rear their ugly heads at any time in a person’s life (I suppose this is just another part of getting old)

Living with any kind of allergy is never easy and I suppose I can’t complain too much, oh boo hoo, I can’t have any cayenne pepper and my love of Shrimp and Lobster is now a distant memory (unless I chase it with 2 Benadryl and pass out before the reaction starts, lol) I just have to be a little more creative now when I want a bowl of Chili, as for the Buffalo chicken.. In moderation I think I'll be alright ;)

Chocolate-Caramel Bars

I made these on New Years day with my best friend Patty and OMG are they absolutely amazing! I actually just finished my last one yesterday.. Gotta make more! Yea, they're really that good. We deviated a little bit from the recipe, I'll tell ya where, but what we got were these great, gooey really decadent cookie bars.

Chocolate-Caramel Bars

Ingredients:

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter
2 Cups coarsely chopped Pecans (we used walnuts)
1 Cup Flaked coconut (Oops, I forgot the coconut when we went to the supermarket, lol)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp. vanilla
20 vanilla caramels
2 Tbs. Milk
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°f. For crust, in a medium bowl stir together flour and brown sugar. Cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Press flour mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes. Sprinkle coconut and nuts over the partially baked crust

2. Sprinkle coconut and nuts over partially baked crust. In a small bowl stir together sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, pour over coconut and nuts. Bake for 25-30 minutes more or until set. (Now, this is where we deviated because, since it was New years day we had other stuff cooking in the oven and being impatient people we wanted the cookies NOW, but had to wait.. so we poured the condensed milk/vanilla mixture over the crust.. and then had to let it sit because the oven was occupied, this resulted in the cookie crust becoming totally soaked by the sticky sweetness of the condensed milk leaving us with very sticky cookies, lol.) Let stand in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes

3. In a small saucepan combine caramels and milk. Heat and stir over medium-low heat just until caramels melt (be very careful here, molten caramels will give you a nasty burn!) Drizzle caramel mixture over baked mixture. Sprinkle top with chocolate chips. Cool completely and cut into bars.

I need a little help here

I want to make Chocolate marshmallows.. but the recipe that I thought was perfect, isn't so much. it's chocolate swirl.. I want full on Chocolate marshmallows..

Can y'all help me out?

Thanks

I'm Baaaaaaaack

Ok, ok... I know, I've been Very MIA lately.. but I'm back and pretty soon, there will be A LOT of pictures up on the blog. Getting back to the swing of things after 2 weeks of no school and working 2 days a week were hard.. and damn am I exhausted! I'm still cooking every night, but there's been a lot of Chicken this week, so nothing too exciting to blog about.

Good news though.. there will be a lot to blog about soon, because while shopping at Target last Saturday I found it.. The Camera of my dreams. BUT being the frugal, always looking for the best bargain shopper that I am, I didn't buy it at Target for $279.99 (because after all, I am a single mom on a budget here) The good news.. I have found it for less.. quite a bit less I may say, so probably in the next week or so y'all will have some yummy pictures to go with all the good stuff I like to post :) Another good thing is I finally stepped up and bought myself a good candy thermometer, so I can finally make some marshmallows that I've been swooning over... I can never find a decent Chocolate marshmallow anywhere, and chocolate covered doesn't do it for me.. so, I've found the recipe and chances are I will make them this weekend.

So, don't worry, I haven't dumped my blog.. I've just been trying to re-adjust to my real life after the holidays.

Ciao,
Ash~