Macaroni & Cheese

So when I made my menu last week for the next two weeks, I thought I would check off a couple of dishes from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. My kids love mac & cheese. It's like the typical comfort food for kids. I have never attempted homemade mac & cheese, so I was a little nervous.

First I boiled the macaroni until it was firm.

I like my prep work to be done before cooking. It makes things so much easier, especially when you have a little one year old crawling around the kitchen, because she has to be where her Mama is at all times.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter and add flour. Whisk constantly for five minutes. Don't let it sit and burn.

Drain cooked macaroni and set aside.

Add the milk to the butter and flour and whisk constantly for five minutes or until it begins to thicken.

Add the dry mustard.

Continue whisking. It's a good hand workout.

Take a 1/4 cup of the sauce and tempur the beaten egg. Whisk so it doesn't cook the egg.

This is what it should look like.

Add the egg to the mix and stir in half a cup of shredded cheese until it melts.

Add the pepper, salt, seasoning salt, and any additional seasoning you want. I added a little cayenne pepper for a kick. I didn't want to put too much, since I was serving it to the kids. If it was just for adults, I would have added more.

Stir in the sauce with the drained macaroni and mix well.

Almost done.

Pour into a dish and add the rest of your shredded cheese on top. Bake for 25 minutes.

Finished product. Nice and cheesy. I served some to Mason and he was so excited about dinner until he took a bite. He has been testing us a lot at meal time lately. He will get in a mood where he will take a bite of something, even meals he loves, and says "Yuck, Mama!" Then he pushes his plate away. When he does this, he learns quickly that he won't be eating anything else that night. So he will either eat it, or go hungry until the next meal. No snack in between. Luckily, it doesn't offend me. But I was nervous that I did something wrong. So I gave it to Taylor.

Glad to say she devoured it. She ate all of her portion and some of Mason's. The girl was smiling and laughing throughout the entire meal.

Mama, why are you taking my picture with my mouth full? Don't you know that isn't lady like?

Fine, I'll give you a "cheesy" smile.

It was a very easy dish to prepare. My only challenge was my two children wanting my attention or complaining they were hungry. When I tried it, I added more cayenne pepper for taste. I love spicy food.

Challenge: Cooking my through "The Pioneer Woman Cooks"

Recipes completed: 7

Recipes left: 56

Potato Skins

I did a lot of cooking this weekend and completed two more recipes out of The Pioneer Woman Cooks. A couple weeks ago, one of our local grocery stores had a 10lb bag of potatoes on sale for $.50 and I couldn't pass up such a good deal. Since I have quite a few potatoes, I thought it would be a good time to make the Potato Skins.



First, clean off the potatoes and place on a baking sheet. If you are just making it for your family, you can cut down on the number of potatoes or you can add more if you are cooking for a larger group of people.

Coat the potatoes in Canola Oil before placing in the oven. Cook for 45 min to an hour. Make sure you can put a fork in them easily.

Cut in half and scoop out the potato. Make sure to leave a little. I found using a cookie dough scoop was the easiest. You might want to let them cool down for a few minutes after cutting in half, otherwise you might burn yourself.

Coat each side of the potato with more Canola Oil and season with salt. It gives it good flavor and I found Kosher Salt works the best.

Instead of throwing away the potato that you scooped out, make mashed potatoes. I didn't want to waist anything, so I added some butter, milk and salt and mashed away. My kids prefer mashed potatoes anyway.

Cook potato on each side for 7 minutes and then add cheese and bacon. Place in oven until cheese melts. That morning, I made eggs, bacon and toast and we didn't eat all of the bacon. I knew I would be trying this recipe out, so I cooked the entire package so we could save it for later that evening. It saved me a lot of time.

Serve with your choice of toppings. I prefer chives and sour cream. I also like dipping them in ranch if I don't have sour cream handy. I would add more cheese and bacon, because I love both and wanted more. It was a nice change to a side or an appetizer for dinner. It also makes for great leftovers. If you reheat it in the oven, it tastes better.

Challenge: Cooking my way through "The Pioneer Woman Cooks"

Recipes completed: 6

Recipes left: 57

Sangria

For Adam's birthday party, I also attempted homemade Sangria out of The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I've never made anything like this, but I was up for a challenge and I learned really you can't go wrong with it. Just make sure to warn everyone that it's packs a punch and if you have a drink, to make sure to have a designated driver.

First cut up all the fruit. You can put as much or as little fruit you want into the glass pitcher.

All of the fruit in the glass pitcher. I cut apples, oranges, grapes, lemons, pineapple chunks, and lime.

Then add the wine. I chose a White Merlot. It's a little bit sweeter.

I then added the flavored rum and vodka to the wine and fruit. I kept thinking that I needed to place a warning label on the pitcher.

Topped off the Sangria with sugar dissolved in a cup of water. I added an extra cup of water just to take the edge off.

Mix it all together and place in the fridge to chill for several hours. The longer the better. The fruit absorbs the flavor.

Ready to serve. It was almost all gone by the time I got around to having a glass. Definitely worth making again, maybe our next girls night.

Challenge: Cooking my way thru "The Pioneer Woman Cooks"

Recipes completed: 5

Recipes left: 58

Hot Artichoke Dip

I completed two more recipes for my challenge of cooking my way thru The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I haven't cooked out of this book since the end of January. So I was eager to get back at it and what better timing then cooking for Adam's 30th Birthday Party. It's probably the easiest Artichoke Dip recipe I have ever made and now my favorite.


I don't have a Kitchenaid Mixer, so I had to mix everything the old fashioned way. Even without the mixer, it was super easy. First, I diced up my softened cream cheese to make it easier to mix.

I diced the green onions. In the picture it looks like I cut them on my tile counter top, but it's really on the clear cutting board.

Mixed the mayo, cream cheese, onions, spices, and Parmesan together in a large bowl. The Cayenne pepper gave the dip a lot of flavor, without it being to spicy. I don't mind the spice, but I was trying to think of my guests.

Chopped the additional artichoke hearts and added them to the mix. This is the second can of artichoke hearts.

I added additional shredded Parmesan to the top of the dip before putting it in the oven.

The finished product. I couldn't even it get a picture of it before our friend Bernardo had already taken a bite. I served it with fresh french bread. It was so delicious, that it was gone in the first 5 minutes. I plan on making it again for Easter.

Challenge: Cooking my way thru "The Pioneer Woman Cooks"

Recipes completed: 4

Recipes left: 59

Chicken Spaghetti

The last ten days really thru me off. I had a couple of items planned to make from The Pioneer Woman Cooks, but I then I remembered that I do have a year to complete the challenge and one week off isn't going to be the end of the world.

Tonight, the girls met for Bible study at our house. I knew Adam wasn't sure what time he would be home, so I wanted to make something that would feed about 12 girls and be easy. I opted for the Chicken Spaghetti. I had already purchased all the ingredients a couple weeks ago. I only go the grocery store twice a month and go back for milk, bread, and fruits if needed.

I decided in order to make my life easier, I would prep the meal early and put it in the fridge until I was ready to put it in the oven. I don't know why I never thought of doing this before, but it made everything so much easier. As Taylor napped, and Mason played, I started cooking. The prep time took a little less than an hour.

First, I boiled the chicken. The recipe asks for a fryer chicken you can cut up, but I already had chicken breasts in my freezer and I wasn't going to spend extra money to do the exact same thing with the chicken, not to mention it was much easier.

While the chicken boiled, I decided to go ahead and cut up the green bell pepper and the small onion. I actually only used half of a small onion and thought it gave the dish just the right amount of flavor, without being too powerful.

After the chicken had boiled, I took it out to cool and set aside the two cups of the chicken broth.

Next, I boiled the spaghetti noodles in the remainder broth from the chicken. I think this gives the noodles a little extra flavor and I liked that I wasn't waisting any part of the broth.

As the noodles boiled, I shredded the three chicken breasts. I love shredded chicken in almost any casserole or soup. It's perfect in my mom's Chicken Tortilla Soup.

In a large mixing bowl, I added the drained spaghetti, the cream of mushroom soup and the cheese.

Then I added the bell pepper, pimento, onion and the spices. It calls for Cayenne Pepper and I didn't think that a quarter of a teaspoon gave it enough taste, so I added more. But definitely taste it after it's mixed to make sure it is to your liking.

I added the shredded chicken and the broth that we set aside in the beginning and mixed everything together. The recipe says it will make 6 to 8 servings, so I was worried if it would be enough for 12 girls.

Add the shredded cheese and place in the oven or covered in the fridge until you are ready to cook it. I wish I could say that I have a picture of the finished dish, but I didn't have time to get my camera before we dug into it.

Not only did everyone love it, but some of the girls took some leftovers home and I still had plenty left over as well. I am going to freeze it and pull it out one night, when I'm in need of a quick meal. I know I've only made three of her dishes, but I haven't tasted anything I don't like.

Challenge: Cooking my way thru "The Pioneer Woman Cooks"

Recipes completed: 3

Recipes left: 60