Basic Macaroni & Cheese

I don't really like macaroni and cheese all that much. That is, except when I get sick or when I am really tired. When I get sick I start to crave processed foods more. Which is why it's weird that I wanted macaroni and cheese earlier this week. I wasn't sick. Well, I decided to make some from scratch and it turned out pretty well. Obviously there are tweaks that you can make to this recipe, but for a starting point, I think this makes a  pretty good recipe.





1/3 cup flour
3 tbs butter
2 cups milk (I used almond)
2-3 cups cheese 
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 lb. macaroni or other type of pasta (cooked)
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Whisk together flour and butter over medium heat to form a roux. Slowly whisk in the milk. (If lumps form, whisk until smooth.) Add cheese, salt, chili powder, pepper and nutmeg. Once cheese has melted, add cooked macaroni. Pour into a baking dish and top with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Simple Almond Cake

I pretty much love this recipe. I can't even guess how many times I have made this simple almond cake. It is so so easy and so good. The recipe for this almond cake is in the ward cookbook from the Woodruffs, but I've seen it a few other places as well. I like to serve it with berries and sometime ice cream. We made it for the missionaries last week and they loved it. To be fair though, they live at the MTC their whole mission so anything that is not cafeteria food is probably amazing. Elder Tucker who has been in the MTC for the past 23 months was so excited at the thought of fruits and vegetables not from a can. The cake was still good, regardless of whether or not your diet consists of cafeteria food.

1/2 C butter, melted and cooled

1 C flour

1 C sugar

2 tsp almond extract

2 eggs

Slivered almonds

Combine butter, flour, sugar, extract and eggs in a bowl. Pour into a pie tin. Sprinkle almonds over batter. You can also sprinkle a spoonful of sugar over the top if desired. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned. Serve with mixed berries and ice cream if desired.

Citrus Chicken with Soy Sauce

We had an impromptu celebration for Cinco De Mayo and one of our neighbors brought this amazing chicken. Last we had the missionaries over and we decided to try to recreate it. It was good the way we baked it, but I think it would be better if we had grilled it. Either way, try it! It is so so good!

1/3 C soy sauce (I used the Shoyu sauce)

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lime

Juice of 1 orange 

1/2 an onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBS cilantro

1 teas cumin

1/3 C soy sauce

1 teas paprika

1/2 teas white pepper

Chicken (3--4 lbs)

Combine all ingredients except chicken. Add chicken, cover and marinate in fridge 2-4 hours.

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Serve. (Could also grill.)

German Chocolate Cake Bars

A few weeks ago I got a text late on Saturday night asking if I'd teach RS Sunday morning. I did, and my RS president brought over a few of these bars as a thank you. They were so delicious! The original recipe comes from Six Sisters Stuff. I like them more cake-like because I think the density of brownies is too much for me sometimes. The great thing is, you can decide if you want these more like brownies or more cake-like depending on the type of cake mix you use. Cake mix with pudding in it makes it more like a brownie. Without the pudding and the bars are more like a cake. Either way, you should try these.

1 box devil’s food cake mix 
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 egg
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup chopped pecans (walnuts would work too)
1 cup shredded coconut 
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (I used a broken up chocolate bar)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
Melt butter in medium bowl. Add cake mix and egg and combine. Press mixture into the bottom greased pan. Bake 7 minutes and remove from the oven. (Crust won't look done.)
Combine sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, egg, pecans and coconut. Pour over the warm crust and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for 24-30 minutes. The top should be almost a golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Blueberry Muffins

This is a pretty solid go-to recipe for me when I have to make some sort of breakfast item to take somewhere. It's a basic recipe for muffins, and I have changed it around by adding different fruits, nuts, oatmeal, and seeds, depending on what I have on hand. They are a little sweeter than the one Mom makes, but I don't think they are just right!

1 3/4 C Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/3 C Sugar (could be reduced)

1/4 tsp Salt

1 Egg, beaten

3/4 C Milk (I have used almond milk here)

1/4 C Oil

2/3 C Fresh or Frozen Blueberries

 Grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin. Preheat oven to 400.
 Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a medium bowel. Set aside.
 In another bowel, combine milk, oil and egg. Add all at once to flour mixture.Fold in until just barely moistened throughout. Fold in blueberries (or other mix-ins)
 Spoon batter about two-thirds full into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for about 18 minutes at 400 until lightly golden and toothpick comes out clean. Cool at least 5 minutes and serve! 

Bruschetta

We went to a birthday picnic this weekend. We were in kind of a hurry so we made bruschetta from the no-knead bread I had made that morning. It was quick and so easy. We had a lot of tomatoes and peppers left over from last week's shopping and some roasted tomato pesto someone had given us. It was the perfect bite to eat for a picnic.

1/2 to 1 loaf no-knead bread, cut into 12 slices (you may want to cut some in half)
1-2 tbs tomato pesto (could leave out)
2 cups tomatoes, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic
2-3 leaves fresh basil, chopped
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
couple turns of freshly ground pepper
1/4 crumbled goat cheese

• Roast tomatoes, basil and garlic at 350 for about a half hour. Take out and let cool. Mince garlic.
• Combine garlic, tomatoes, bell pepper, basil, italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir to combine
• Lay out bread on a baking and broil until lightly browned 2-3 minutes. 
• Take out bread and spread pesto in a thin layer on toast. Add a spoon or two of the tomato mix. Sprinkle goat cheese on top. Return to broiler for 2-3 minutes until cheese begins to brown.
• Enjoy!

Oatmeal Crispies

So earlier this week... I realized I still have about 4 cans of oatmeal that are almost out of date if not already in my food storage, and I decided I wanted to make oatmeal cookies because well why not? I knew I'd easily find a way to use them up as I had lots of visits this week... anyways...I remembered those ones mom used to roll and put in the freezer or fridge and going to snitch the dough... so I asked Dad about it, and mom found the recipe... It's a good basic, simple recipe, but I'd say next time I'll probably add some cinnamon if not that AND maybe some craisins... I ended up taking a bunch up to our movie night and some people REALLY liked them...

I do not remember it, but apparently mom and dad used this recipe a lot when they worked in the nursery.

(Makes about 5 dozen cookies)

  

1 C Shortening (we use butter)*

1 C Brown sugar

1 C  Granulated white sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1 1/2 C Sifted flour

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking soda

3 C Quick oats

½ C Chopped nuts (optional)**

Cream shortening and sugars.

Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.

Sift dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture.

Add oats and nuts, mix well.

Shape in roll 2 inches in diameter and wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper and chill in refrigerator.

Slice into ¼ inch thick rounds.

Bake on cookie sheets at 350° for 8-10 minutes.

*Dad's notation that they used all butter, but I used half butter/shortening.

**I did not use nuts.