Entree: Mom's Fried Mac & Cheese

 

http://www.piewacketblog.com/journal/2009/12/31/moms-fried-mac-cheese.html

Here is her easy recipe... In a sauce pan mix a 2.5 cups of sharp or extra sharp chedder cheese or both chunked, 2 tbls of flour, two cups of milk and some ground pepper. Cook till melted and well blended. Pour over a box of cooked (al dente) & drained elbow macaroni, in a large baking dish, layer slices of cheese on top and bake at 350º for about 45 minutes.

Take your leftover, cold from the fridge and fry it in lots of butter till slightly crispy and serve! I consider this a breakfast meal since that is always when we had it.

Dessert: Cherry Almond Sugar Cookie

 

http://jensyummyfun.blogspot.com/2009/09/cherry-almond-sugar-cookie.html

1 C Butter room temp (* see note)
1 C Sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 + tsp Mexican vanilla (**)
1/4 + tsp almond extract - high quality
4 C flour

Cream all liquids, add flour, do not over mix. Dough will be sticky. Roll out 1/2 inch thick on floured counter space and with cookie cutter cut in any shape you desire. Bake 375 for 9 minutes. These are intended to be thick gourmet cookies. You can roll them thinner if you would like, personally I prefer a big chunky cookie, then I can get away with heaping the frosting in them. Wait until cookies have cooled before piping frosting and best served chilled.

FROSTING
4 1/2 - 5 C powdered sugar
1 tsp Mexican vanilla (**)
3 Tlb milk
4 Tlb pureed maraschino cherries with juices
1/2 tsp almond extract


(*) can also substitute with butter flavored shortening
(**) I am sorry here.... real vanilla is a must! If you do not have it, it is worth finding.

Dessert: Rainbow cake

 

 http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/rainbow-cake/

Recipe:  Rainbow Cake
(adapted from Conversations with a Cupcake)

2 boxes of white cake mix
6 eggs
1 c. water
2/3 c. oil
gel food coloring in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple
white chocolate frosting  (recipe follows)
Mix the cakes mixes with the eggs, water, and oil and blend well.  Pour about 1 c. of batter into 6 small bowls.  Add a little gel food coloring to each bowl to create your rainbow-colored batter.
Grease and flour seven 8 or 9 inch round cake pans.  (I used three 8″ pans and baked in two shifts.) Using a spatula, spoon and spread each color of batter into its own cake pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven, for 15-18 minutes, or until tops spring back when touched lightly. Allow to cool completely. Frost with White Chocolate Frosting.

Recipe:  White Chocolate Frosting
1 c. butter, softened
1 bag white chocolate chips
3 lbs. powdered sugar
1/2 – 1 c. milk
In a large bowl, microwave white chocolate chips until melted, in 30 second intervals.  Immediately beat in butter until smooth.  Add powdered sugar and some milk and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add more milk, if needed to achieve desired consistency.  Makes enough frosting to ice between each layer of cake and around the outside of the cake.   (I actually had frosting leftover.  This makes a lot!)

Bread: No-Knead Multigrain Bread {In a Jar!}

 

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/11/no-knead-multigrain-bread-in-jar.html

Multi-Grain Bread Kit
recipe by Nancy Baggett

3 C (15oz) unbleached white bread flour
1/4 C (1.25 oz) whole wheat flour
1/4 C brown rice flour
2 T rolled oats of quick (not instant) oats
2 1/2 T granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp table salt
1 1/2 T each sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and flax seed, mixed together
2 T cornmeal
1 packet Fleischmann's Rapid Rise Yeast

Ingredients:
1 Multigrain Bread Mix
Scant 2 C ice water
1 1/2 T canola oil

Remove yeast packet and cornmeal-seed baggie from the jar and set aside. Place remainder of jar ingredients in a mixing bowl. Measure out 1 teaspoon of yeast from the packet and add to bowl. Stir to combine.

Stir ice cubes into some water and stir for at least 30 seconds before measuring.
Slowly pour water into dry ingredients. I highly recommend doing a little at a time. I found that 2 C was way too much water and I had to add a little more flour to make up for it. Add enough water to bring all of the dry ingredients together, stirring vigorously and scraping down the sides of the bowl. The directions in the book specifically say the dough should be "stiff" but I made it the consistency that I'm used to seeing in a normal bread loaf and it turned out great.

Once combined and mixed, brush the top of the dough with a little oil and tightly cover with plastic wrap. You can refrigerate for 3-10 hours. Then let rise as cool room temperature (about 70 degrees, so just pop it on your counter top) for 12-18 hours.

Generously oil a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Sprinkle half of the cornmeal seed mixture into the pan and shake it around to coat the bottom and up the sides a little. Stir the dough briefly. With an oiled rubber spatula scrape the dough in towards the center of the bowl, working all the way around the bowl. Invert the dough into the pan. Brush the top lightly with oil, then smooth out and press into the pan with your fingertips. Brush the top of the loaf generously with water, and immediately sprinkle the remaining cornmeal-seed mixture over the top. Lastly cut a 1/2 inch-deep slash down the dough center using and oiled serrated knife. Cover the pan with nonstick spray-coated plastic wrap.

Second Rise: Use one of the following methods

For a 2-4 hour regular rise, let stand at warm (74-75 degree) room temp.
For a 45 min- 2 hour accelerated rise (I used this one, and it took 45 minutes) let stand in a turned off microwave along with 1 C of boiling water. When the dough nears the plastic, remove it and continue the rise until the dough extends 1/2 inch above the rim of the pan.

15 minutes before baking time, put a rack on the very lowest rack of your oven and place a broiler pan (or other shallow baking pan) on it. Place your other rack one notch above that and preheat to 450 degrees.

To bake, reduce heat to 425. Add one cup of water to the pan on the bottom rack; don't refill if it boils dry. Bake bread on the other rack for 35-45 minutes or until the loaf is nicely browned. Cover the top with foil and continue baking for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted in the thickest part comes out with just slightly moist particles clinging to the bottom portion (or the internal temp registers 204-207 degrees). Remove the loaf to to a cooling rack. When it's cool enough to handle, you can take it out of the pan.

Side: Perfect Potatoes au Gratin

 

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/perfect-potatoes-au-gratin/

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time: 1 Hour

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 4 whole Russet Potatoes, Scrubbed Clean
• 2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
• 1-½ cup Heavy Cream
• ½ cups Whole Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 4 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
• 1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Freshly Grated

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Smear softened butter all over the bottom of a baking dish.
Slice potatoes, then cut slices into fourths.
In a separate bowl, whisk together cream, milk, flour, minced garlic, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
Place 1/3 of the potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour 1/3 of the cream mixture over the potatoes.
Repeat this two more times, ending with the cream mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown and really bubbling. Add grated cheese to the top of the potatoes and bake for 3 to 5 more minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Allow to stand for a few minutes before serving by the spoonful. Delicious!

Entree: Buttermilk Pancakes

 

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/01/buttermilk-pancakes.html

Buttermilk Pancakes

Recipe from Allrecipes, via Our Best Bites

3 c. all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

3 c. buttermilk

1/2 c. milk

3 eggs, separated

1/3 c. (5 1/3 Tbsp.) butter, melted

In a large pitcher, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another container, whisk together buttermilk, milk, and the egg yolks. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Whisking constantly, add melted butter to the milk mixture. Pour this mixture into the pitcher and stir until just combined. This is kind of a pain, but it DOES have a purpose--you don't want to over mix your pancake batter, and when you do it in the pitcher, it becomes very difficult to over mix it. Plus, you can pour the batter straight onto the skillet without dirtying any MORE dishes.

When the flour has been combined but the batter is still a little lumpy, heat a non-stick skillet or griddle to medium-low heat. While the skillet is heating, gently (but completely) fold beaten egg whites into the batter. When the skillet is hot, spray it with a little non-stick cooking spray and then just pour the batter from the pitcher straight onto the hot skillet.

It takes a little adjusting to figure out where the temperature setting should be. If it's too hot, the bottoms will cook too fast and the insides will be raw, but if it's not hot enough, the outsides will get hard and dry and you'll be spending all Saturday morning in front of your stove instead of buying bras in bulk at Costco. So the first round or two of pancakes might not be perfect, but just keep adjusting the temperature until you find the setting on your stove that works best for you.

Now...after you've poured the batter onto the skillet, keep an eye on the pancakes. When you start seeing bubbles, you're almost there. When the bubbles pop and leave a hole, it's time to flip. Gently slide a spatula/pancake turner/flipper (whatever you call it) under the pancake and quickly flip it to the other side. The other side won't take quite as long as the first side--just check here and there and when the pancakes are golden brown on both sides, you're good to go.

If you have a bunch of eaters ready to go, you can just serve them straight from the skillet. But it really irks me to be flipping pancakes and have my family/friends/pets eating while I'm cooking and then by the time I'm done making pancakes, everyone ELSE is done eating and I have to eat MY pancakes in the dirty kitchen all by myself. Okay, who am I kidding, I'd probably take them into the living room and watch the inevitable Saturday morning Teen Mom marathon, but still...So what I usually do is turn my oven as low as it can go, put an oven-safe plate in there, and pop the cooked pancakes onto the plate so they're still warm when everyone's ready to eat.

Wanna know my favorite thing to do with these? Add some banana slices and drizzle with Buttermilk Syrup. You could throw some chopped pecans on there, too, and I'm sure it would be de-lish.

Feel free to toss in some blueberries or chocolate chips right before you fold in the egg whites. For some reason, though, I just like mine plain and then I can top 'em off however I want. Mmmm...light...delicately crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. Perfect kitchen-trashing pancakes...

Side: Restaurant Style Salsa

 

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/restaurant-style-salsa/

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time:

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
• 2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
• ¼ cups Chopped Onion
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
• ¼ teaspoons Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Cumin
• ½ cups Cilantro (more To Taste!)
• ½ whole Lime Juice

Preparation Instructions

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.
Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.