Never Feed Your Kids Processed Mac and Cheese Again!

We rarely make boxed mac and cheese at our house...but Burrito loves it.  In fact, she makes a habit of ordering boring, cardboardy Kraft Mac and Cheese when we go out to eat.  In recent months, however, I have discovered how stinkin' easy it is to make homemade, stove-top mac and cheese...and that Burrito loves it just as much--or possibly even more--than the box stuff.

Better yet, I pretty much always have the simple ingredients that are needed to make this tasty pasta.

You are not going to believe how easy it is.

HOMEMADE KID-FRIENDLY MAC AND CHEESE
For the pasta:
Approximately 8 dry oz. of noodles--elbows or twisty pastas recommended

For the sauce:
2 TBS butter
2 TBS all-purpose flour
2 cups milk (skim is fine) or half and half
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (if desired)
2 cups (or more, to taste) of shredded cheese (preferably a blend that includes cheddar)

Cook pasta according to package instructions.  Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan.  Whisk flour together with butter to form a roux (a thickening agent).  Then (before roux burns or overly browns), begin to add milk or half and half slowly, a half cup at a time.  Continue whisking during this process.  Each time the milky mixture begins to thicken and almost boil, it's time to add the next bit of milk or half and half.  Once all the milk has been added, whisk in your salt, pepper, and Dijon.  Finally, remove from heat and add in your cheese, a half cup at a time, continuing to whisk until smooth.  You can add more cheese if you would like, too.  You can also add a cup of cooked veggies (peas or broccoli would work especially well); this is a great way to sneak in some extra veggies.

Toss sauce with pasta.

Voila!  You're done!  Try it and see if your kids don't go ga-ga for it!

"Fall in a Bowl" Pumpkin Soup with Caramelized Pecans

"FALL IN A BOWL" PUMPKIN SOUP WITH CARAMELIZED PECANS

For the soup:
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 small apples, peeled and chopped
2 TBS butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 TBS brown sugar
2-3 cups apple cider
1 can (29 oz.) pumpkin, unsweetened
1 tsp sea salt

For the pecans:
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 TBS butter
3 TBS maple syrup

Melt the first 2 TBS of the butter in a heavy Dutch oven.  Saute the onion and apple in the butter.  Coat with cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar while cooking.  Cook until onion and apple are soft and pan is beginning to glaze.  De-glaze with the cider, using a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits.  Boil the mixture and then add the pumpkin and sea salt.  Bring back to boiling and then lower heat to simmer.  Cover and cook for at least an hour.  Puree soup to a smooth texture.

About 10 minutes before serving, melt the other 2 TBS of butter in a skillet.  Add the maple syrup and stir continuously until hot, bubbly and slightly thickened.  Add the pecans and continue to stir continuously until toasted.  Add a pinch of sea salt.  Be careful not to burn pecans and beware that when the mixture gets thick, the pecans may stick to the bottom of the pan.  (Hence the continual stirring!)  Pour the soup and top with pecans.  It's Fall in a Bowl!

dinner tonight: chicken pasta salad is fresh for spring

Here's a very simple recipe that you can throw together quickly for dinner or lunch.  It's fresh and savory: a perfect combination for Spring!  I've gotten great compliments on it.

CHICKEN PASTA SALAD

For the salad:
1/2 pound of uncooked rotini
1 cup frozen peas
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1-2 breasts of chicken, cooked and chopped (or use Rotisserie or canned chicken)

For the dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the noodles according to package instructions.  During the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the frozen peas to the cooking water.  Meanwhile, mix the dressing in a separate bowl until well-combined.  Drain pasta and peas and run cold water over them for a couple of minutes until they are sufficiently cooled.  Pour into a large bowl.  Add chicken, celery, and onion.  Toss with the dressing and serve!

Note: this salad may be served immediately but it tastes even better if allowed to chill for at least a few hours.

Most Popular Posts of the Year: #4 BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza

For the next few days, I will be posting 10 most popular Flathead Mama posts of the year.  I would like to invite you to take this chance to catch up on a good buzz-worthy post that you may missed.  Please also drop a comment on the original post.  I'd love to continue the conversation.  If you found a post particularly useful to you, I'd love your help to get the word out about Flathead Mama: copy and paste the link and post to your Facebook page, Twitter about it, or post to a Pinterest profile.  

Thanks and enjoy!
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As you know, I am a food lover!  One of the great joys of living in the Flathead Valley has been the opportunity to sample so many wonderful tastes at our restaurants and festivals and farmer's markets all year long.  In my most popular food post, I post a simple recipe for BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza, a combination I ate for the first time not here but in Grand Forks, ND at Rhombus Guys Pizza.  I loved it and I think you will too!

dinner tonight: sweet potato shepherd's pie

As with most of my recipes, this one came about with excess produce in my fridge and the need for inventiveness!

SWEET POTATO SHEPHERD'S PIE

For the topping:
3 medium-large sweet potatoes, cubed
3/4 cup milk
2 TBS butter

For the pie filling:
20 oz. ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped
1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 cup light sour cream
Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the cubed sweet potatoes in boiling water 20 minutes or until fork tender.  Mash together with butter and milk until fairly smooth.

Salt and pepper the ground turkey and then brown it in a few teaspoons of olive oil.  Remove meat from frying pan and drain any fat.  Add a few more teaspoons of olive oil and saute the onion, celery and carrots until tender and onion is translucent.  Add ground turkey back in, along with spices and sour cream.  Combine and spread this mixture evenly in a large casserole dish.  Smoothly spread mashed sweet potatoes across the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Enjoy!  This is a savory and delicious winter weeknight meal!

summer vegetable spaghetti

I got a bounty from the farmer's market this week, so I thought I'd adapt my usual spaghetti sauce recipe to incorporate some of my delicious fresh veggies.

Here's the recipe:

SUMMER VEGETABLE SPAGHETTI
For the sauce:
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 medium onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 cup zucchini, diced
3-15 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
1-15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 TBS dried oregano
2 TBS dried basil
1 tsp. fennel seed
Salt and pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Splash of Balsamic Vinegar

1 lb. of spaghetti

Heat 2 TBS olive oil over medium-high heat in a large dutch oven or similar pan.  Add garlic, onion, carrot and zucchini and saute till tender and slightly browned.  Add remaining ingredients, including 2 more TBS of olive oil.  Heat till boiling then reduce heat and simmer for at least an hour.  Right before serving, put in a splash of balsamic vinegar.  Serve over whole wheat spaghetti with fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano sprinkled on top.  Serve zucchini sauteed in olive oil with salt and fresh ground pepper on the side.

"use up what's in my fridge" pizza

I used to have such a limited idea of what constituted a pizza.  Normal was a pepperoni 'za with traditional red sauce and mozzarella cheese.  Extra special was a stuffed crust pizza, with more cheese stuck in the (gasp!) crust edges.  Over the top was a combo pizza, with all the meat and veggie options.

I have seen the light.  I still remember the day I tried my first Neapolitan-style pie, from Punch Pizza in the Twin Cities.  A group of people from seminary was trying out new culinary experiences and a professor led us there to try out the pizza.  I had never before experienced pizza with San Marzano tomatoes and olive oil instead of sauce.  The quality of ingredients!  The wood fired pizza!  The strong and distinctive flavors!  Pizza as I knew it was never going to be the same again.

I still enjoy a good, old-fashioned pepperoni pizza, but the ingredients had better be good and fresh.  We've got great pizza locally here in the Flathead Valley, in particular at When in Rome (Bigfork, MT) where chef, Engjell Vrapi, knows what he's doing.  Actually, he knows what he's doing when it comes to every morsel I have ever eaten of anything at When in Rome.  But in particular, he knows what he's doing with pizza.  The pepperoni pizza here uses the best quality of pepperoni, with a zesty red sauce and wonderful cheese.  The crust is thin and rustic.  The Italian Garden pizza, "Best Pizza Ever" (an award-winning combo), and Pesto pizza are also favorites.

Now that I've found real pizza, with high quality ingredients, I do my best to come up with winning combinations for pizza at home too.  You might recall the recently posted BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza, which incorporates my all-time favorite homemade pizza crust, a whole wheat crust found in Step-By-Step to Natural Food; Cancer Prevention through the Wholistic way of Eating.

I've also found that pizza is one of my favorite ways to use up good morsels in my fridge.  With a little creativity, leftovers can be presented artfully.

Last night, I put together my latest "Use Up What's In My Fridge" Pizza.  Of course, you have to start by having some good stuff in your fridge to use up!  Here's a recipe for last night's pizza.  Use it as inspiration to create your own "Use Up" Pizza!

USE UP WHAT'S IN MY FRIDGE PIZZA
For the crust:
See recipe book above or use a favorite pre-made pizza crust such as Boboli

For the toppings:
3/4 c. sundried tomatoes in olive oil
1/4 c. olive oil
2 colorful bell peppers (I used red and yellow)
1 yellow onion, sliced
1/2 c. Kalamata olives (sliced in half)
3/4 c. goat cheese, crumbled

Heat oven to broiling.  Line a broiler pan with aluminum foil.  Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds.  Flatten the peppers with your fist, on the broiler pan. Broil for 20 minutes, until blackened.  After peppers have broiled, sweat them in a Ziploc bag for 10-15 minutes.  Then peel their skin and slice into strips.

Blend or process the sun dried tomatoes with the 1/4 c. olive oil until smooth.  Meanwhile, heat a couple TBS of olive oil or butter until sizzling in a large skillet.  Cook the onion at a high heat for a few minutes, then reduce the heat and cook low and slow for 20-30 minutes until caramelized. 

Bake your pizza crust (if you are making it from scratch).  Once crust is baked, spread your sun-dried tomato puree over the crust.  Then layer peppers, onion, and olives.  Finally, crumble cheese all over your pizza.  Bake at 425 degrees for 5-7 minutes.  Yum!

red cabbage slaw

A lot of my recipe inspirations come from having lots of extra veggies in my fridge that I don't want to go to waste.  In this case, I had lots of red cabbage and radishes left over from pulled pork tacos.  I pulled out Betty Crocker's Cookbook and adapted her Sweet-and-Sour Coleslaw to my own ingredients.  You can adapt too, according to what you have in your fridge.  This salad would make a great side for a family barbecue or for a church potluck.  In fact, I think I had something similar at a church potluck once (and come to think of it, the lady who made it thought Betty Crocker's cookbook was the best on earth!).  Here's my creation:

For the slaw:
2 cups red cabbage, shredded
2 cups shredded carrots

6-10 radishes, sliced thin (or more, if you like it)
1/2-1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

For the dressing:
1/2 cup sugar (I used Splenda)
1/2 cup white wine vinegar (or substitute a vinegar you have)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 TBS Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp celery seed (very important ingredient)
1/2 tsp salt

Toss the veggies together in a large bowl.  Wisk the dressing together in a small bowl and toss that in as well.

For a fun variation, you might want to add some dried fruit to the salad, like raisins, yellow raisins, dried cranberries, or dried cherries.  You could also top with toasted sliced almonds for a classy touch.

Enjoy!

bbq pulled pork pizza

When we lived in North Dakota, we visited a local, hole-in-the wall pizza chain called Rhombus Guys.  They specialized in lots of unique combinations for pizzas.  One of our favorites was the Pulled Pork Pizza, which has pork, jerk sauce, onions, pepperocinis, tomato, and red peppers.  My recipe below is in homage to Rhombus Guys and their mouth-watering combination.  Both the original and my version are crave-worthy and great for a summer dinner.

First, to get your pulled pork, you need a boneless pork shoulder.  I cooked mine in the crockpot for about 6 hours on low with nothing more than salt and pepper and a bottle of my favorite BBQ sauce.

We had pulled pork sandwiches for dinner (with homemade oven fries) and then I had leftovers to use for my pizza.

BBQ PULLED PORK PIZZA
2 cups leftover pulled pork
1 red onion, sliced
1 yellow, red, or orange bell pepper, cut into long strips
2 TBS butter
1 c. extra barbecue sauce
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)

Pizza crust (My favorite recipe is for whole wheat pizza crust, found in Step-By-Step to Natural Food; Cancer Prevention through the Wholistic way of Eating, but you could also buy a prepared pizza crust or use your own favorite recipe.)

Heat the butter in a large skillet at medium-high heat till sizzling, then add onion.  Cook until onion begins to soften, then turn down heat to medium.  Cook for 20-30 minutes until onion gets very soft and begins to caramelize.  Add bell pepper to the pan to soften them and bring out their sweetness.  Cook about 10 minutes.  Keep an eye on your veggies to make sure they do not start to burn.

Meanwhile, bake your pizza crust.  Once your crust is baked and your veggies are cooked, spread your crust with half of your barbecue sauce.  Next, layer your veggies, followed by your pulled pork.  Drizzle the rest of your barbecue sauce over the pizza, and top with your cheese.  Bake for 5-10 minutes at 425 degrees, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

turkey and sun-dried tomato lasagna

Here's a savory, garlicky delight, straight from my kitchen.

TURKEY AND SUN-DRIED TOMATO LASAGNA
Pasta:
Half a pound of no-boil lasagna noodles

For the sauce:
20 ounces of lean ground turkey
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
4 TBS sundried tomatoes in olive oil
1 red pepper, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. fennel seed
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

For the cheese layer:
1 15 oz. container of Ricotta cheese (preferably low fat)
2 cups of Italian blend shredded cheese (such as mozzarella and Parmesan)
2 eggs

For the topping:
1-2 cups of Italian blend shredded cheese
Begin by preparing sauce.  Cook ground turkey with the onion, garlic, and red pepper until meat is broken up and fully cooked, and the veggies are tender.  Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, and spices.  Stir until simmering.  Meanwhile, stir ingredients for cheese layer together in a bowl.  Layer in a long lasagna pan, starting with sauce.  Then add noodles, cheese, sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce and finally cheese topping.  Bake covered at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes.  Remove aluminum foil and bake for 5-10 more minutes till cheese is well melted.  Allow to stand for 15 minutes before serving.  Serve with steamed broccoli or a nice green salad with fresh vinaigrette.

perfect for a hot summer day: shredded pork tacos

This meal will feed a crowd, so if you're having a neighborhood get-together, pull out the crock pot and this recipe and prepare to impress them with delicious tropical flavors.

I have made these shredded pork tacos several ways.  When I lived in North Dakota, I couldn't find the specialty ingredients that I needed, so I found a jarred chipotle simmering sauce to use instead and added extras like the honey, oregano and garlic to spice things up some more.  Here in Montana, I had trouble finding the ancho chiles, so I made the recipe without them once.  It was still really good.  The pasilla chiles and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce provide enough flavor even without the ancho chiles.  Later I found ancho chiles on the bulk spice rack at my local natural foods store, so I bought three, put them in the microwave with a little water at the bottom and cooked them till they were tender.  I was then able to open them up and remove the seeds.  They were delicious that way too.

The recipe on Food Network's website doesn't say what toppings to add to your tacos, but the original magazine that I found the recipe in did.  They suggest using: chunks of mango, chunks of avocado, lime wedges, cilantro, jicama, red cabbage, and queso fresco.  I suggest using the cheaper and still delicious feta cheese instead of queso fresco. 

Here's one more tip: Chipotles in adobo sauce come in a small can, but you'll have lots of leftovers since you only need a couple peppers for the recipe.  Try using sandwich bags to freeze the remaining peppers in small batches of two or three.  You'll save money next time you make the recipe and you can always throw them into other recipes too.  Less waste!

turkey...and roasted vegetables with maple-balsamic glaze

When we moved to Montana, the lovely ladies of the church filled our cupboards, freezer and refrigerator with food so we would have something to eat right away.  Due to our personal insanity, we moved right before Christmas, so they included a turkey in our freezer.  I didn't have the energy to tackle a turkey AND a move over Christmas though, so it remained there for a few months.

But my mother-in-law and brother-in-law came to visit this weekend and since we were going to have more people around to eat said turkey and since I needed some space in my freezer (given the existence of Costco), I decided it was time to make the turkey.

I have never prepared a turkey entirely on my own until this weekend.  The intimidation factor was lowered quite a bit the year I prepared a turkey with Christopher's help, using the step-by-step photo-accompanied directions of Ree Drummond.  But to prepare it entirely alone, without the help of Williams Sonoma's turkey brine...ack!  Scary!

But this weekend, I did it!  I found another lovely recipe to use as a guide and I prepared my turkey much as I would a roast chicken.  I filled it with herbs, lemon, celery, garlic, and onion.  I sprinkled and rubbed in coarse salt and pepper.  I slathered it down with butter.  I was mightily nervous.  But I also felt pretty good about the job I had done.  I popped it in the oven and the photo above is the BEAUTY I ended up with!  I was so proud!

I had planned to serve it with mashed sweet potatoes, but the Mrs. has been inspiring me to use up more food that is in my fridge and stop wasting so much, so inspiration hit me and I came up with a new idea.  Roasted sweet potatoes, celery, onions and carrots with a maple-balsamic glaze.  It's amazing how well tired refrigerator vegetables will stand up to roasting.  And I had bought a GONZO bag of celery from Costco a couple weeks ago that was quickly losing its relevancy to the world.  I was very happy with the results of my roasted vegetables.  They were warm and inviting, savory and slightly sweet.  I got seconds.

ROASTED VEGETABLES WITH MAPLE-BALSAMIC GLAZE
3 large sweet potatoes, cubed
5-6 celery stalks, sliced
1 yellow onion, cut into chunks
1 cup of baby carrots

For the glaze
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
4 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 tsp. of cumin
1/2 tsp. of ginger
Fresh-ground salt and pepper

Mix the glaze in a separate bowl.  Toss with the cut-up vegetables.  Cover with aluminum foil and roast in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour or until vegetables are tender.  Enjoy!

spaghetti with slow-roasted tomatoes

It's the simple things that are especially beautiful.  Especially when it comes to food.  That's why one of my banner rules in cooking is: Don't mess it up. 

My friends and readers are always asking me to share recipes from my cooking adventures.  Sometimes, it simply isn't possible because it's somebody else's recipe entirely and I don't want to violate a copyright.  Sometimes I could do a better job of linking to recipes that are available online (I'll try to do that when I can).  But today, I can give you a recipe that was inspired by Molly Wizenberg in her book A Homemade Life.  I can give it to you because I adapted it enough to make it my own.

I started with a big Costco-size package of Roma tomatoes.  I sliced them in half and tossed them by hand with some olive oil, fresh ground sea salt, and a couple pinches of coriander.  I laid them out, face-up, in a large casserole dish and baked them for 5 1/2 hours at 200 degrees.  They came out syrupy and juicy.

I sliced them into more manageable slices and tossed them with sliced garlic.  Meanwhile, I cooked a big pot of whole wheat spaghetti.  Then I tossed the spaghetti and sauce together and topped it with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and Italian parsley.

So simple, so easy.  Some of the best pasta I've ever had....I could have eaten two plates.  But I didn't...Maybe next time.