Crock Pot Mac N Cheese

I am not sure how I came across this blog. It could have been Pinterest or another blog. But, I found it HERE. (tipgarden.blogspot.com) I loved it because it was super easy. 

Cooking oil spray

2 cups skim milk

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I didn't have sharp cheddar so I just used mild)

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

Spray the pot of the slow cooker.  In a mixing bowl whisk together milk, evaporated milk, egg, salt and pepper. Pour milk mixture into the crockpot.  Add cheese and uncooked macaroni. Stir gently to mix.  

Turn slow cooker on low and cook 3-4 hours, or until the custard is set and the macaroni is tender.  (Do not cook more than 4 hours, or the sides will begin to dry out).  Serve at once.  I think this was completely done after cooking on low for 3 hours. The edges were crispy. 

Pepperoni String Chese Roll Ups

I saw these on The Girl Who Ate Everything, then I also saw them on Life as a Lofthouse. I thought about making them for the Super Bowl but I wanted to try them out first. They were really good.

Pepperoni String Cheese Roll Ups Source:
adapted from Dinner With The Donnells
1 (8 ounce) package refrigerated crescent roll dough
4 cheese sticks, halved
1 (3.5 ounce) package sliced pepperoni
optional - marinara or ranch sauce for dipping

Garlic Butter Glaze:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasonings
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take each triangle of crescent roll dough and place about 4 pepperoni on the bottom of the triangle. Place half of a cheese stick on top and roll up. Place seam side down on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown. While rolls are cooking, combine the melted butter, Italian seasonings, garlic powder and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl. When rolls are done remove from the oven and brush with the garlic butter glaze. Serve with marinara or ranch for dipping.

German Pancakes

I've never made German Pancakes before but I've heard they were good. I wanted to make Breakfast Christmas Eve morning so I found a recipe on All Recipes. They were yummy and easy so I have a feeling we'll be eating them often.

Ingredients

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Directions

Place the eggs, milk, flour and salt in a blender; cover and process until smooth. Pour the butter into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish; add the batter. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.

I also made my buttermilk syrup recipe to go with them. But they would be good with fruit and cream also.

Buttermilk Syrup

Ingredients

 3/4 c. buttermilk

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 stick real butter

2 Tbsp corn syrup

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Combine buttermilk, sugar, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda in a large pot. I stir until the butter is melted then I add the baking soda.

Bring ingredients to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring very frequently, for 8-9 minutes.

When it's done, it should be golden brown. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Taco Pasta

I made this the other night and it was so yummy! I got it from the Life as a Lofthouse blog. It's super easy and so good.

Taco Pasta Recipe
from: Fake Ginger
1 pound Lean Ground Beef
8-12 ounces small Pasta shells ( I used Elbow)
1 small Onion, chopped
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 (14 oz) can Diced Tomatoes, drained
4 Tablespoons Taco Seasoning
3 ounces Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Sour Cream
Salt and Pepper
DIRECTIONS: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water. Set aside. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook ground beef and chopped onion over medium-high heat. Cook until beef is no longer pink. (Drain any grease) Then add minced garlic, cook and stir for 30 seconds. Stir in can of diced tomatoes and taco seasoning. Let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and 1/2 cup pasta water. Cook and stir until cream cheese has melted and sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over low heat for another 5 minutes, or until sauce has reduced a bit.

Baked Chicken Fingers

I saw these on Life as a Lofthouse and they have been on my list of things to try for like a month. I got this recipe from HERE. I have a hard time getting Karson to eat chicken in anything unless it's chicken nuggets. He liked these a lot so they get thumbs up from me.

BAKED CHICKEN FINGERS
Recipe by: Holly Lofthouse

2 lbs uncooked, chicken breast strips
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon ranch seasoning mix
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 eggs, beaten

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. In a small bowl beat eggs. In a medium bowl mix together bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, ranch seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix together well. Pour the olive oil over the bread crumb mixture and mix with a fork until combined.
With each chicken strip, dip in egg bowl first. Then dip into bread mix bowl. Shake off excess. Place strip onto cookie sheet and repeat with all remaining chicken. Bake for 20 minutes.

Cheesy Chicken Pizza

This is a super fast and easy chicken pizza. If you like barbecue sauce then you could use that instead of pizza sauce. I however don't like BBQ sauce but I'm sure my husband would prefer it. I have no idea where this recipe came from. I've made it for probably 10 years. I think it was probably a Kraft Foods magazine or something like that.
Ingredients:
1/2 package Chicken Breast (probably 2 chicken breasts
1 prepared pizza crust (12 inch)
1/2 cup pizza sauce (or BBQ sauce)
1/2 cup sliced green peppers (I like it with peppers but I know my son won't eat it with peppers so I've been leaving them off.)
1 pkg (8 oz)shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Cook chicken in 1 Tbsp. hot oil on medium-high heat until cooked through.
Spread crust with sauce. Top with chicken, peppers, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.

Baked Macaroni & Cheese

My sister n law made this macaroni and cheese and it was the best I'd ever had. I made it and didn't think it turned out good at all. I'm not sure what I did wrong. So, even though I made it and thought it didn't turn out, I'm posting it and hopefully the next time I try it it will be as good as when my sister in law made it. I found the recipe on Food Network. You can google Alton Brown baked macaroni and cheese and it should pull up a video link where he shows you step by step how to make it.

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, Food Network

Ingredients
1/2 lb elbow macaroni (I don't know exactly how much this is. I googled it, but I didn't write down how much I used. I'm thinking about 2 cups, non cooked)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon mustard powder
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
fresh black pepper

Topping
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs (At the time I made this I only had regular bread crumbs, next time I'll use Panko bread crumbs for sure.)

Directions:
Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 45 mins
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta according to package directions.
2 While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes making sure it's free of lumps.
3 Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
4 Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. (watch the video if you don't know what temper means. Basically you can't pour a cold egg into the hot mixture or it will turn to scrambled eggs so you have to slowly mix a little of the warm mixture with the egg to get it warm before pouring it in the pan.)
5 Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
6 For the topping, melt the butter in a sauté pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes.
7 Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving

Club Calzone

As a silly snake, don't laugh...

I got this recipe from my sister however the snake idea came from Jay Leno. This has been a fast and easy recipe that I've made for years.

Ingredients

1 Can (10 oz) Refrigerated Pizza Crust
1/4 C Italian Dressing

1 C Mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/4 C chopped green pepper

1 Pkg (9oz) variety pack lunch meat

1/3 C chopped black olives

Unroll pizza crust on lightly greased cookie sheet. Stretch to form 15X10 inch rectangle; brush with dressing & sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Layer mozzarella cheese, green pepper, olives & sliced meat down center of crust. Fold crust over meat; pinch edges to seal. Make small cuts across top to vent. Bake at 425 for 12 minutes or until browned.

For the snake I didn't put everything in the center, instead I spread it all over then rolled it up. Then I mixed a little bit of egg yolk with green food coloring and let Karson use a brush to paint on the green. Karson also put on the eyes and even olives on the tail for his rattles.

Mini Pizzas

I've seen these before and have wanted to make them and never have. My sister in law made them a while ago so I made a mental note for the next time I needed to make something fast to make these. We always have pizza sauce, cheese, rolls and pizza dough. Karson made these himself. This is for sure a good one to let the kids do. I remember my old neighbor used to have her kids make these all the time. I can see why.

1 pkg biscuits (I used Pilsbury Grands biscuits)
Pizza Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Any other toppings

Bake according to package directions. The ones pictured above were baked at 350 for about 14 minutes.