Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Mac and Cheese

I may or may not be baking this as we speak. Don't judge I am pregnant and a sandwich just wasn't going to cut it for lunch today. This recipe originally came from Rachael Ray. We discovered it 4 years ago and have been making it ever since. Check out the full original recipe here.
Mac and Cheese
1 pound pasta
Salt and black pepper
onion & garlic powder or salt
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
3 cups cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400. Cook pasta to just shy of al dente. While pasta is cooking start your sauce. Add butter to sauce pan until melted, add flour and cook for about a minute. Whisk in milk and season with seasoning, bring to a bubble. Once to a bubble turn off stove top and stir in cheese until melted. Once pasta is done combine the pasta and the sauce. Pour into baking dish and bake until bubbly and golden brown.

This has become a favorite recipe at our house. We love to make different variations. You can add whatever you want to it and you can use different cheeses to make more of a 3 cheese pasta or whatever kind you like. One of our favorites is using Parmesan cheese, then blending up spinach into it. We also love to add broccoli to ours. You can also add breadcrumbs or corn flakes to the top. The kids love this and so does my husband. Enjoy :)


Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Pineapple Raspberry Julius

When Walmart was out of most of orange juice concentrates and only had a bunch of GV ones covered in sticky juice concentrate I was bummed because I was craving an orange julius. I got home and decided to make a pineapple one instead. I found this recipe and added a little twist. It was so yummy! Even my kids were asking for more. 

6 oz. frozen pineapple concentrate
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup powdered sugar sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
12-16 ice cubes
about 1 cup frozen raspberry

Add first 5 ingredients into blender and blend until well mixed. Add the ice cubes and blend until there are no ice chunks. I used the frappe setting on my blender. Next add the raspberries in and frappe again until they are well incorporated. Pour into desired cups and enjoy! Warning- if you don't want to share make it after the kids are in bed ;)