Macaroni with Homemade Cheese Sauce

Delicious and creamy, in my opinion home-made cheese sauce tastes way better and is a lot simpler to prepare than you might think. This sauce can be used in mac n cheese, over vegetables, or any other way you like cheese sauce! I like preparing simple convenience foods myself because I can often make them taste better and I know exactly what I'm feeding my family. The nutmeg is my secret ingredient, it really does wonders for savory dishes. My little sister adores my Macaroni and Cheese, and even learned to make it herself, which is a lot for a girl who hates cooking.

1 1/2 cups dry macaroni noodles.

2 TBS butter
2 TBS Flour
3 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheese. I like 1/2 sharp cheddar 1/2 mild cheddar. But customize it by using whatever you like.
Salt and Pepper to taste
Nutmeg, a dash or two

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare macaroni as directed on package.

For Cheese Sauce:


In a sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour and whisk until it becomes a tad pasty (you just made a roux) Place milk in microwavable container and heat for 1 minute to take the chill off. This will help the milk blend with the roux and thicken nicely without clumping. Slowly whisk in warmed milk. Continue to whisk until thickened. Remove from heat, add cheese, stir until melted. Add seasonings. If sauce is too thick, add more milk until it is the consistency you like. Lately, I've been adding more milk for a creamier sauce.


If you like baked macaroni and cheese, mix it all together, place in a casserole dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs, dot with butter,  and bake at 350 for 15-20 mins until the top is browned.

 

Quick Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe came from a friend. Now, I'm all for making the sauce from scratch, using fresh vegetables that I chopped and prepared myself, lovingly preparing my own pie crust, but, this is a quick and delicious way to get a wholesome, homemade meal on the table for your family.


1 c. cubed cooked chicken
1 c. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 can Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup
1/8 tsp. pepper (ok, who measures 1/8 tsp.? A dash of pepper, people.)
3/4 c. milk (split into 1/4 and 1/2 cups)
1 egg
1 c. Bisquick Baking Mix

1. Preheat oven to 400F. In 9" pie plate, mix chicken, vegetables, soup, pepper and 1/4 c. milk.
2. Mix remaining milk (1/2 c.), egg and baking mix. Pour over chicken mixture. Bake 30 minutes or until golden.

Serves 4.

Omelets

A lot of people I talk to seem to be afraid of making omelets, I'm not sure why, since with a few tricks they are really easy and to me they just look more impressive than scrambled eggs. I wouldn't go to the trouble of making individual omelets for a large family or crowd, but I often whip up a two-person omelet for Hubby and I.

3 eggs
dash of milk
salt and pepper to taste


Fillings: a cheese omelet is the most basic and definitely delicious but I sometimes I like to add things like ham, mushrooms, spinach, onion, bell peppers, fresh herbs, etc. You can add anything you want to your omelet.

Melt a pat of butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Crack eggs into a bowl, add milk and seasonings, whisk together until fluffy.

Pour eggs into skillet and let sit for a few minutes. Resist the urge to touch them for a bit, you want to let them set up.

Once eggs are setting up nicely and look a bit like this

Get your largest spatula and use it to very gently push the side of the omelet toward the center of the pan

Then spread some of the uncooked egg that is on top into the space created.

Once that has set up, use your spatula to gently lift and flip the entire omelet. If you have a lot of uncooked egg still on top, repeat the scooting and spreading step above a coule of times, in different areas prior to flipping.

Once flipped, add toppings to one half and fold the other half over. I usually turn off the heat and cover for a few minutes to allow the cheese to melt and everything to set.

Beef Tips and Gravy

This is a very simple, easy slow cooker meal.  I love how a slow cooker can make magic of a few simple ingredients. You can easily double or triple the recipe depending on the size of your crock.

1 lb beef stew meat (i bought a pre-made package that was 1.25 lbs, so no need to be exact)
1 12 oz. jar Beef Gravy
1/2 onion, chopped

Place all ingredients in slow cooker, gently mix together to break up the beef. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 (if cooking on low, I usually set it to high for the first 30 mins to an hour then turn it down) . If you want, you could brown the meat in a skillet first, but you really don't have to. Serve over hot rice or egg noodles. Sometimes I add a package of sliced mushrooms with the rest of the ingredients.

Fideo (Mexican Spaghetti)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 (8 ounce) package fideo pasta (I usually just use thin spaghetti noodles and break them prior to cooking)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 clove garlic, smashed or 1 tsp garlic powder

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 tablespoon chili powder (starting point, I usually add more)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth (I usually use Better Than Boullion)

Optional: 2 cups chopped chicken

In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium heat, add noodles and garlic and allow them to gently brown for a couple minutes. Add tomato sauce and broth, bring to a simmer, add spices and chicken if using, cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes until noodles are tender.