Zany Brainy Cheesy Alfredo

Don't I look AMAZING?! (Cheddar Topping)

 So it was creation time again and Y.U.M.....

I love mac and cheese. But sometimes it can get boring. Volia. ADD Alfredo into the mix.


What you need:

Wacky Mac. (The colorful noodles)

Half a stick of melted Butter.

1/8 of a cup of Milk.

Half a block of grated cheddar. (or bag)

Half a bag of Mexican Blend Cheese. (it was what I had in the fridge as well)

A jar of Alfredo Sauce.  I used Neumans Own brand.

Mom's with tomatoes. (Mouthwatering!)

I added a pinch of salt and pepper to my plate to taste.









                                                                                    How You Do It?!:


Boil the pasta until its a little over ready.  About 15 minutes. Just slightly over.

Drain it well. I let it sit for a moment, and kept swishing the strainer to make sure all the water was mostly out.

So bring your pasta back to your serving bowl (mixing bowl for me. Works the best)   Put your pasta in, followed by the butter.

Add half the jar of Alfredo Sauce.  Stir.
Add the second half followed by the milk and the blended cheese. Stir again.

Add a handful or two of the cheddar cheese.  Stir until gooey. (You can use it all, but  save some for the toppings)


Add your favorite toppings and salt to taste to your dish and. Yum. Enjoy!

Mom added stewed tomatoes. Dad and I added Cheddar.

Mom's is on the left , the serving dish on the right.

Dreamy Hot Chocolate

Perfect for those chilly nights

I personally do NOT like powdered hot chocolate. It has an odd after taste and just doesn't taste right.

I love homemade hot chocolate so here's my recipe. Works GREAT if you do not have a double boiler pan.




What you need:



DARK chocolate bar. I use either Godiva or Ghirardelli. (I did try this with milk chocolate. It came out too weird)  One bar usually gets me 4-6 mugs of hot chocolate.

Milk (enough to fill a mug)

Sugar

Mini Marshmallows.

---How to---

Get a small milk pan or sauce pan, and place on stove on medium heat. Break the chocolate into pieces  Pour milk and chocolate  into pan and make sure you are whisking it  almost constantly.   

Put sugar into your mug.  It's all based on your personal taste.  

Once the chocolate is melted and your chocolate has its uber yumminess look to it, pour it in the mug. Stir and taste it to make sure you have enough sugar in it.  Put a handful of marshmallows in once it has your perfect taste. Drink. Enjoy.

Easy Ham Salad

Here's one easy ham salad recipe.  It only took me five minutes to finish making.

What you need:

Fully cooked shank ham, or any kind really.

Mayo.

Honey Mustard.

Pepper.

__

Grate the ham in a food processor until fine. Depending on how much you make, will depend on how much mayo you use. You want this to be creamy.  I used 5tbsp for mine Transfer to a medium sized bowl to mix.

I'm great to make for those left overs from last night!

After you mix in the mayo, add a squirt of honey mustard, just around the top and  mix again. Don't use too much. just a little bit will do ( I used roughly 2 teaspoons).  Add your pepper (1 teaspoon give or take) and for a good taste add relish if you'd like.

Creamy Tuna Dip

What you need:

2 cans of tuna

 2 tbsp of Mayo or Miracle whip

diced onion eyeball it. I love onions. ( you can use onion powder too)

1 package of cream cheese

Pepper to taste
--
Baguette  bread (or any kind)

About a 1/4 to a 1/2  stick of butter melted

Add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and some garlic powder to melted butter for garlic cheese bread.



Let cream cheese sit out until its soft.

While you wait for that, go ahead and start the bread.  Cut it into small pieces, at a slight angle.   Place on foil covered pan and bush butter mixture lightly on the top side of  the bread.  Put into toaster oven and set for Medium, or how ever you like your toast.  You can also preheat a regular oven to 350 and let bake for 15 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool.

Drain tuna and set aside until ready to use.

Chop onions to desired size and place in bowl. Add your spices (salt, pepper etc)  Mix together.

Add tuna and cream cheese and  1 Tbsp of mayo at a time and mix until you get a thick, dip like texture. If you need more mayo add the second tablespoon. If you need even more mayo, add a HALF TEASPOON at a time. Too much mayo will make it runny.

Now you can spice up your garlicky cheese bread.  Place a teaspoon size of dip on each piece of bread.  Now you can dress them up too. Slice tomatoes in slivers for those tomato lovers, add parsley or oregano for  a taste, you can even slice up green pepper for amazing toppings. You'll be a hit at the next potluck you go to!

Heavenly Cheesy Mac

This recipe was rather fun.  I pretty much eyeballed everything, and used what I had in the fridge.

What you need:

1/2 a box of macaroni shell noodles  (any kind works)
a block and a half of cheddar (you may use any cheese)
Half a block of cream cheese.  (you can use Velveeta too)
1 stick of melted butter
 Roughly a 1/3 cup of milk
 1 tsp of Black pepper
Salt is optional.


Boil the noodles until they are ready about 10 to 12 minutes. I leave mine in for 15. While the noodles are boiling, you can grate the cheese if you bought it in block form. Food Processors are amazing for this.

 Drain the noodles and bring back to your work area.

Using a medium-large bowl  (a mixing bowl is usually perfect) line thin slices of the cream cheese along the bottom of it.  Add the noodles

Add HALF of the grated cheese. Pour the melted butter on top along with the milk. Mix the contents together .  Add the second half of the cheese and the black pepper and mix until all the cheese is melted and the noodles no longer have the watery texture from the butter and the milk.   Once everything is  mixed, toss some in a bowl salt to taste.  My dad adds bacon bits for a topping on his, but if you are like my mom- slice up some tomato and enjoy!

Sauce with a KICK!

A delicious sauce makes all the difference. 

So I came across this by chance.  I bought the wrong BBQ sauce at the store. It was way too spicy on its own, so I modified it and it came out great.

What you need:
Double everything for a full bottle.

 1/2 a bottle of KRAFT Hot bbq sauce
3 tbsp of  Butter
1 to 1 and 1/2 tbsp of Mayo or Miracle Whip. (I used Mayo)
1 tbsp of Grape Jelly
1 tbsp of Honey
1/4 tsp of Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp of Onion Powder
a pinch of salt. (optional)
a squirt of lemon juice (optional)


Pour the bbq sauce into a sauce pan over medium heat and add the butter, one tab at a time.  Mix it with a whisk until melted. Add each ingredient  one at a time, starting with the mayonnaise and ending with the spices. Keep whisking until it's bubbly. Taste it to see if it has the right kick for you.
Pour onto your favorite  food and enjoy.  I used it for chicken wings.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

The finished product. 

What you Need:

2 cups of All Purpose Flour.
1/2 cup of Sugar.
3 tsp of baking SODA
1/2 tsp of salt

1 cup of  Milk
1/3 cup of oil
1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
1 egg
1 bag of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips.

You also need Brown Sugar for the topping.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all your dry ingredients first, then add the chocolate chips and mix again. Add the wet ingredients. Mix well.

Grease a PIZZA STONE ( if you don't have one, any greased pan will work just as well)
Pour mix onto stone like a giant cookie.

Sprinkle Brown Sugar all over batter. Sprinkle regular sugar on top as well.  Bake for about 30 minutes  or until done. (Poke it with a fork in the middle, the fork should come out clean, minus melted chocolate.)

Slather with butter or topping of your choice and enjoy!