Mac & Cheese

I love homemade mac and cheese. It is definitely a comfort food for me. Whenever I got a break from college and was able to go home, mac and cheese was the first thing I requested. This is the only mac and cheese I eat... I can not stand the Kraft stuff you buy at the store [no offense to those of you who like it]. My mom gave me this recipe. Hope you all like it!

1. Boil 2 cups of macaroni noodles

2. While the noodles are cooking, start on the white sauce.

White sauce:
Melt 1/2 stick of butter in a medium sauce pan.
Stir in 1/4 cup of flour
Bring to a boil

3. Stir in 2 cups of milk. Bring to a boil.
Add 2 cups shredded cheese. I usually use cheddar but you can use whatever.

4. Poor the noodles in a greased 5 qt. baking dish. Pour the sauce on top of the noodles and let sauce mix in with the noodles. I sometimes sprinkle a different kind of cheese on top. [Pepper jack is very good]

5. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. It will start to brown and the cheese will get bubbly.

Pin this recipe here

Breakfast for Dinner

My favorite meal of the day is breakfast. I would eat eggs, bacon, and toast every day if I could. I am not a fan of sweet things in the morning, but I can eat them once in a while. We have breakfast for dinner here like every other week because it is something my nephews actually like. So today for dinner I made scrambled eggs, pancakes [with homemade syrup], and bacon. It was all fantastic and I loved the recipe I found for the pancakes. I went to www.allrecipes.com and searched "pancakes" and made the highest rated one.

Pancakes

Homemade Syrup

1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. water
1 T maple extract [optional]

Pin it here

Crock Pot Salisbury Steaks

As I said in my last post, I love me some beef! Jill and I both wanted some comfort food...and beef. I also love the crock pot. Even though it might take a while to make a crock pot meal, it is always so nice doing things in advance. It saves a lot of time and stress when you're trying to get everything ready in the evening. I also made mashed potatoes with this meal. Laura Freeman gave me this recipe..so good and easy AND you can make it in advance which makes it very nice.

Here is the link for the Crock Pot Salisbury Steaks. I made a couple little changes: 1. I made my own bread crumbs. I simply made toast, cut it up very small, and added Italian seasoning. 2. I used one can of cream and chicken soup and one can of cream of celery soup. I really like how that tasted. 3. I didn't use au jus mix because I could not find any; I used Baked Burgundy Onion Soup mix. It tasted fine, but if you can find the au jus miz I would use that.

Baked Mashed Potatoes

6 med size potatoes 

1 cup sour cream

1 (3 oz) pkg cream cheese 

1/4 cup butter, melted 

Paprika 

Salt and Pepper

Peel and dice potatoes. Cook in salted water, drain and mash. Mix cream cheese and sour cream and add to mashed potatoes. Put into a 2 qt casserole dish. Top with melted butter and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 30 min at 350. These can also be made ahead of time and refrigerated, but they must bake for 1 hour.

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Frisco Melts

If any of you know me at all, you know I love hamburgers. If I could eat them multiple times a week, I probably would. But since my metabolism is not quite as fast as I would like it to be, I unfortunately cannot. Whenever I go to restaurants, my first impulse is to look at the burgers. I look at the burgers and decide to go with the frisco melt because I love the sauce and the onions they put on it and I justify it as not eating a burger.
Living with my sister's family has taught me a few things: 1. How to cook  2. How to cook and eat healthier 3. How to make things I would normally buy- sauces, dressing, and seasonings. Well for this meal, I failed with the being healthy part; although I did make the dressings so that eliminates all the junk they put in dressing. Here is my take on the frisco melt! Enjoy!

Frisco Melts

1. I made the Thousand Island and Russian dressing before hand. I got the recipes from these 2 blogs.

Thousand Island
Russian

2. You need to caramelize the onions. I have never caramelized onions before so I did some research. The only recipe I could find that I liked pretty much used 1 lb bag of onion. I made this for 3 people, so I had to majorly downsize to make that work.
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1/2 T butter
` 1/2 t olive oil
Put all these ingredients in a pan over medium heat till the onions started to brown. When they are browned add:
1 t brown sugar
1/2 t balsamic vinegar
Still until they are caramelized. Set aside.

3. Here is a link to the recipe I used for the yummy frisco melts:

Frisco Melts

I only used 1 patty for each sandwich because 2 is way too much for me. I also did not use sourdough bread because the store did not have any. Weird, I know. I would definitely use sourdough though if you can find it. It was super good! Will definitely make again!

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Perfect Wisdom

Today in church my brother-in-law, Jim, sang a song that really moved me. The song is "Perfect Wisdom of Our God" by Keith and Kristyn Getty. This past week, I have felt overwhelmed. Thing after thing kept happening that was not part of "my plan". God has been working on me the past few years that my way is usually not what God has planned for me. I have learned that God's way is ALWAYS best even if I do not see that at first. I do not know why certain things happened this week, and I do not know if I will ever know, but I do know that God is in control of everything and He allows everything to happen for a reason. I can rest in Him alone. Here are the lyrics to the song and I hope they are an encouragement to you.

Perfect Wisdom of Our God

The perfect wisdom of our God,
Revealed in all the universe:
All things created by His hand,
And held together at His command.
He knows the mysteries of the seas,
The secrets of the stars are His;
He guides the planets on their way,
And turns the earth through another day.

The matchless wisdom of His ways,
That mark the path of righteousness;
His word a lamp unto my feet,
His Spirit teaching and guiding me.
And oh, the mystery of the cross,
That God should suffer for the lost
So that the fool might shame the wise,
And all the glory might go to Christ!

Oh grant me wisdom from above,
To pray for peace and cling to love,
And teach me humbly to receive
The sun and rain of Your sovereignty.
Each strand of sorrow has a place
Within this tapestry of grace;
So through the trials I choose to say:
“Your perfect will in your perfect way.”

Listen to the song here

Hungry for Fall

My favorite season is by far summer... I love being able to wear shorts and a t-shirt every day, being in the heat, drinking iced tea [unsweetened, of course], and wearing flip flops. I am always very hesitant to welcome fall in because that means winter is coming, and that is just not okay with me... not a fan of the cold. People always say, "Well since you grew up in Chicago, you should be used to it." My reply: "Yes, I'm used to it, but that doesn't mean I like it." I do enjoy fall though: sweatshirt and jeans weather, the beautiful leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, and fun fall food. Lately I've been wanting the "fall food". So I decided to choose the coolest day of the week and a day it would rain to make this yummy Chicken Bacon Chowder recipe. That day was today. It was supposed to rain all day and get to a high of 80. Well, it didn't rain at all, and it got to 82, but I still made it, and oh, was it good! I got the original recipe from here and made a few changes while making it and then decided to change a few more things for next time after I tasted it. Hope you enjoy it! We sure did!

Chicken Bacon Chowder

in the Crock Pot

Recipe:

5-6 cloves of garlic- minced

1 shallot- finely chopped

2 ribs of celery- diced

3/4 c. mushrooms- diced

1 medium onion- chopped

4 T. butter (divided)

2 c. chicken stock (divided)

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast

8 oz. cream cheese

1 c. heavy cream

1 lb. bacon- cooked crisp and crumbled

1 t. salt

1 t. pepper

1 t. garlic powder

1 t. thyme

Directions:

1. To crock pot, add garlic, shallot, celery, mushrooms, onion, 2 T. butter, 1 c. chicken stock, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook vegetables on low for approximately 1 hour.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, while the vegetables are cooking,  pan-sear the chicken breasts in the remaining 2 T. butter until they are browned on both sides [chicken will not be fully cooked through yet].

3. Remove the chicken from pan and let cool. De-glaze the pan with the remaining 1 c. of chicken stock. Using a rubber spatula, scrape up any of the chicken bits and add to the crock pot 

4. Add the cream cheese, heavy cream, garlic powder, and thyme to the crock pot. Stir until it's combined well.

5. Once chicken has cooled, cut it into cubes and add to the crock pot with the bacon. Stir until all the ingredients are combined. Cover and let cook for 6 hours. 

Makes 12 servings

I served this with tortilla chips. My sister didn't even use a spoon; she used the chips to dip into the chowder. I used both :)

If you would like to pin this, here is the link

The Start of Something New

I've never done this whole blogging thing before, but I'm excited to start. I've been wanting a way to express myself that doesn't involve Facebook. I've always enjoyed looking at certain blogs for recipes and some of my other interests so I figured I might as well do it too. Enjoy!
One thing I am so thankful for right now is friends. God has blessed me with some amazing people in my life and I am just overwhelmed right now with the love they've shown to me. I have received so many cards and packages since I've arrived in Wilmington: my coworkers from Gymboree sent me the sweetest card; Nicole sending me a thoughtful note with one of my favorite brews of coffee [Berres Brothers Highlander Grogg]; Laura sending me 4 Happy Potter books on CD [and a gift I'm not allowed to open till Tuesday]; the youth group back at home sending me a card; a precious note from one of my favorite little girls, Brooklynn; Hannah sending me a good luck card and shirt for when I take my licensing test; and David, my boyfriend, coming up to visit me for a few days and treating me to so many special things that I normally don't get to do. These people, and so many more [trust me, I could keep going], have encouraged me so much in the past days, months, and years.
Reminder: A little note, gift, text, or a phone call can encourage someone in ways you will never know.

"A strong friendship doesn't need daily conversation; it doesn't always need togetherness. As long as the relationship lives in the heart, true friends will never part."

-Unknown