Skinny Baked Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese, the ultimate in comfort food.  Not really the best choice when trying to "be good". Enter Pinterest and skinnytaste.com.  A healthier version of a family favorite... so I had to try it!  I would encourage you to try it too!  This is what you will need:

Ingredients:

• 12 oz high fiber elbows like Ronzoni Smart Taste
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp light butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1 cup fat free chicken broth (vegetarians use vegetable broth)
• 8 oz (2 cups) Sargento shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar
• salt and fresh pepper to taste
• 12 oz fresh broccoli florets (I used pre-cut bag)
• 1/8 cup grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• cooking spray

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 375°.
Cook pasta and broccoli together in a large pot of salted water, according to package directions for al dente (or slightly under cook 2 minutes). Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish (I used 2 smaller baking dishes so we could have 1 for home and 1 to take to tomorrow's work potluck) with cooking spray.

In a large, heavy skillet, melt butters. Add onion and cook over low heat about 2 minutes, add flour and cook another minute, or until the flour is golden and well combined. Add milk and chicken broth and whisk, raising heat to medium-high until it comes to a boil; cook about 5 minutes or until the sauce becomes smooth and thick. Season with salt and pepper.

Once the sauce is thick, remove from heat, add cheese and mix well until cheese is melted. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, add cooked macaroni and broccoli and mix well. Pour into prepared baking dish. Top with grated cheese and breadcrumbs.Spray a little more cooking spray on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, then broil for a few minutes to get the breadcrumbs golden.

Enjoy!  I know we did!!

Peeps S'Mores... s'more please!

What says Easter more than Peeps?!  And what better way to eat Peeps than joined with chocolate and graham crackers?!

  Before the Microwave... 

 After the microwave... already starting to deflate!

        Ready to eat!  Yummm...  

 Ooey, Gooey, sugary marshmallow goodness!

No matter what you choose, chicks or bunnies (I'm partial to bunnies) and no matter what color you pick I promise you won't be disappointed!  :)

Ham Pinwheels and Stuffed Mushrooms

Ham Pinwheels

This has been a "go to" appetizer recipe for me for a long time.  I found this recipe in the Pillsbury Classic No. 23 - Appetizers, Snacks & Beverages - from, get this, 1982 and have been making it ever since!  

Here's what you'll need:

3 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp prepared horseradish

1/2 tsp prepared mustard

1/2 tsp parsley flakes

8 oz can crescent rolls

4 thin slices of boiled ham

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a cookie sheet (or cover with parchment paper).

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, horseradish, mustard and parsley flakes; mix well.

Separate dough into 4 rectangles and firmly press perforations to seal.

Spread cheese mixture evenly to edges of dough and place 1 ham slice on each rectangle.

Roll up, jelly-roll fashion, starting with shorter side.

Cut each roll into 8 1/2-inch thick slices.

Place, cut-side down, on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield - 32 snacks

Stuffed Mushrooms

I have been looking for a good recipe for stuffed mushrooms for a long time.  I found this recipe on, where else, Pinterest.  The picture looked yummy and they are said to be a "most requested appetizer", so I had to give them a try.  You can see the original here.  

Here's what you'll need:

• 8 oz bacon
• 1/2 cup finely minced sweet onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 16 oz white button mushrooms
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Using scissors or a sharp knife, cut raw bacon into small pieces. In a large saute pan, over medium heat, cook bacon until nice and crispy. While bacon is cooking, remove mushroom stems from caps and chop stems into small pieces. When bacon is done, remove from pan and set aside; reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease and pour the rest from pan. Saute onion until soft about 5 minutes, scraping up any brown bits on bottom of pan. Add chopped mushrooms stems and garlic and cook a few minutes longer. Reduce heat to low. Add cream cheese and parmesan cheese and stir until cheeses are melted. Add reserved chopped bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper. (Mixture can be made, cooled, and stored, covered, in the fridge for up to two days.) Remove mixture from heat and stuff each mushroom cap generously with mixture. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until mushrooms are soft and filling is nice and hot.

I hope you enjoy!!

Baby Burp Cloths

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

"Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of." 

Recently the arrival of two precious baby girls prompted me to search for a something special that I could make for these new bundles of joy.  The internet provided me with so many ideas but I finally settled on burp cloths.  I had found at least 4 different types of burp cloths and finally decided to combine a couple of them. I chose to use cloth diapers as the "base", after all, they are designed to be absorbent.  While these really were not difficult to make they were time consuming.  I believe that if I were to make them again they probably would not take me quite as long as I would  have a little more experience.  

Here's what you'll need:

cloth diapers (I used the type that had the thicker panel down the center)

coordinating fabric

fusible web

ribbon (to tie them together for presentation)

To begin, cut fabric slightly larger that the thick center panel.  Tuck the raw edges under and press to keep the edges crisp.  Pin this, right side up, to the diaper and then sew down the fabric close to the outside edges.  Next embellish the cloths.  I used the baby's name and "burp".  You will need to trace the letters backwards on the fusible web.  Iron to the wrong side of the fabric and cut out.  Remove the backing from the letters and iron to the front of the burp cloth.  Now comes the hard part... I don't have an embroidery sewing machine so I set the machine to a zig zag stitch with a very small stitch length and stitch width and then went around the outside edges of the lettering.  That's it!!  The possibilities are endless.  

Confession... The stitching around the letters was more difficult than I anticipated and I made many mistakes.  When I look at these, all I see are the flaws and that makes it so I can't love them.  I know I'm probably much more critical than anyone else would be.  At least the mistakes help attest to the fact that it is, indeed, homemade... homemade with love!

Saltine Cracker Toffee

I wanted to bring in a sweet treat to work tomorrow for Valentine's Day, but I have to admit that this trial was more of a "mess" than a "success"!!  Oh, I know it "looks" good, but trust me, looks can be deceiving.  I burnt the sugar... perhaps I should have stayed off my work e-mail?!?  Anyway, lesson learned.  If I have time yet today I will try to make another batch to take into work, if not, at least I had good intentions and my family will get to pick through the pieces to find some that are at least edible!

This recipe was another one of those fun Pinterest finds!!  Check it out here.

You will need:

40 salted saltine crackers or enough to line your pan
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips
(optional) 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Line saltine crackers in a single layer on the pan. 

In a small pot combine sugar and butter and bring to a boil. Once mixture is at a boil, continue boiling for 3 minutes. Mixture should be a deep caramel color. Immediately pour over saltines and spread to cover crackers completely. (So far so good!)

Bake at 400 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes. (This where things when horribly wrong for me... watch it carefully! As it turns out I probably should have taken it out of the oven after 3, maybe 4 minutes!!)  It will get all bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and let sit a couple of minutes to melt. Sometimes I melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for about 1 minute then spread it on. Spread melted chocolate and top with chopped nuts if desired. Cool completely and break into pieces. 

                                                                

Good Luck... and remember to watch it carefully!!  :)

Pepperoni Pizza Dip

Tomorrow we are having a potluck at work and thought I'd bring this Pepperoni Pizza Dip.  I couldn't just make one for work I had to make one for home as well.  We got the recipe originally from Donna, found on lowcarbfriends.com.  See here.  It's been a family favorite ever since.

Ingredients: 8 ounces cream cheese 1/2 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon oregano 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1/2 cup pizza sauce 1/2 cup pepperoni sausage -- chopped 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese How To Prepare: Heat cream cheese, sour cream, oregano, garlic powder and red pepper. Spread evenly in a 9-10 inch pie plate then spread pizza sauce over heated mixture. Sprinkle with pepperoni and onion. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Top with cheese and bake until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes). Serve hot

When we make it, we usually will use either low fat or no fat cream cheese and sour cream... it will all depend on just how fat I feel at the moment.  This way I can almost convince myself that it's healthy... but wait, we also tend to use much more mozzarella, up to 2 cups... Okay so maybe it's not that healthy, but boy is it good!!   :)

Here we have the cream cheese mixture spread in the baking dishes (remember I doubled the recipe so I could make 2).  Next is the onion and pepperoni chopped and ready to add to the dish.

Here you see the sauce, onions and pepperoni added to the dish.  Once it's baked for 10 minutes or until slightly bubbly and heated through we add the mozzarella and continue baking until the cheese is completely melted.

We like to serve this dip with Ritz crackers.  Other great dippers would be tortilla chips, pita wedges or even cocktail breads.  

Enjoy!

Egg McCorby

Well, I can't take any credit for this morning's breakfast.  We have Kristen to thank for the Egg McMuffins that she didn't purchase from McDonald's but created herself in the kitchen.  Let me tell you, they were delish and oh so easy, so I'm told!!  I'm loving that Kristen has a renewed interest in the kitchen... it could be the apron with ruffles and pearls that she got for Christmas, or it could be Pinterest, either way I think it's great!  :)

The inspiration for this mornings undertaking can be found here.

You'll need:

English Muffins
Large eggs
Cheese (about 10 ounces for 12 sandwiches.)
Butter, or olive oil (optional)


Grab a muffin tin and and very lightly oil each spot in the tin with either butter or spray oil.  Next,  crack an egg in each muffin area!  Stick these in a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes.
Take half of a muffin, add some cheese, add an egg, and apply the top half of the muffin.  Here Kristen improvised and had cooked up some sausage patties to add to the sandwich.  You could add any meat that you want (bacon, ham, canadian bacon) or leave it meatless as the author does.

Thanks, Kristen!  Can't wait to see what's cookin' next!