Creamy Mac 'n Cheese

I adore macaroni and cheese. But only if it's homemade. I used to make a version that called for canned cheese soup. I've revised it to make it a little healthier - although it does contain a lot of cheese! But you can't have mac 'n cheese without a whole lot of cheese, can you?

 Here's what you need:

8 oz. dry macaroni
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 teas salt
1/4 teas pepper
1/2 teas dry mustard
2 cups milk
3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
paprika, optional

Cook the macaroni according to package directions for al dente. The macaroni is going to soak up some of the cheese sauce you're about to make. So if it's overcooked, the mac will be mushy.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper and dry mustard and whisk until blended. Slowly whisk in the milk until smooth. Over medium heat, stir constantly until boiling. Reduce heat to low and cook for one more minute.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in 2 cups of the shredded cheese. Stir in the macaroni and make sure all the pasta is covered with sauce. Pour into a greased 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. If desired, sprinkle a little paprika over the cheese for some extra color.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown and the whole casserole is bubbly.

Please note that you can substitute other cheeses for the cheddar. I have replaced half the cheddar with shredded pepper jack cheese for a zesty twist, and it's amazing!

Menu Plan November 12-18

It's been a beautiful fall here in the Deep South.

Our view down the street - gorgeous!

But can you believe next week is Thanksgiving? Wow, this season is flying by! This week I'm cooking some family favorites. I'll use some of my time in the kitchen this week to start preparing for Thanksgiving dinner.

Here's what we're eating this week:

Monday
Chicken tater tot casserole (crockpot), green beans

Tuesday
Fish tacos, Southwestern quinoa

Wednesday
Pizza sloppy joes, french fries

Thursday
Toscano soup, pretzel rolls

Friday
Steak, twice baked potatoes

Saturday
Brown bag burritos, chips

Sunday
Crockpot lasagna, homemade bread

For more meal planning inspiration, visit Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie.

Mexican Pasta

If you're looking for a quick meal you can have on the table in 30 minutes or less, look no further. This ground beef and pasta dish is simple, hearty and flavorful. Think of it as a healthier alternative to Hamburger Helper.

Even my pickiest eater, the Princess, will gobble this up. Usually she prefers her pasta with no sauce. That's right, no sauce. Nada. Nothing. Except maybe a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, if she's in the mood. But this stuff - she devours it! Try it and you'll see why.

Here's what you need:

2 cups small pasta, uncooked - I use shell pasta
1 lb ground beef
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup salsa
2 TBSP taco seasoning
1/2 teas black pepper
shredded cheese, optional

Cook the pasta according to the package directions and drain. While the pasta is cooking, brown the ground beef in a large skillet, then drain.

To the ground beef, add the tomato sauce, salsa, taco seasoning and pepper. The kind of salsa you use allows you to control the heat and spiciness of the dish. I generally use homemade if I have it on hand. Allow this to simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in the drained pasta. This is why I like to use the shell pasta. The yummy sauce gets into the shell shape and all that flavor seems to linger there. Silly, I know.

Top individual servings with shredded cheese, if desired.

I'm linking this recipe up to Full Plate Thursday over at Miz Helen's Country Cottage.

Thoughts on the Election and Where We Go from Here

The election's over and the guy I voted for didn't win. Thankfully, I wasn't putting my hope in Romney. Scripture tells us not to do that, anyway. "It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in princes." Psalm 118:8-9.

The biggest problem facing our country isn't economic. It's not a social problem, either. It's not equality or women's issues. It's not immigration or  welfare.

Recent polls and surveys suggest that more and more Americans don't believe in God. If they don't believe in Him, why would they obey His commandments to live holy lives? That's why I firmly believe that our country's biggest problem is spiritual. And no political candidate can solve that one. Only Jesus can do that.

As Christians, we need to be on our knees praying and on our feet sharing the Gospel. We need to stop looking to the government to solve our problems and start trusting in the Lord. We need to show our neighbors and community a better way by living out God's love on a daily basis.

So what's next? Well, honestly, I don't know God's plan for our great country. I know He can use whomever is in political power to accomplish His purpose. And so I'm going to trust Him to do that.

Deep Dish Skillet Pizza

Domino's Pizza has a new deep dish pan pizza that Charles just loves. They advertise that the toppings go all the way to the edge. But it's $7.99 for a medium pizza, and that's more than I like to spend when my growing children could eat one pizza all by themselves. So I decided to recreate the pizza at home, using my tried and true pizza dough recipe. It turned out wonderfully!

I started by making the dough:

1 cup warm water
1 TBSP yeast
2 teas sugar or honey

Mix these together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes until the yeast starts to puff up.

Then stir in 2 TBSP olive oil or melted butter.

Then mix in 2 1/2 cups flour (I use half unbleached white and half white wheat) and 1 teas salt.

Using the dough hook, knead for about 5 minutes. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. It's much easier to work with this way.

While the dough is resting, get your cast iron skillet prepared. Melt 2 TBSP butter and mix with 1/2 teas garlic powder. Brush along the bottom and sides of the skillet. Use all of it! I used a 12-inch skillet, by the way.

Roll the dough out to a uniform thickness that will fit nicely in the skillet. Place in the skillet and stretch to fit, if necessary. Prick all over with a fork. Then bake at 425 degrees for 8 minutes.

Carefully remove the pan from the oven and cover with your favorite toppings. Go all the way to the edge of the skillet with the sauce, cheese, everything. Bake for another 10 minutes.

Run a knife or spatula around the edges to loosen. With two spatulas, transfer the pizza from the pan to a cutting surface.

See how crispy that is on the sides? It's the same way on the bottom. The yummy garlic butter did that. It's absolutely crucial to use the butter, trust me.

Cut into slices and enjoy!

Flatbread Shortcut

I have a fantastic recipe for flatbread that I've shared before. I'm not going to lie. It IS amazing! But it also takes some time because it requires two risings. I definitely have to plan ahead when I make it.

And even though I love, love, love my flatbread recipe, sometimes I need to shave time off my meal prep. This is a quick, easy substitute that works wonderfully when time is of the essence.

All I do is mix up a batch of pizza dough, divide it into 8-10 portions, roll it out thinly and throw on the griddle. It takes all of 10 minutes to prepare the dough, a few more minutes to roll it out and a couple of minutes to cook each one. So I've taken a 2-hour process and condensed it into 30 minutes. Not bad!

My family can't even tell the difference, even though the pizza dough version isn't as flat. And that's typically because I haven't rolled it out thinly enough. This time-saving version is just as fabulous for gyros and wraps as the original.

So, what shortcuts do you want to share? How do you save time in the kitchen? Share in the comments!

Menu Plan November 5-11

Last week was a blur for me. I spent most of my time resting, trying to recover from a virus. I tried to get meals on the table, but mostly we had leftovers and stuff from the freezer. I felt much better yesterday, but woke with another fever today and will probably have to make another trip to the doctor. Not fun!

My husband has really stepped up and taken care of things for me, which eases my mind so much and allows me to rest. I've been so proud of the kids, too. They've done their schoolwork with little to no help from me and, for the most part, have been sweet and helpful.

I'm going to make a menu plan and hope I can stick to it. If not, it will be more sandwiches and homemade frozen pizzas!

Here's what I'm aiming for this week:

Monday
Mexican pasta, broccoli

Tuesday
Hawaiian chicken (crockpot recipe), rice

Wednesday
Fish chowder, pretzel rolls

Thursday
Savory beef sandwiches (crockpot recipe), crockpot roasted potatoes

Friday
Lentil and rice burritos, salad

Saturday
Stromboli

Sunday
Chicken taco soup (crockpot recipe), sweet buttermilk cornbread


For more meal planning inspiration, visit Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie.