Ranch-Baked Mac N Cheese

YES!  I finally managed to get some burned cheese on top.  425 degrees for 12 minutes.  Beats 375 for 30 minutes and still not seeing any burned cheese. 

Step 1: boil some pasta

Step 2: In a skillet, combine 1 big spoonful of alfredo sauce, a generous amount of ranch, (2 or 3 times the amount of alfredo), a little bit of honey mustard, about 1/3 c flour, and a few big handfuls of shredded cheese

Step 3: mix it all up in an oven-safe dish

Step 4: sprinkle cheese on top

Step 5: bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes

Step 6: make a meal

Leek Burger and Carrot Soup

Burger topped with leeks, on foccacia

Carrot Soup



Chicken-Bacon-Ranch Pizza

Wow.  So delicious. I love chicken-bacon-ranch anything but this pizza might have blown all the others out of the water.  And it's even an all whole-wheat crust! (Which I've never done before.  I always use whole wheat flour, but usually less than half the total flour)

For this personal-pan sized pizza I used

1 1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 c hot water
garlic, onion, mustard powders
salt
oregano
2 tbsp milled flax seed
quick pour of olive oil
1 2/3 c whole wheat flour

I sauteed some zucchini in olive oil and fried some bacon (cut into small pieces)
I had cooked and shredded chicken leftover from  a few nights ago.

Once the crust is made and spread out in the pan, add a thin layer of ranch dressing, then zucchini and chicken pieces, and the bacon (after using a paper towel to soak up as much grease as possible)

Add cheese.

Back at 450 for 12 minutes.

Eat.

Love.

And don't forget the side of avocado.

Beef Stroganoff

In a larg-ish pot, heat 1 jar of beef gravy, 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, 1 can of water, and 1 cup of red wine.  When it boils, add pasta.  Egg noodles are probably best.  I didn't have any this time so I used rigatoni. I'm not sure how much pasta I added, I think it was roughly 1/2 a box.  I just poured in as much as I thought cook cook in the amount of liquid that I have.  (I put in a lil too much, the end result was rather dry.  I'll probably add some water when I reheat the leftovers)

Chop and steam in butter: 2 large carrots and 1 parsnip.

Cook 1 lb stew beef in a skillet, chop the larger pieces up so that they are bite-sized.

When the pasta is just about done, add 1 cup frozen peas.  Cook for a few minutes, then turn off the heat and cover.  When the meat and vegetables are done, add them to the pasta. 

"oh duh" moment of the day (and some food)

It's 10:15 PM.  I started cleaning my apartment at 9:15 this morning.  I'm not done yet.  But I'm at that "almost done" point where I'm so burned out I really don't feel like getting the last bits of junk off my floor from all the rearranging I've done.  And I wonder how much my neighbors would appreciate me running the vacuum right now...maybe I'll wait til morning to finish. 

Of course, I've taken a few breaks.  I had lunch around 2:15.  I went for a run at 7:30, then had dinner, ...and then baked some cookies.  Because I had 2 overripe bananas that really needed to be turned into something.  I was going to make breakfast muffins...or a cake...but I've done those before, and I wanted something new. 

But before I forget...the "oh duh" moment of the day.  My toaster has been slowly accumulating a collection of crumbs for a long time.  I have never gotten around to removing them.  Today, I decided it was time.  I was moving the toaster to a new location, so while I was carrying it, I figured I would dump out the crumbs.  The only way to do that is to pick up the toaster and tilt it over a trash can, right?  Being the bright person that I am, that's what I did.  And out slid a very thin metal tray, with all the crumbs.  Wait, there was a tray in the bottom?  All I had to do was slide out the tray, and voila!  crumbs come out easily.  How was I not aware of this tray's existence?  Well...next time I want to clean my toaster...it will be so much simpler.  Lesson learned. 

Kitchen Experiment del Día : Banana Cookies

1 stick butter
2 over-ripe bananas
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
scant 1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c wheat flour
1 spoonful crunchy PB
2+ c flour
1/4 c quick oats

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes

And on the first batch...I melted some chocolate and spread it on top of the cookies after they came out of the oven

And here's a picture of my dinner, because it was oh-so-delicious.

Perfectly pan-fried sweet potatos and leeks (2 of my favorite-est foods) and leftover Chicken-Fried Steak

Aaaaand a picture of my new canisters.  Because I finally decided it was time to get some new ones with better seals.  And then of course I had to label them just for fun... another cleaning break.



Friday Feast

Salad topped with Tuna Burger, Parsnip-Carrot Soup

1) Cocktail: Pumpkin Spiked Lemonade

It's always fun to sip a cocktail while playing in the kitchen...

In a tall glass...

4 ice cubes

2 spoonfuls of Pumpkin Sorbet

1.5 shots of vodka

2 shots of ginger ale

fill with lemonade

2) Parsnip-Carrot Soup

Peel and cut into chunks: 3 parsnips and 3 carrots

Boil them until soft, then mash or puree (save the water!)

Heat 1c heavy cream, season to taste, add 2 tbsp mustard of choice

Add parsnip/carrot mash

Add the leftover water until desired consistency is reached

Garnish with chopped green onion and tomato

3) Tuna Burger

In a large-ish bowl, beat 1 egg

Add 1 tbsp milled flax seed and 1/4c quick oats

Chop and add 1 large stick of celery and a little bit of onion

Add garlic & onion powders (to taste)

Add 2 cans (drained) of tuna

Mix it all up, and add ranch dressing until it doesn't look too dry (but don't let it get too wet...)

Heat a flat non-stick skillet and cook the burgers, 3-5 minutes per side

4) The Salad

50/50 blend spring mix/spinach

sprouts

chopped carrots

chopped radishes

chopped cucumber

chopped tomato

top with tuna burger and salad dressing of choice

The Meal

White Wine (Espuela del Gaucho "Torrontes")