Creamy Mac and Cheese

You may have noticed I have a lackluster dedication to fitness, but let me assure you my obsession with Mac and Cheese is far more committed. I have tried many, many recipes but this is the one that all members of my family love. It's creamy. It's easy on the guilt. It's quick. And with a few veggies or some chicken sausage you can take it to a whole new level. 

Mac and Cheese with Bacon,
Mushroom and Swiss Chicken Sausage

Ingredients 

10 ounce large elbow macaroni
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups chicken stock (or chicken boullion), divided
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste. You may not need it if you use bouillon)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1-2 cups extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain. Set aside.
2. In large skillet, stir in 1 cup stock and garlic powder; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute.
3. Combine remaining 1 cups stock, milk, and flour; stir with a whisk until flour dissolves. Add milk mixture to garlic mixture, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook 5-10 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. **Stir frequently. Do not over cook or your sauce will have a grainy texture. **
4. Reduce to simmer; add cream cheese, whisking until smooth; add cheddar stirring until smooth. Stir in salt and pepper. (If needed)
5. Stir in pasta.

We eat some variation of this recipe close to once a week. Here's how I keep it interesting:

Top with roasted butternut squash or sweet potatoes. 

Saute some carrots, broccoli, and green beans. Stir in just before serving for instant pasta primavera.

Add chicken sausage. We love Aidells Bacon, Mushroom and Swiss. 

Swap out the pasta with some Spinach tortellini. (Hidden veggies!)

Swap out the pasta for gnocchi and the flour with corn starch for a gluten-free version.

Bake some mild Italian sausage in the oven and throw it on top. (seriously oven baked sausage is the easiest, mess free way to make sausage. Pop it in the oven on 400 for about 20-30 minutes turning once. That's it!)

And there you have it! A family favorite, six different ways. You can almost eat it every day of the week. 

Adapted from Cooking Light. 

This recipe received two stars from my family.
*Healthy
*Plate-Licking Good
For more about my rating system, head over to the Eats page.

Spicy Refried Black Beans

I know, I know. Refried beans make some people shudder, especially when they come straight out of a can.  There's a better way, people. Homemade refried beans are easy, quick and absolutely delicious. They will change burrito night in your household forever.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of onion, chopped (If you don't want to measure, chop up approximately 1/4 of an onion. It's not rocket science.)

1 15oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed

4 tablespoons of olive oil, divided

1 cup canned fire roasted tomatoes, with juice (Or approximately half of a 15oz. can)

Salt to taste

Directions

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a deep skillet on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent.

2. Add the drained beans. Warm beans for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. (I've found this makes them easier to mash.)

3. Reduce heat to low. Mash beans with a potato masher until desired consistency. (I like mine roughly mashed, not too smooth.)

4. Add fire roasted tomatoes, additional 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt to taste. If beans appear dry, add a little water or some more tomato juice from the fire roasted tomatoes.

This recipe received two stars from my family.
*Healthy
*Secretly Nutritious
For more about my rating system, head over to the Eats page.

Creamy Spinach and Black Bean Enchiladas

This recipe makes me swoon. It's packed with hidden veggies for my picky eater and includes all of the food groups in a single pan. It's also hands-down the most amazing enchilada recipe, EVER. It’s even easy on the guilt.  

 

For filling:

1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup (such as Campbell’s Healthy Request), undiluted

2 cups (8 ounces) reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese

1 2/3 cups plain low-fat yogurt (optional)

Click to see savin1/4 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tsp. cumin

Salt and pepper taste

1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained

15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
6 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly

15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes, drained 

Click to8 (8-inch) flour tortillas

For topping:

Click to see savings

Click to see savings1/2 cup (2 ounces) finely shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup chopped green onions

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1.       Preheat oven to 350°.

2.       Combine the filling ingredients in a large bowl. Remove 1 ½ cups filling. Spread ¾ cup in the bottom of a in a 13 x 9–inch baking dish; set remaining mixture aside.

3.       Arrange 1/2 cup chicken mixture down center of tortilla. Roll jelly-roll style; place filled tortilla, seam side down, in the 13 x 9-inch pan. Repeat procedure with remaining 7 tortillas. Spread reserved ¾ cup mixture evenly over enchiladas. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle evenly with cheddar cheese and green onions; bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

Adapted from Cooking Light’s Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

 This recipe received three stars from my family.
*Healthy
*Plate-Licking Good
*Secretly Nutritious
For more about my rating system, head over to the Eats page.

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

On Monday, I was in the mood for Baked Spinach Meatball sliders. I knew I was out of parmesan cheese and so I tempted the nap gods and swung by the store on the way home from preschool pick up. When we came home, I tucked the boys in for their nap and patted myself on the back as started to prep dinner. Look at me kicking Monday in the butt! And then I realized that I was out of eggs. I had stopped by the store for ingredients and had everything I needed minus ONE, measly egg. I probably could have omitted it, but I didn't want to tempt the dinner gods after I had already tempted the nap gods. So I grabbed the baby monitor and dashed out into the pouring rain to my neighbor's house to borrow an egg. My sweet neighbor came back with three eggs because she wasn't convinced that I only need one.

I wanted to thank her so I decided to bake a batch of oatmeal cookies. I'm a fan of the Quaker Oat Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe, except for the raisin part. As far as I'm concerned, raisins have no business in cookies. Last time I used chocolate chips, but thought that they were actually too sweet. Who knew that was even possible?! I settled on dried cranberries and stumbled on a goldmine. These cookies are dangerously delicious. It's a good thing we shared them with our neighbors because we devoured the rest of batch by dinnertime.  

Are you loving the DIY origami cookie boxes? I found them on Pinterest ages ago and I finally had an opportunity to make some. (Read: I made a giant mess in my kitchen followed by a giant craft mess. Never go full Pinterest.) The result was ridiculously cute (and messy.) I followed the tutorial exactly, but instead of tying it off with ribbon I stapled it closed. I couldn't find the single hole punch anywhere and so I had to make do.

And without further ado..

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6tbsp. butter, softened (That's almost two whole sticks of butter. No wonder they are delicious!)

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)

1 cup dried cranberries

Directions 

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy.

2. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

3. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.

4. Add oats and raisins; mix well. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

5. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.         

                                         

This recipe received one star from my family.

*Plate-Licking Good

For more about my rating system, head over to the Eats page.

Baked Spinach Meatballs

I am so very in love with this recipe. My kids love it. My husband loves it. It has superfood spinach hiding inside and it still tastes great. Serve them over pasta with marinara sauce or on a dinner roll to make a meatball slider. Eat them cold straight out of the fridge the next day. Delicious any way you eat them. 

Meatball Slider...Mmmmm

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground beef (96/4)

5 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

1 whole egg

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil

1 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 cup Panko or regular bread crumbs

Roll them about this big.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine ingredients. Using your hands, mix until well incorporated. Use immediately or place in refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

3. Using your hands, shape the meatballs into rounds, about walnut size. Place in 9x13 inch glass pan spaced so the meatballs are not touching. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until golden and cooked through. 

Yield: about 35 meatballs



Freshly baked meatballs tossed into the crockpot

Notes: This is a great recipe to whip up at naptime. Once cooked, you can toss them into your crockpot on low with some marinara sauce. I recommend cooking them for a few minutes less (15-17 minutes) if you plan to keep them hot in the crockpot for later.

This recipe received three stars from my family.

*Healthy

*Plate-Licking Good

*Secretly Nutritious

For more about my rating system, head over to the Eats page.

Adapted from Alton Brown's Baked Meatball recipe.