Creamy Slow-cooker Mac & Cheese

If your family loves Macaroni & Cheese from the little blue box, then you will love, love, love this recipe! This is the creamiest Mac & Cheese I have ever been able to make at home and all in the slow-cooker, so it is supper easy! I recently made this recipe for a family function; I tripled the recipe, and there was only one small scoop left...that in itself is a statement for how delicious this Mac & Cheese recipe is! Try it out and I guarantee you will love it.

Can anyone say delicious?!?!

Sauteed Green Beans with Almonds

14 oz package of Petite Whole Green Beans, Italian Cut Green Beans, or 1 lb Fresh Green Beans (topped and tailed)

3 Tbs Butter (more or less, to your liking)

1 Tbs Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Toasted Slivered Almonds

Salt (to your liking)

Melt Butter with Olive Oil in saute pan. When melted, add Green Beans and saute for about 6 - 10 minutes until desired doneness is reached. Salt to taste. Place cooked Green Beans in serving dish and top with Slivered Almonds. Serves 4.

VARIATIONS: Green Beans Almondine: Simply saute the Almonds in the Butter/Olive Oil before adding Green Beans. 

Green Beans with Red Pepper: Add 1/2 Red Bell Pepper, chopped into small dice and 1 Cloves Crushed Garlic when you add Green Beans to Butter/Olive Oil.

Comforting Chili

This chili recipe is perfect for cold winter days, rainy monsoons, or a comforting night at home. I grew up eating this recipe and still love it today. It originally came from my Grandma Bauer, but over the years my mom and I have adjusted it to our personal tastes. It is packed with tons of beans and with the help of V-8 juice lots of vegetables too! A perfect way to get your daily value of vegetables in one delicious soup.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the most amazing chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted! They are soft, gooey, and chewy in the middle and slightly crisp on the outside. If you don't believe me you will have to just try them for yourself. But I can tell you one thing, I will never be making another chocolate chip cookie recipe again. This one has taken top spot in my recipe book!

Asian Chicken Salad

My husband and I absolutely love this Asian Chicken Salad!!! During the summer I probably make it once a week, which speaks volumes as I do not repeat many recipes that frequently. The original recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis, with a few minor adjustments due to availability of ingredients. It is so light, healthy, and refreshing, with a sweet, salty, tangy, Asian dressing. Even if you think you don't like Asian or Chinese Chicken Salads, I promise you will like this recipe!

Spice-Rubbed, Grilled Pork Loin

My husband made this amazing pork loin for my birthday last night. It was so tender, juicy, and tasted delicious. The recipe is pretty simple, as along as you have a grill and a couple hours you can put a mouth-watering dinner on the table. 

This pork loin rested for 30 minutes and all that juice came out while we were cutting the meat. *It would be great to use the extra sauce to make a quick pan gravy.*

Cheddar and Herb Monkey Bread

This monkey bread is so easy and fast to assemble, thanks to canned biscuit dough. It is also very versatile and can be changed to suit your family's taste. I made my monkey bread using sharp cheddar cheese, chives, parsley, and garlic. Everyone loved it and the bread looked so beautiful when it came out of the oven.

Hash! (NOT that yucky stuff from a can)

I know Stephanie's been feeling a little lonely on the blog. I FINALLY remembered to take pictures for a post, so here it is!

At our house we eat breakfast for dinner all the time, it just tastes better at 6:00pm! Here's a quick, easy and cheap breakfast meal.

Hash (NOT that yucky stuff from a can) 

1   bag of potatoes O'Brien (its hash brown potatoes with bell peppers)
1  bunch of asparagus (blanched and cut into bite sized pieces)
1  onion diced 
1-2 lbs beef (use left over steak or roast! its already seasoned all you need to do is cut it into bite sized   pieces)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Cook the potatoes according to package directions. Remove from pan. Cook onions until caramelized. Add potatoes back to pan.  Add beef. Add asparagus.Mix well.

Slow Cooker Cashew, Almond Chicken

My husband and I absolutely love Chinese food, we pretty much eat it every chance we get. However, ordering Chinese take-out and eating at Chinese restaurants can get pricey, so I am always looking for new recipe to try at home. This cashew, almond, chicken is so easy and delicious. I will definitely be making this a regular in my recipe repertoire.

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken tenders
3 heaping tbs. all-purpose flour
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tbs. vegetable or canola oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbs. rice wine vinegar
2 tbs. Ketchup
1 tbs. brown sugar
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
2 large cloves garlic, grated
1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup cashews, salted or non-salted
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 cup snap peas
1 cup sliced carrots

In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, heat the vegetable or canola oil. In a large zip-top bag, place the chicken tenders, flour, salt and pepper. Shake the bag until all the chicken is coated in the flour. Remove the chicken from the bag, shaking off the excess flour, and place in the skillet. Brown the chicken on each side, about 3-4 minutes.

While the chicken is browning, in a medium sized bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes until combined. When the chicken is done browning, place in the bottom of a slow cooker and pour the sauce over the top of the chicken. Cook on low 3-4 hours. During the last 30-45 minutes of cooking add the snap peas, carrots, almonds, and cashews.

Serve of rice and enjoy!

Note: If you like a lot of sauce you will probably want to double the sauce mixture.

Creamy, Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Mac & cheese is a very serious thing at our house. It has to be creamy, cheesy, gooey, and still have that crunchy, crusty, delicious top. I have tried several recipes to find the perfect combination of all these things, it took a lot of cooking and a ton of tasting, but I finally found the perfect Mac & Cheese recipe that my family loves! Get ready for the best mac & cheese of your life!

Note: This recipe is a little time consuming, but it is totally worth it. Total cooking time is probably around 1 hr. Also, this recipe makes enough to feed an army, there is generally enough leftovers for 3-4 days.

Macaroni & Cheese:
1 (8 oz) box elbow macaroni
1 tbs. Kosher salt
3 tbs. unsalted butter
3 tbs. all-purpose flour
1 tbs. mustard powder
1 tbs. onion powder
1/2 tbs. paprika
1 dried bay leaf
3 cups 1% milk
1 large egg, beaten
12 oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Topping:
1 1/2 cup Italian style Panko breadcrumbs
3 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
4 oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Pour in the macaroni and about 1 tbs. of salt. Cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain into a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.

While the pasta is cooking, start the cheese sauce. In a 3-quart dutch oven, over medium heat, begin melting 3 tbs. butter. Once the butter has melted, add the 3 tbs. flour, whisking continuously, until the mixture becomes a pale blonde color and should resemble the texture of wet sand. Next add the mustard powder, onion powder, paprika, bay leaf and whisk to combine. Add the milk and continuously whisk for 7-8 minutes until the sauce has slightly thickened. Remove the sauce from the heat and discard the bay leaf.

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg. While continuously whisking the egg, add a few tablespoons of the sauce. (You want to bring the temperature of the egg up to the temperature of the sauce, so when you add the egg to the sauce mixture it does not scramble.) Add a few more tablespoons of the sauce into the egg and continue whisking. Next add the egg mixture into the sauce pot and whisk vigorously. Stir in the cheese, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Fold in the macaroni noodles.

Top the macaroni mixture with the cheese. Toss the panko breadcrumbs with the melted butter to coat. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the macaroni and cheese. Place in the oven and bake until the top is golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.