Homemade Mac & Cheese

This is a super fast & easy meal, but also, not the healthiest...we don't make it very often, but it sure is yummy!




Ingredients:
1 bag/box of macaroni
1 box of Velveeta Cheese
Milk
1/2 pkg of ham

Directions:
Cook Macaroni
Drain water out and put back into pot
Cut cheese in slices
Add cheese to drained macaroni
Stir until cheese is completely melted
Add milk to consistency preferred
Add ham

Stir together & enjoy!

**It's a bit cheesy at first...I actually prefer it the next day.

Green Beans with Bacon

Mmmm!! Don't those look delicious??

THEY ARE!!


Ingredients:
1/2 onion
1 lb of green beans
1/2 cup water
1 tomato
1 clove of garlic
1/2 cup cooked bacon

Directions:
Break off end of peas & throw away
Saute onion in oil or butter until caramelized
Add green beans
Add 1/2 cup water
put on lid and let steam for 15 minutes
add diced tomato, chopped garlic, & bacon
stir & serve.

:)

**We used pre-cooked bacon

Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:
1 box of large pasta shells
1 16oz. cottage cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese (grated)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp parsley
garlic, salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix everything together and stuff into shells.
Pour 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce into 9x13 pan
lay shells into pan and pour remaining spaghetti sauce
top with cheese
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza

We were craving pizza
but being young, newly married college kids with NO money
we thought we would make our own.

It actually turned out AMAZING!

Ingredients:
2 boxes of Jiffy Pizza Crust Mix
2-3 Chicken breasts (Depending on how much chicken you want)
BBQ Sauce of your choice
Mozzarella Cheese
Colby Jack Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
1 small purple onion

Directions:
Make crust according to directions on box
Grill chicken then cut in bite size pieces
Cover with BBQ sauce
Spread the rest of the BBQ sauce over crust
Add chunks of chicken, cheese, purple onions
Bake according to directions on box

**You can add whatever cheese & topping you want, this is just what we used.

Santa Fe Chicken

This picture does NOT do justice to how delicious this is.
trust me.

Ingredients:
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans (drained)
3 chicken breasts cut up
2 c. frozen corn
2 c. salsa (medium)
1 block of cream cheese

Directions:
Cook on medium-high for about 3 hours.
Put on top of chips or rice.

Brownie Maddness

The picture says it all

Ingredients:
1 box of brownie mix
1 jar of marshmallow fluff
1 container of chocolate frosting

Directions:
Cook brownies as directed on box
Once finished, let brownies cool for 30+ minutes
Warm marshmallow fluff in microwave for 15 seconds
Spreed over cooled brownies
Put in fridge for 5-10 minutes
Warm chocolate frosting in microwave for 15-20 seconds
Spreed over marshmallow fluff

then enjoy the yummy goodness!!

**Side note:
-It is very rich, so I suggest cutting small pieces
-It yummiest when warm

Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients:
1 pkg of noodles
8 oz. cream cheese
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 cube butter
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic (crushed)

Directions:
Melt butter with spices, add cream cheese over low heat, stir until smooth
add milk and Parmesan cheese, warm, but do not boil.
Serve over cooked noodles.

**Sauteed shrimp & chicken can be added.

Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches/Summer Salad

This is another recipe I found online, it was originally supposed to go over Baked Potatoes, but we made them into sandwiches and boy, are they DELICIOUS!!!

The first couple times we made this, I always seemed to forget to take a picture.
It usually comes out darker but I doubled the recipe because we had a bunch of family staying with us.

Ingredients:

4-5 chicken breasts
12 oz bottle barbecue sauce (your preference)
1/2 c. Italian dressing or anything similar
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Combine barbecue sauce, dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire and pour over chicken in crock pot.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours of high for 3-4.
Shred chicken in crock pot and serve on buns, rolls, croissants, etc.

YUMMMMMYYYY!!


Then for the summer salad

Ingredients:
1 box/pkg of tri-color noodles
1 bottle of Italian dressing
1 cucumber
1 can olives
1 tomatoe
(and any other vegetable you would prefer)

Directions:
Cook noodles
coat with Italian dressing
toss in cut vegetables

Ham & Potatoe Casserole

This tastes a lot like "Funeral Potatoes" but better!
;)

Ingredients:
6-7 medium sized red potatoes quartered(no need to peel)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 cup chopped ham
2 cups of cheese
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup bread crumbs

Directions:
Boil potatoes for 12-15 just until tender. Pour into greased 9x13 casserole dish. Mix next 6 ingredients and mix in with potatoes (I just make it all in the pan.) Then mix melted butter and bread crumbs and sprinkle over casserole. Cook at 350 for 45 minutes.

Darn Good Chocolate Cake

The title explains it all.
:)




Ingredients:
Vegetable Oil (for misting the pan)
Flour (for dusting the pan)
1 pkg plain devil's food or dark chocolate fudge cake mix
1 pkg chocolate instant pudding
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350. Lightly mist a bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set pan aside.

2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, warm water & oil in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on slow for 1 minute, then increase speed to medium, (scrape sides as needed). The batter should look thick and well combined. Fold in chocolate chips, making sure they are well distributed throughout the batter. Pour batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with a rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

3. Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 45-50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake & invert it onto the rack to cool completely for 20 more minutes or serve while its still warm.


**I enjoyed it more when it was warm.
**we also topped ours with powdered sugar

Teryaki Chicken

This is another favorite at our house!
Kyle actually made this for me when we were dating.

Ingredients:
2 cups brown sugar
2 cloves crushed garlic or 1 tbs garlic powder
1/4 tsp ginger or tsp fresh grated ginger
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup water

Directions:
Pour 1/2 of the mixture over boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Let it sit overnight.
Grill on bbq, discard marinate.
Serve remaining sauce with rice and grilled chicken.

Bacon Broccoli Mac & Cheese

I had not gone grocery shopping for a little while so we were running low on food & creative ideas for dinner.

I found this recipe online somewhere, and we just happen to have everything.

I was a bit nervous to try this one out but it was actually pretty good.

ingredients:
1 bag/box of pasta
1/2 pound bacon, chopped
1 8-ounce brick cream cheese, cut into chunks
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded colby-jack blend cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1 head broccoli (or 1 bag frozen, steam-in-a-bag broccoli)
1 tablespoon butter

1. Cook pasta according to directions on package in boiling salted water.

2. Meanwhile, add bacon to a high-sided skillet and cook until crisp. Drain on paper towels.

3. Drain all but about 1 tablespoon of bacon grease from the skillet. To the same skillet, add cream cheese and milk and stir to combine. Cook until cream cheese is melted and mixture is thickened and bubbling. Stir in cheeses. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

4. While the sauce is cooking, steam the broccoli until crisp-tender. Stir in butter.

5. Combine cooked pasta, broccoli, and half of the bacon. Pour cheese sauce over and stir to combine. Top individual servings with the reserved bacon.

Tuna Casserole

This is a favorite at our house.

My mom made this growing up and when I introduced it to Kyle, he fell in love!

Ingredients:
1 bag/box of noodles (cooked)
2 cans tuna (drained)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cups cheese (any kind)

-Mix together

place in 9x13 casserole dish
top with crushed saltines and cheese

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

:)

Buttery Garlic Chicken

This is one of the easiest, fastest and yummiest chicken recipes I have found.

ingredients:
2 eggs-beaten
1 c. buttery crackers-crushed (your choice)
1/2 t. garlic salt
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c. butter-sliced

Directions:
Place eggs in a shallow bowl; set aside.
Mix cracker crumbs and garlic salt in separate bowl; set aside.
Dip chicken in eggs then coat with crumb mixture.
arrange in an ungreased 13"x9" baking pan; dot with butter.
Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a fork.

Banana Bread

When we were first married, I would buy bananas, all but about 3-4 would get eaten.
I was scared to make banana bread, because I have never made it before.

I surprised myself with how amazing it turned out!
We ate the whole loaf in like 2 days!!


ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cube butter (1/2 cup)
2 eggs
3 large RIPE bananas
2 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

You will need 3 bowls

in the 1st bowl mix:
1 cup sugar
butter
2 eggs

in the 2nd bowl mix:
bananas
2 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla

in the 3rd bowl (largest) mix:
2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

add half of the sugar & butter mixture then half of the banana mixture to the flour bowl.
Once it is all mixed, add the rest of the banana and sugar mixtures to bowl.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

yum!

Orange Chicken

I have loved Chinese my whole life.
loved it.
for my 'birthday dinner' I would always tell my parents I wanted to go out to a Chinese restaurant.

Well, because we are poor college students, we don't go out that often.


K's mom gave us this bottle of Orange Sauce
It's supposedly the same sauce they use at Panda Express...It doesn't taste the same but it was still really yummy.
We have been wanting to use it, but weren't quite sure how.

I found a recipe for a basic batter then just put the sauce over top.

Batter:
4 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup water
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg1 egg white

Mix all ingredients together until smooth.
Cover and sit for 30 minutes
Add chicken to batter-coat well.

Deep fry chicken at 350 degrees for 2 minutes or until batter becomes firm.
Drain on paper towels.

Coat chicken with sauce, eat over rice and ENJOY!