you just can't be too cheesy

i have to admit that dairy is probably my favorite food group.

 i honestly don't know if i could survive without cheese and ice cream. 

must be my french heritage coming out.

i will say that the 2 recipes that i am about to post are not recipes that we eat on an every-day basis, or even monthly,  although i wish that i could eat them more frequently without seeing their results. ;)

crazy good 

bacon mac n cheese

this mac n cheese recipe has evolved over the past couple years.

and i must say that we have definitely enjoyed the 'experimental' process that i have gone through to come up with the {likely not so} final product.

just looking at this picture makes me want some... it's SOOOO good!

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups skim milk

One 12 oz can evaporated skim milk (evaporated milk keeps the egg and milk from curdling)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted & cooled to room temp

3 large eggs

1 tsp salt

3 cups (12 oz) shredded cheese 

(I used 2 cups Italian blend and 1 cup cheddar)

1/2 pound macaroni [i prefer the corkscrew pasta], par cooked and drained 

(*cook the pasta for about five minutes until tender but not completely cooked)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. ground mustard

1 tsp. tabasco sauce or 1/4 t. cayenne pepper (optional)

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

3 green onions, sliced thinly

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

paprika

directions

{for slow cooker- i.e. crockpot}

1. Spray the inside of your slow-cooker with cooking spray or grease it with olive oil. Combine milk, evaporated milk, eggs, butter, and salt in slow-cooker and whisk until until smooth (or you can use an immersion blender to do the whisking for you).

2. Add the shredded cheeses (not the Parmesan) and pre-cooked pasta, sprinkle with black pepper, oregano, garlic powder, ground mustard, and tabasco or cayenne. stir well.

Add green onions and bacon . Stir gently with a spatula to coat evenly.

Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top and a little paprika then cover and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes

After 30 minutes, reduce the temperature to LOW and cook for 2 hours, until custard is set in the center and the pasta is tender. The macaroni and cheese may sit in the cooker on the KEEP WARM setting for 30 minutes before serving.

it looks something like this.

in the slow cooker version, the edges browned a little more than my liking (although it did not burn).

so i decided to try it in the oven.

i baked it at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes. 

i made it in the dutch oven and in a glass 9" x 13" pan and both turned out beautifully! 

  

serve as a main dish or as a side at your next cookout.

my family told me that it goes great with barbeque sandwiches 

{unfortunately... i am a disgrace to my southern upbringing

and i do not like barbeque.

 but my mom made bbq and i made mac n cheese and everyone seemed happy} 

YUM!!!

cheesy stuffed mushroom bread

i originally got this recipe from my aunt deb when i was in jr. high.

and with some minor changes, this is the most insane cheesy bread that you ever put in your mouth!

yes, it looks about as ridiculous as it actually is, but it is A-MA-ZING!!!!!

ingredients:

1 loaf italian bread

2 sticks margarine, melted

1/2 lb. baby swiss cheese {or cheese of your choice}, shredded

8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced and sauteed (or a small can of mushrooms)

1/4 c. c chopped onion (about 1/2 of a small onion)

2-3 T. chopped fresh chives

2 T. poppy seeds

1 T dijon mustard

directions:

1. place bread on sheet of foil on a cookie sheet. slice bread horizontally.

2. mix cheese, mushrooms, onions, chives, poppy seeds, and mustard.

then pour the melted margarine over the cheese mixture.

mix the buttery, cheesy mess gently 

stuff the bread with the cheesy mushroom mixture.

seal inside the foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

let cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

slice into 12-15 pieces.

beware of food coma!!! 

comfort food- tomato tortellini soup & 4-cheese and bacon grilled cheese

so... i do realize that i have been out for a while, so there is MUCH to get caught up on my little blog. but i decided that i would postpone the newsy catch-up blog posts, which i will admit are rather exciting (ok, so not really), and i would go ahead and type up this post before i forget these recipes, because we thought that they were rather delicious. not that our opinions are always right, but oh my! this was a yummy lunch.

my husband has been fighting a cold for almost 3 weeks now. he was feeling so much better this week, but last night the congestion got ahead of him again. strangely enough there was a lot that i wanted to accomplish today since i have been feeling ridiculously behind in every aspect of my home life, but somehow the wifely duty to care for my sick husband took over. he requested comfort food for lunch, actually spaghetti was his first request, but that didn't sound good to me at all.
 i suggested grilled cheese and tomato soup. that menu was approved and we proceeded from there. keep in mind that i was asked to make 'the best grilled cheese that he has ever eaten'... no pressure? ;)

but i think i did ok. :)

when i was visiting my sister several years ago she made a tomato tortellini soup with smoked sausage. it was delicious, but i couldn't find my recipe. i thought about calling her for it, but i decided that i would just try to come up with something similar on my own.

here is what i came up with:

tomato tortellini soup with smoked sausage-

1 T. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes (or stewed tomatoes)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 T. sugar
2 cups half-and-half
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 pkg. smoked sausage, sliced and browned
1 pkg. refrigerated tortellini pasta

directions: 

1. heat the olive oil at medium-high in soup pot or dutch oven. add the onion and cook for 3-5 mins or until onion is transluscent .
2. reduce to medium heat and add the canned tomatoes, onion and garlic powders, basil, salt, pepper, and sugar and heat until boiling. add the half-and-half and heat through.
3. puree tomato mixture in pan with an *immersion blender or if you don't have one, transfer the mixture to a blender and puree {this step is not critical, but i liked the smoother consistency of the soup without the pieces of tomato and onion in it. and the blending frothed the half-and-half and made it creamier... maybe it was just in my head though}.
4. add the chicken broth, the browned smoked sausage, and the tortellini. simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the tortellini is done.

it should should look something like this

serve topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese

*** i never thought that i would use an immersion blender (also called a stick blender), but mine has come in handy quite often. it is especially nice not to have to transfer hot soup to another container and then transfer it back. immersion blenders are fairly inexpensive and are well worth their low price.

this is the immersion blender that i have.

they are available at walmart and target starting around $30.

4-cheese and bacon grilled cheese sandwich-

4 slices sourdough bread

1 oz, lowfat cream cheese, softened

2 oz. smoked cheddar cheese

2 oz. pepper jack cheese

2 oz. parmesan cheese

3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 T. mayonnaise

1 T. butter or margarine

directions:

spread cream cheese thinly on each slice of bread. 

 grate each of the cheeses and sprinkle evenly on 2 of the slices of bread (your sandwich 'bottoms').

sprinkle bacon over the grated cheese.

 place second bread slice, cream cheese side down on each sandwich, then thinly coat each side of sandwich with mayonnaise*.

heat skillet to medium heat. melt butter and place sandwiches in center of skillet. 

cook until lightly browned, then flip and brown the other side. if cheese isn't melted through, lower heat to low to prevent burning and flip again.

the results, AMAZING!!!!

*i know that the mayonnaise may sound disgusting, especially if you are a mayonnaise hater, but just trust me on this one, it's amazing! mayonnaise is made primarily from oil and egg. so basically when you cook your sandwich in the mayonnaise coating, it is similar to the coating that you get on french toast (minus the sweetness). just try it one time and you will be hooked. i learned it from the best chef that i know. ;) 

thanks mom. 

hope that you enjoy your comfort dinner.