Jalapeño 3 cheese Baked Macaroni

Homemade mac-n-cheese is seriously the best food on earth!!! This recipe is so good, you'll be disappointed with the restaurant version you've ordered in the past and the future. It's so cheesy and spicy, topped with golden bread crumbs. I used quinoa pasta, (which is gluten free) and almond milk to make it slightly healthier than usual. I've made it with bacon pieces in the past too. So if you want to add some, use 8 pieces or bacon chopped. But since I'm going sodium nitrite free these days, this recipe is without it. But it's ok if you want to add some. I can't say it isn't delicious either way. 

Ingredients: 

I box of elbow pasta cooked as directed on box

1-2 diced jalapeños (don't forget to remove the seeds) 

4 T butter

4 T flour

2 cups milk (or almond milk)

1 cup 1/2 and 1/2

2 cups mild cheddar

1 cup Monterey Jack

1 cup pepper jack 

Salt & pepper to taste 

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

Drizzle of Sriracha (optional) 

Preheat oven to 350

Sauté butter and jalapeños in sauce pot for a few minutes

Add flour, should look crumbled 

Whisk in both milks

Slowly add all the cheese and stir

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and add small amount of Sriracha if you would like

Add macaroni noodles and mix 

Pour into buttered baking dish 

Sprinkle with breadcrumbs

Back 20-25 minutes

Teriyaki Chicken with Siracha cream sauce

Siracha cream sauce. Need I say more? It's awesome stuff!! And once you've made a batch, it can be saved and used on whatever you want. My mom loved teriyaki bowls. I remember her always ordering them from jack-in-the box. That's irrelevant but fun to share. Here is a recipe for you and your friends and family to enjoy. 

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts 

2 cups steamed broccoli

1-2 cups steamed carrots

1 sliced bell pepper

1 can water chestnuts 

1/4 soy sauce

1/4 packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 T honey

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 T corn starch 

Sesame seeds for garnish

1/2 cup mayo

3 T Siracha

2 T sweetened condensed milk

Whisk together cornstarch and 1/4 cup water, set aside

In a separate bowl mix, Siracha, condensed milk and mayo, set aside

In a sauce pot, mix soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, garlic powder, honey and add 1 cup of water. Bring to a simmer.

Add cornstarch mix to soy sauce and continue to simmer until thickens. 

Cook chopped chicken in a sauté pan with a splash of olive oil and salt & pepper

Once chicken is cooked through, pour in soy sauce and veggies, stir

Cover with lid and cook on low for 10 more minutes

Serve over brown rice, drizzled with Siracha sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. You are welcome!

Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken

Yes another chicken recipe!!!!!! This one will be in your top 5 favorite chicken dishes I bet. Who doesn't love honey mustard? Especially when it is homemade honey mustard. Mmmm good on everything. Want to know the secret to making a breaded chicken stay crispy and not soggy-fall off breaded chicken? You toss it in flour first, dip in the sauce, THEN the breadcrumbs. And that is exactly how you will make these pretzel covered chicken pieces. 

Ingredients:

Pounded chicken breasts

2 cups toasted Panko bread crumbs

2 cups crushed pretzels

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1/3 honey

3T red wine vinegar 

1/4 water

Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 400

Pound chicken breasts in large zip lock bag, then cut pieces in half.

Toast Panko bread crumbs over medium heat. Toss together in bowl with crushed pretzels. 

Whisk together olive oil, mustard, honey, vinegar and water. Pour 1/2 into a shallow bowl. 

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Toss in flour, dip in honey mustard, cover with pretzel/Panko crumbs and place in baking dish.

Bake 20-25 minutes. 

Once cooked, drizzle with remaining honey mustard. You can even drizzle veggies of your choice with the honey mustard. I choose garlic green beans. I hope you like it! 

Ryan's spicy italian sausage mac & cheese

My husband doesn't cook very often, but when he does he makes me this delicious dish! It's spicy so watch out! But if you dont think so, add some sriracha! Do not forget to remove the jalapeño seeds!!!! Once he forgot and it was so spicy I couldn't eat it and I made him buy me a pizza instead. This is what I like to call "the grown up" version of mac & cheese. Anyway here it is, Ryan's spicy italian sausage Mac & cheese....

Ingredients:

4 italian turkey or chicken sausage 

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper

1/2 sweet onion

1 jalapeño

1 T minced garlic

2 T olive oil

1 cup almond milk or regular milk

2 cups of water

Box of Mac & Cheese

Dice up all veggies

Sauté veggies in 1 T olive oil

Brown sausage in remaining 1 T olive oil and then combine with veggies to finish cooking

Add milk, water and macaroni. It will look like slop according to Ryan! 

Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes

Add cheese powder and stir. (You don't need to use all the cheese) 

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls remind me of christmas morning with my mom and sisters. We never go a christmas without them. Of course they were the Pilsbury kind because that's how my mom cooked. It made me and my sisters want to be great bakers and cooks we are today today. Enough with the nostalgia... This is the best thing to make on a rainy day or a day off and you just want to be a home body. This is because it requires a lot of the waiting game in between steps. But if you're up for it, you will be rewarded with cinnamon-sugary heavenly goodness!!! This recipe will make 2 batches. One batch for now since you just worked so hard, and freeze the other to make for when you have company over. My sister has been making these for awhile now and bragging about how good they are. She got it from The Pioneer Woman.  Alright, ready?!

Cinnamon roll Ingredients:

2 cups of milk

1/2 vegetable oil

1/2 cup of sugar

1 packet of dry yeast

4 1/2 cups of flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick of butter

Lots of cinnamon & sugar 

Icing ingredients:

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup powder sugar

In a stock pot mix milk, oil and sugar. Bring to a simmer

Let cool for 45 minutes

Add yeast and let soak for 5 minutes

Add 4 cups of flour and mix

Let sit for an hour till batch rises from the yeast

Add remaining 1/2 cup flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix

Sprinkle counter top with flour and roll out dough in a rectangular shape. 

Melt butter and spread over dough

Cover with cinnamon and sugar

Roll up! 

Cut into 1" slices

Butter baking dish and place pieces in dish.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes to 18 minutes. Should be golden brown.

Place extra pieces in Tupperware and freeze. 

Beat room temp cream cheese, butter, vanilla and powder sugar in a mixer. Then pour over warm cinnamon rolls. That's it folks! Enjoy a special treat!! 

Cilantro Sweet Chili Chicken

Yes, another chicken recipe! Chicken is my favorite meat to cook with and it can get really boring and repetitive if you don't have a Million different recipes for it. This chicken recipe I like to use for salads. Especially my California Quinoa Salad. 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

3/4 chopped cilantro

1T minced garlic

1-2T sweet chili sauce

2 lbs chicken cut into chunks

Throw in a big zip lock bag and let marinade at least one hour. The longer the better.

Cook chicken in a sauté pan. 

California Quinoa Salad

Do you want a light and refreshing, HEALTHY salad? Of course, we all do! Something I really love about this dish is that it's extremely easy to make and fairly cheap too. It also is even better as left overs because the flavor will just get better and better the longer it marinades. 

Ingredients:

2-3 cups of cooked quinoa

1 can of corn

1 can of black beans

1 chopped red bell pepper

1/4 diced red onion

1/2 cup salsa 

1 lime juiced

2 T chopped cilantro

Salt & pepper 

Mix everything together and place in fridge till ready to be served.

You can eat it as is or add some chicken. I like to add my Cilantro Sweet Chili Chicken. 

Chicken A La Gloria

Chicken a la Gloria is a fancy, shorter way for saying chicken with creamy sherry wine sauce. Sounds good doesn't it?! Traditionally it is made with sauteed mushrooms. Since I do not like mushrooms I am making mine with broccoli and cauliflower. You can use parsley or basil. I choose basil. I hope you like it!! 

Ingredients:

8 chicken tenderloins

1/3 flour

3 T olive oil

2 T butter

1 cup broccoli & cauliflower mix (or mushrooms)

1/2 milk or almond milk

1/2 sherry cooking wine

1 small can of condensed cream of mushroom soup

6 slices of Muenster cheese

3 T fresh chopped parsley or basil

salt & pepper to taste

preheat oven to 350
In a small bowl mix flour and salt & pepper. Season both sides of each piece of chicken.
In a frying pan add olive oil and brown chicken on both sides. Transfer to baking dish.
Add butter, let melt and add veggies. Cook for a few minutes.
Add sherry wine, cream of mushroom and milk. Stir and bring to simmer.
Pour over chicken cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and cover with cheese slices, Broil for 2 more minutes.
Serve sprinkles with basil or parsley

Goes great with noodles, rice or quinoa because its so saucy. 

Chocolate Biscotti

I don't know where I have been the last 28 years but I just recently decided to dip Biscotti into my coffee, thanks to my Granny recommending it. Now it has become one of my favorite treats. Chocolate is my favorite!!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened coco powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 egg white

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

onyx chocolate powder - optional

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Combine flour, sugar, coco powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl add vanilla and eggs.
Slowly stir in the egg mixture to the dry mixture, lastly add the chocolate chips.
Divide the dough in half.  It will be very sticky, so wet your hands before touching the dough.
Roll the dough into 12" long logs 1/2" tall.
Bake for 20-25 minutes till logs become firm.
Let cool for at least an hour and then cut into 1/2" slices.
Arrange slices on baking sheet and then bake for another 10-15 minutes.
Cookies will turn crisp as they cool.

Enjoy in coffee, milk or by them selves. 
Keep stored in an air tight container

Baked Veggie Tortellini

Have you been looking for a new cheesy family favorite packed with vegetables? You can tweak this recipe as much as you would like. If you don't like mushrooms swap them out for broccoli or bell peppers. Add jalapeno if you like spicy. You can even use a meat tortellini instead of cheese if you want. I like it just as is. The best part is, it serves 8 and is only 350 calories per serving.

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen cheese tortellini 

1 cup thinly sliced carrots

1 cup snap peas

1 cup cherry tomatoes halved

1/2 cup chopped sweet peppers

1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms

1 T butter

1/3 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 teaspoon flour

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1 cup milk or almond milk

8 oz cream cheese

Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top 

Preheat oven to 350
Boil water in stock pot and cook tortellini for 3 minutes. Add snap peas and carrots for 1 more minute.
In a pan saute butter and mushrooms for 5 minutes. Set aside.
In a measuring cup whisk together broth, milk and seasonings.
Pour into pan and bring to medium heat, add cream cheese and stir.
In a large bowl stir together sauce, veggies and tortellini.
Pour into baking dish and bake covered for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Serve with a crusty baguette or french loaf. And maybe a big glass of red wine! :)