Fiesta Chili Mac

I love cookbooks.  I LOVE cookbooks!  I know you can find just about any recipe online, but there is just something that I love about flipping through a book, looking at the pictures, and marking the pages with my favorites.  For Christmas, I got LOADS of cookbooks! Seriously: two Rachael Ray cookbooks, 3 Pampered Chef books, plus this super awesome set of Pampered Chef recipe cards called "More Weekday Dinners- Done!"  This little packet has two weeks worth of 30 minute or less recipes.  Each week uses similar ingredients, plus comes with a convenient grocery shopping checklist for the week.  The best part is that each recipe is under $2/serving!  This recipe came from the pack- I'm hoping to do the whole week's worth soon! 

Fiesta Chili Mac
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
8 oz. uncooked penne (I used macaroni since that's what we had; also this is the equivalent of 1/2 a 1 lb. box in case you didn't know.)
1 can beef broth
1 1/2 c. chunky salsa
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 c. frozen corn, thawed
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef with spices in a 12 skillet.  Once beef is broken up, add the onions and brown for a few more minutes (total about 8).  Add pasta, broth and salsa- stir together well.  Cover and bring to a simmer, cooking for 10 minutes.   Stir in green pepper and corn; cover and simmer 6-8 minutes or until pasta is tender.  Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 c. cheese.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese. 

It's a nice twist on typical mac 'n cheese, especially if you enjoy Mexican food.  You end up with a 9x13 casserole dish full, so somewhere between 6-8 servings.  It wasn't very noodley, so you could totally add more pasta to make it stretch farther.  The recipe originally came with microwave cooking directions with tiny stovetop directions on the bottom, so if anyone wants those directions I can get them to you.  I just personally find the idea of cooking ground beef in the microwave disgusting- somehow it ends up being chunky and odd tasting, in my opinion anyway.  Enjoy!

Menu Plan....Saturday?

I used to do Menu Plan Monday, but now due to the absolute craziness that occupy my Mondays, it's now a weekend task.

Monday: Leftovers/Soups from the freezer (Work and class night)
Tuesday: My Favorite Porkchops with green beans
Wednesday: Dinner with the Stiners
Thursday: Shepard's Pie
Friday: Fend for yourself, grocery shopping night
Saturday: BBQ Pulled Pork (slowcook in crockpot all day while I'm at work)
Sunday: LIFE group

We're going heavy on the pork for the next few weeks because a family member generously offered us meat they didn't have room for in the freezer.  I'm really looking forward to the BBQ pork, especially after a long day of work.

On another note, I had a cooking "first" this week. I cooked with anchovies for the first time ever...and it was interesting.  I made a recipe for Caesar Spaghetti from my new Rachael Ray Look + Cook cookbook that I got for Christmas.  It was delicious, but I was a little unnerved by the smell and the general concept of using anchovies.  Next time, I think I'm going to skip the anchovies and go a little heavier on the garlic to compensate.

I've also been breakfast food crazy ever since my last post.  I've made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins and Blueberry muffins to eat half/freeze half.  I'm also going to make mini loaves of banana bread and a batch of whole grain muffins to freeze as well.  I'm not usually a breakfast eater, but I've been trying to eat a little something every morning to help boost my metabolism.  It's really helped me to control my portion size at dinner because I'm not as hungry.  I've been adding the recipes into MyFitnessPal (my FREE online food diary) to calculate the nutrition facts for the baked goods I've made.  I've been so-so about counting calories the last month, but I'm really going to try and take advantage of this short break from exams to focus on my health.  I'll post some recipes from my recent baking craze soon.

Our Superbowl Sunday? Breakfast for Dinner!

While we were snowed in last week, I went cooking crazy! As a result of my cooking I had nearly half a gallon of buttermilk left over that was about to expire. The only thing I could really think of that requires buttermilk was ranch dressing or PANCAKES. I found an amazing recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes, and a link to homemade Buttermilk Caramel Syrup! It's heavenly. The pancakes have whipped egg whites stirred in at the end that make the pancakes unbelievably light and fluffy.  And the syrup is sinfully good (I don't even want to count the calories; just pretending I used Splenda not sugar!). The syrup is basically like making carmels; you've really got to keep an eye on the temperature. And of course it helps if you remember to add the sugar at the right time... (oops!) Yes, it's rather time consuming and makes quite a few dishes. But they will be the best pancakes you've ever had, I promise!  The best part is that we've now got about 15 pancakes in the freezer ready to defrost for a quick and delicious breakfast!

While you're looking at the recipes (Do it now!), take some time to look around the rest of their website. I've been making at least two of their recipes each week. They're fabulous, every last one, with the exception of the Butermilk Cheddar Biscuits (the reason I originally bought the buttermilk, actually). For whatever reason, mine were a complete flop. Way too brown and zero flavor. Anyway, just try the pancakes and you will fall in love! Thanks to Our Best Bites for the mouthwatering Breakfast for Dinner!

Tomorrow night after my exam, I'm making homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing!

WalMart: How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways...

I. hate. Wal-Mart. I don't know what on Earth possessed me to go on Friday night of all things; the only times worse than Friday night are anytime on Saturday or Sunday afternoon.  I decided to run to the store this evening to grab a few things that we needed for the week, including a few household and miscellaneous items that would be way overpriced at a grocery store.  It was a madhouseeeeeeeee. Children were running loose screaming, pulling things off shelves, darting in front of carts and just behaving horribly. Several people rammed their carts into mine because they weren't paying attention.  Add to that the fact that I couldn't find several things (they were hidden in bizarre places), and I was not a happy camper.  I'm now in a pretty horrible mood and never want to go to Wal-Mart ever again.  Just goes to show that poor planning yields poor results. I'll be making my menu plan and grocery list early next week.