Yummy Mac n Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degree
2 Tablespoon butter
2 Tablespoon all purpose flour
4 cups milk
1 large block of Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese, cut into cubes
Salt and Pepper to taste
16 oz of elbow noodles cook as directed

1. You start by melting 2 Tablespoons of butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Then mix in 2 Tablespoons of flour.Let that cook for a minute.
3. Mix in the 4 cups of milk. Heat until glossy.
4. Stir in cheese, stir constantly until melted.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Combine cooked noodles and cheese sauce.
7. Bake for thirty minutes stirring half way.

Kitchen tip

* After you use a lemon don't throw it away, us the lemon on your cutting boards and counters. It will kill any bacteria that may be lurking and will also give your kitchen a fresh clean scent.

Baking tip

* When you are baking meats, place a pan of water on the lowest rack to keep the meats from drying out.

Turkey meat loaf

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tea sea salt
1/2 tea pepper
1/4 tea rosemary
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tea tomato paste
2 lb ground turkey
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup ketchup

*Preheat over to 325 degrees.
* In medium sauce pan combine olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, and tomato paste. Mix well, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Then allow mixture to cool to room temperature.
* Combine ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs, and mixture in a large bowl. Mix well.
* Shape into a loaf on an ungreased sheet pan.
* Spread ketchup evenly on top.
* Bake for an 1 - 1 1/2 hours, until internal temperature is 160 degrees and meat loaf is cooked through.

Grilled Turkey Burgers

1 lb ground turkey
2 Tbsp season all
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Hamburger buns
Your favorite burger toppings: cheese, mayo, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ect.

Mix all well and form into patties. Grill them till they are cooked through. Toast hamburger buns on both sides on the grill, place cooked burger on toasted bun, add your favorite burger toppings and enjoy.

Eating Healthier

     My husband and I are big meat eaters, worse yet we are big red meat eaters. Well when I stocked up our food at Sam's club back in February I bought some ground turkey. A few things about ground turkey:

1) it is cheaper
2) it is healthier than ground beef and
3) you can really do the same things with it that you do with ground beef

     It actually tastes better. We have done a few things with the ground turkey, we had grilled turkey burgers one night and then last night we had turkey meat loaf, they were so yummy. And my kids will eat it, they really don't eat much meat. I will be posting some recipes with ground turkey. I hope that you try them and like them as much as we did, and we have decided to no longer eat ground beef. We will have the occasional roast and I will have my occasional steak, but as soon as our hamburger is gone that is it, it is turkey from now on.

Sesame Chicken

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 dash sesame oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed

Sift flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder into a bowl. Pour in low-sodium soy sauce, sherry, water, vegetable oil, and a dash of sesame oil; stir until smooth. Stir in chicken until coated with the batter, then cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon chile paste
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
Toast the sesame seeds in hot frying pan, do not remove them when done. Add chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, chile paste, and garlic to a boil in a saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil. Dissolve 1/4 cup cornstarch into 1/2 cup of water, and stir into boiling sauce. Simmer until the sauce thickens and turns clear, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and keep sauce warm.

1 quart olive oil for frying

Heat olive oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to a temperature of 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Drop in the battered chicken pieces, a few at a time, and fry until they turn golden brown and float to the top of the oil, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. To serve, place fried chicken pieces onto a serving platter, and pour the hot sauce overtop. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds to garnish.



Seasonings and Rice

I am a fan of seasonings and I like trying different variations of spices, but I also like the seasonings that you can buy like the Mrs Dash line. One of my favorites is the basil and sun dried tomatoes.

Really it is amazing at what a little seasoning can do and how it can transform anything. We eat a lot of rice and potatoes and I try different things with potatoes but I get more creative with my rices.

Some of my favorite things to make rice not so boring are:

1) Cook rice with broth instead of water: chicken and beef are my faves.
2) I do like white rice sometimes and with the leftovers, I like to turn it into broccoli and cheese rice. I cut any leftover broccoli up into small bite size pieces and throw it in the rice with about a cup of shredded cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup of milk. If I have any leftover chicken sometimes I will dice it and throw it in too.
3) Cook rice with basil and sun dried tomato seasoning.
4) Taco rice: cook with a package of taco seasoning.
5) Tomato rice: just cook with 2 Tbsp tomato paste, mix it with the water, and 1 Tbsp parsley.
6) Cook with 1 Tbsp cilantro and 1 1/2 Tsp lime juice.

If you have any other suggestions to do with rice leave me a comment below :)