Mac and Cheese

There are a trillion and one recipes for mac and cheese online. My sister, Willow, wanted to learn how to make mac and cheese from scratch so we took the opportunity to make it together for Easter dinner.

It turned out awesome!



1 box whole wheat pasta (something with ridges to hold onto the sauce)
3 Tblsp butter
3 Tblsp all purpose flour
3 cups cold milk
3 oz shredded cheese (sharp cheddar works awesome)
1/2 tsp or so of dry mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

If you like a crusty top, you can sprinkle on a mixture of breadcrumbs (we used Panko) and Parmesan.

Put a large pot of water on to boil, salt the water, and cook the pasta until just shy of done (if you're going to be baking it to crust up the top, the pasta will continue to cook...if you're just going to mix and serve, cook the pasta to the point you like it).

Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pot, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add flour and whisk. Cook, whisking, until roux takes on a light golden colour.

Add milk, a bit at a time, whisking after every addition, to make sure you don't end up with big lumpy clumps. Once you get your first cup of milk in, it should be smooth enough to just dump the other 2 cups in.

Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until sauce is thickened (it will coat the back of a spoon and when you swipe your finger across the back of the spoon, it will leave a clean line). Remove from heat, and add the cheese by the handful, stirring to melt. Season with mustard powder, salt and pepper and taste.

If it's not cheesy enough, add more cheese!

Drain pasta when it's done (don't rinse!) and mix in cheese sauce.

If you're going to finish it off in the oven, preheat to 350, and dump into casserole. Sprinkle on the breadcrumb and Parmesan mixture and bake until top is golden brown and crispy.

Delicious Noodle Bake

This was so good! It's a recipe from The Pioneer Woman (her version looks a lot neater than mine). It was the perfect warm casserole to end a chilly, wet day.

It made a lot, and I wish we'd have frozen the leftovers, because I'll bet they are just as good, or better, later.



1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 jar pasta sauce (I used fire roasted tomato)
Salt and pepper
8 oz Eggless egg noodles
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cup cottage cheese (small curd)
1/2 cup green onion, sliced
1 cup grated cheddar

Preheat oven to 350.

In a skillet, brown beef and drain if necessary. Add tomato sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer.

Cook egg noodles until al dente.

I let Quinn do this part. In a large bowl, mix sour cream and cottage cheese. Add a bunch of black pepper. Stir in well drained noodles and add green onions. Season to taste with salt.

In a casserole dish, toss in noodles. Top with half of the ground beef mixture, sprinkle on half the cheese, finish with the remaining ground beef mixture, and the last 1/2 cup of grated cheese.

Bake 20 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Harvest Pork and Apple Bake

Campbell's (you know, the soup company?) has a ton of great recipes. How easy is throwing some rice, veggies, meat and soup into a casserole and baking it?

I found a recipe in a magazine for Harvest Pork and Apple Bake and made it up last night. As usual, I fiddled with it a smidge.

Recently, I talked about how blending flavours is easy if you know what tastes good together. Thanks to the Brady Bunch, we all know pork chops and applesauce work good together, so apples and pork tenderloin will be great, with the apple flavour strengthened through apple cider.

Harvest Pork and Apple Bake



2 cups whole wheat yolkless broad egg noodles
1 carrot, peeled, quartered, and chopped
2 tablespoons oil
1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2" medallions
2 cups crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1 can cream of celery soup (cream of mushroom or chicken would also work...and I bet cream of cheddar would be good too!)
1 cup apple cider
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper
1 red apple, unpeeled, cored and cut into wedges

Cook noodles and carrots in boiling, salted water until noodles are al dente.

Meanwhile, brown tenderloin medallions in a frying pan with a little oil (about 4 mins each side). I talked about browning meat before putting in the crock pot yesterday...same goes here. Brown the pork and give it a little caramelized flavour and it will make your dish extra delicious. Once cooked, put pork on a plate and put aside.

In the bottom of that frying pan is a delicious bunch of gunk created by caramelized sugars and proteins from the pork and it's going to help flavour the rest of your dish. Toss in the onions and mushrooms and cook on medium high heat until they are soft.

Turn up the heat, add apple cider to mushrooms and onions and deglaze anything left on the bottom of the pan that the mushrooms didn't pick up. Reduce cider, stirring frequently, for a few minutes (this will concentrate the flavours and thicken things up a bit).

Preheat oven to 350.

Turn heat down to medium and add soup, thyme sprigs (just throw them in whole...remember how many go in so you know how many twigs need to come out!) and cinnamon.

Toss drained noodles and carrots into sauce and stir to combine. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Toss noodles, sauce and vegetable mixture into a 1 1/2 quart casserole (I used my oval shaped one over the round one so there's more room for the pork and apples on top, but use what you have!)

Arrange pork and apples on top (see photo above) and bake for 30 minutes, uncovered.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

I don't know anyone whose Mom or Grandma didn't make tuna noodle casserole. It's the ultimate in "dollar stretching meals"...I am pretty sure that this dish, creamed peas on toast, bucketloads of spaghetti, chili, stew, hamburger hash (which we're making tonight) and "garbage soup", completely made up my childhood dinner menu...

..and I swore I would never eat this stuff once I left home, nor would I ever use frozen peas in anything ever again. Aside from the creamed peas on toast, I've changed my mind.

This is a super versatile meal that can include most anything you have on hand, and is quite satisfying.



Tuna Noodle Casserole

1/3 bag eggless whole wheat egg noodles
1 can cream of whatever soup (I think this one is cream of chicken, but cream of mushroom is really good too)
1 can tuna (chunk light packed in water this time...sometimes I'll add 2 cans)
1 yellow pepper, diced
Handful frozen peas
Salt and pepper

Cook noodles according to package directions.

In large microwaveable bowl, mix soup (undiluted), peas and tuna. Pop in microwave until peas are defrosted and mixture is hot. Taste and season accordingly.

Once noodles are done to the desired texture, drain well and mix into soup mixture, adding yellow peppers.

I add the yellow peppers last because I like them crispy in this dish. Do what you want.

You can also (more traditionally), throw the whole mess into a casserole, top with breadcrumbs and cheese or whatever and put it in the oven...but it's summer, and the thought of putting the oven on for 30 minutes is not a welcome one. This is one of those times where I like using the microwave.

If you DO throw the lot in the oven, make sure the noodles are just underdone, so that they finish cooking in the casserole rather than overcooking.

What do you like in your tuna noodle casserole?