Spicy Mac N Cheese

Tweet

I am a mac n cheese snob. I cannot stand the fake powdered cheese boxed versions. I never buy it because it doesn't even occur to me that there may be other people out there who actually like it. Hot Stuff, on the other hand, really likes any mac n cheese. This recipe is the compromise we came to, and let me tell you we are both very happy! Even the Tiny Men will eat this one, and that is saying something! (I tone down the spiciness if I know the kiddos will be eating it). I have frozen this recipe before, and it holds up pretty well, but in general I think it is best hot out of the oven!

Spicy Mac N Cheese

2 -3 cups macaroni noodles, uncooked

1/4 cup hard butter or 1/4 cup margarine

1/4 cup flour

3 cups milk

2 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

3/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Cook and drain macaroni; rinse with cold water. While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter or margarine in a pot. Stir in the flour. Add the milk and cook, stirring frequently until thickened and all the globs of flour are mixed in. Add the seasonings and continue stirring. When the pasta is done, pour into a greased baking dish, add sauce and cheese. Stir until well mixed. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

Freezing Instructions:Follow all instructions until baking. Cover dish and freeze. To serve, defrost and bake at 375 for 25/30 minutes. I hope you enjoy!

Fast Freezer Cooking - Cheesy Chicken Bean Burritos

Tweet

I recently bought 40 pounds of chicken. The question I get the most is "Why would you buy 40 pounds of chicken?" followed closely by "Are you crazy?". The first answer is that it is cheaper to buy chicken in bulk, and the second answer is yes, but not because of my chicken purchases. I buy bulk meat through Zaycon. If you have not heard of this, they basically deliver various kinds of meat to multiple drop points, and you just drive out and they put a big box of meat in your trunk. The only problem is then you have 40 pounds of chicken to deal with, and that is A LOT of chicken. I try to get it all prepped as much as possible before I freeze it. Some is frozen in simple raw breasts, but I also try to cook some and shred or cube it and then freeze meals so that I don't have to do as much work for dinner. (I really don't like cooking. I tell my kiddos they can't use the word 'hate' so I won't use it now, but that is pretty much how I feel about it.) Anything that saves me time in the kitchen is really, really worth it.

Today when I got home from dropping the boys at preschool, I decided I would quickly whip up a quick meal for the freezer - Cheesy Chicken Bean Burritos. I had everything I needed prepped and on hand, so it really was not a tough process.

I just kind of guesstimated the amounts of each ingredient, so I will do the best I can to estimate for you. 

1 - 1 1/2 C cheddar, shredded

3/4 C onion, diced

1 1/2 C shredded chicken

15 oz can refried beans

4 oz can diced green chilies

2 T taco seasoning (or one packet of store bought)

tortillas (whatever size you like; I used small soft taco size)

Ready for these incredibly difficult instructions? Mix all your ingredients in a bowl. Yep. just that tough. Then spoon a bit of filling onto your tortilla (I put about 1/4 to 1/2 C filling). Roll one side of the tortilla over the filling, fold the two sides up, and then finish rolling the last flap over. 

To freeze these, I wrapped them individually using these Ziploc Perfect Portions baggies. I bought them to freeze the chicken breasts, but they work really well for this, too. Then I reused the tortilla bag (aren't I resourceful?) to pack them all up and freeze.

I got 13 burritos out of this, so I figure I can get about 3 meals out of this. Not bad for 15 minutes of work, right?

*This post contains affiliate links*

Shiny, Shiny Stainless

Tweet

I love the look of stainless steel. Except when it's not stainless. With two tiny men three feet tall and under running around, you can imagine the amount of smudges, goop, and other unidentifiable marks that end up on all of my kitchen surfaces. I have to confess that I really don't wipe it down very often. It makes me tired to clean it and then find two hand prints and a foot print on it two and a half minutes later. When I do clean it, I don't use the fancy cleaners that are meant to clean without streaks; mostly because I don't feel like they do a very good job, and they end up feeling kind of greasy and I don't like that. Usually I will use a spray cleaner and a rag or *gasp* just a soapy dish rag. This means that while the germs and goop may be removed, the evidence remains in the form of those dang smudges.

So you can imagine my skepticism and cautious optimism when I stumbled across a different cleaning solution at One Good Thing by Jillee. I had the post bookmarked for a while because...well I don't know why. I guess just because I am a champion level procrastinator. But I had all the supplies needed, and I had disgusting appliances just crying out for help.

So here is what I did - I assembled:

• 1 Cup baking soda
• 3 T Borax
• 1/4 Cup lemon juice
• Club soda

Mix the first three ingredients together and add enough club soda to make a pasty mush. I found that it went on a spread more easily if it was more on the wet side. Be prepared - you WILL have clumps of this plop down on the floor as you are applying it!! The time this project takes is extended by the clean-up. Once it has dried, it is pretty easy to sweep up. Still, it is best to do it before you clean your floor.

Once it is dried, use a damp rag to wipe off the mixture. I was careful to wipe in the same direction of the grain, and I am happy I did. They came out beautifully! Not a smudge or streak in sight! My kitchen simply glowed with the beauty of my gleaming appliances! I cleaned my oven, dishwasher, and trash can in addition to my refrigerator, and of course the trash can and dishwasher had marks within about an hour, but they are still cleaner than they were before. I can guarantee that I will be doing this again...and again!

Starting Out...

Tweet

I must confess, this is my third (or maybe fourth?) attempt at starting a blog. The first few times I came up with really cheesy names that I really wasn't comfortable with, and I gallantly struggled through a few posts before letting it slip into nothingness. This time I am determined to make a go of it!

So a little bit about me - I stay home with my two tiny men, currently ages three and four. They are awesome little boys, so sweet and funny, and they drive me crazy half the time! (Just keepin it real, folks.) Hubby and I have been married for almost six years. He is my amazing jack-of-all-trades; I am constantly amazed at how much he can do. He also makes me laugh a lot, which is very important :)

We live in a lovely neighborhood of cookie cutter houses. When we bought the house five years ago as new construction, we thought this was perfect for us. While we do love the house, we have discovered that what we both really want is a bunch of land with our perfect dream house built on it, and maybe some chickens in the back yard. Of course that goal is unattainable right now, so for the time being we are working towards that and making this house as happy as we can! As for my skills, I am definitely not the master that Hubby is. I am a bit OCD and type-A. I like to try the things I see on Pinterest, and sometimes it works out really well, sometimes it fails. Such is life! I am definitely not a decorator, either. About a year ago I looked around and realized that my house was pretty bland and boring, so now I am making an effort to spice it up a bit without breaking the bank.

I'd love for you to join me as I try to keep my house clean (enough), create projects that may or may not go down in flames, and in general just run my household the best I can!