Homemade Mac and Cheese

I made this to make up for not making lunch for the family today, and it was yummy, but do not, I repeat, do not try to double it and bake it in the 3 qt. pan, you will have a mess!

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire
• 3 cups milk
• 1 small onion, grated
• 3/4 pound shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (3 cups)
• 8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
• 3/4 cup soft bread crumbs

  Preparation:

  In saucepan over medium low heat melt 4 tablespoons butter; blend in flour and seasonings, stirring until smooth and bubbly. Gradually stir in milk; cook and stir until thick and smooth. Stir in grated onion and cheese. Place cooked drained macaroni in a buttered 3-quart casserole. Pour sauce over macaroni and gently mix to blend. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and toss with the bread crumbs. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the macaroni. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
  Macaroni and cheese recipe serves 4 to 6.

Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa

5-6 pounds Pork Roast
1 Tbs. Cumin
1 C. Brown Sugar
12 ounces medium Salsa Verde
20 ounces Coca Cola

Place roast in a crock pot and add water halfway up roast. Cook on low for 12 hours. Drain out the water and add the remaining ingredients, then cook for 4 more hours. Shred the pork and cook for 2 more hours.

I found that I needed to add extra salsa, coke, and sugar at the end. It was REALLY delicious!

Cafe Rio Tomatillo Dressing

This is the best copycat dressing I've tasted--it's pretty dang close!

1 Ranch Buttermilk Dressing packet
1 C. buttermilk
1 C. mayonnaise (do not use low fat or fat free)
2 tomatillos, remove husks and dice
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 clove garlic
1 juice of lime
1 jalepeno pepper, use seeds for spicy

Use food processor to blend, refrigerate 1 to 2 hours.

Chive and Parsley Dip

After committing to avoid any lengthy car trips to the grocery store Scott invited our friends over for dinner. It was a little tough pulling together but everything turned out well in the end. Improvising as usual I came up with this dip... the herbs are the first things that popped up in my garden.

1 part green onion
1 part parsley
1 clove garlic
1 part cream cheese
1 part mayo
5 parts low fat plain yogurt
A touch of dijion mustard
salt to taste


Finely mince all the herbs and garlic. Mix everything except yogurt and then gently fold in yogurt (helps distribute cream cheese evenly). Chill and serve. Yummy... but maybe I am just pregnant or something.

Apple Dumplings Pioneer Woman Style

We got this recipe from Courtney and according to Dionne, it is the best dessert she ever tasted. I have made it with low fat crescent rolls and half the butter and half the sugar and it is still delicious. A real hit!

OK, Mom, but let's not forget this actually comes from my idol Pioneer Woman! She's so awesome!

Apple Dumplings

2 Granny Smith apples
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla
cinnamon
1 12 oz. can Mountain Dew (can use Sprite or 7up, is just used for the liquid)

Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Indian Fry Bread

Fry bread is wonderfully lumpy (puffed here and there). It can be served as a dessert or used as a main dish bread. Our family will often take them and stuff them, much like one might use bread or tortilla to dip into their food.
1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup waterVegetable oil for frying

Sift together the flour, salt, powdered milk, and baking powder into a large bowl. Pour the water over the flour mixture all at once and stir the dough with a fork until it starts to form one big clump.
Flour your hands. Using your hands, begin to mix the dough, trying to get all the flour into the mixture to form a ball. NOTE: You want to mix this well, but you do NOT want to knead it. Kneading it will make for a heavy Fry Bread when cooked. The inside of the dough ball should still be sticky after it is formed, while the outside will be well floured.
Cut the dough into four (4) pieces. Using your floured hands, shape, stretch, pat, and form a disk of about 5 to 7 inches in diameter. NOTE: Don’t worry about it being round. As Grandma Felipa would say “it doesn’t roll into your mouth.”
Heat the vegetable oil to about 350 degrees F. NOTE: You can check by either dropping a small piece of dough in the hot oil and seeing if it begins to fry, or by dipping the end of a wooden spoon in and seeing if that bubbles. Your oil should be about 1-inch deep in a large cast-iron skillet or other large fryer.
Take the formed dough and gently place it into the oil, being careful not to splatter the hot oil. Press down on the dough as it fries so the top is submersed into the hot oil. Fry until brown, and then flip to fry the other side. Each side will take about 3 to 4 minutes.
Indian Fry Bread can be kept warm in a 200 degree F. oven for up to 1 hour. They refrigerate well and can be reheated in a 350 degree F. oven for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Creamy Tomato Tortellini

Prep Time:5 min
Total Time:20 min
Makes:4 servings, 1-1/4 cups each
1 pkg. (9 oz.) fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
2 cups frozen broccoli florets
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese

COOK pasta as directed on package, adding broccoli to the boiling water for the last 3 min. of the pasta cooking time.
MEANWHILE, cook tomatoes in large skillet on medium heat 5 min. Add cream cheese and seasoning; cook 2 to 3 min. or until cream cheese is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently.
DRAIN pasta mixture. Add to tomato mixture in skillet; mix lightly. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.