I grew up with this basic dish eating it at least 4 times a week. It wasn’t until I reached my teens I found out that there was an even better version that didn’t all come out of a box. Have fun with the cheese in this recipe as there is no real one choice. Cheddar is a safe bet (staying close to original recipe) but by just combining some white new york cheddar I added a bit of a smoky flavor and made the overall look a bit brighter. Let me know how the cheeses turn out for you and make sure to share this with friends, they will love it!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 (16 ounce) package of elbow macaroni
- 1/2 pound brick of Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 1/2 pound brick of New York White Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
- 1 dash of salt
- 1 dash of pepper
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add elbow macaroni to boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan with vegetable oil. Place a quarter of the macaroni in the bottom, followed by a layer of cheese slices (half new york white and regular sharp). Dot with butter and season with salt and pepper. Repeat until once again and then pour milk over top of dish. Bake in the oven for one hour or until the top is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes, cut and serve. This will make 6 generous portions.a
Cookies are a great dessert and they sure are easy to make. These pumpkin cookies are great for the fall season and work well as snacks before and after holiday dinners. I am a huge fan of oatmeal cookies so I decided to smash in some pumpkin to bring up the fall flavor.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cup quick cooking oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter (soft)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
METHOD:
Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease the baking sheets or use parchment paper.
Mix the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a mixing bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract to the sugar mixture and then mix well. Add flour mixture to large mixing bowl and mix well. Stir in the walnuts once blended well. Using a tablespoon, make round balls and place on your baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minute or until cookies are lightly browned and set in centers. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes and then move to wire racks to cool completely.
My mom used to make these for me as a kid, but I found myself constantly just eating the filling! Well over the years I grew to love the whole pepper with stuffing and had to share my recipe with everyone! It can seem intimidating to make these guys but trust me when I say it goes by very easy. See for yourself!
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 green or red bell peppers
- 1 pound of ground beef
- 1 medium onion
- 1 1/2 cup cooked rice
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1/4 cup marinara
- 1 clove garlic
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- dash of ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil
METHOD:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add several pinches of salt to boiling water, then add peppers and boil, using something to keep peppers completely submerged, until green (or red if red peppers) and they become soft, about 3 minutes. Drain, set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 4 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add meat, rice, tomatoes, and oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
Drizzle remaining 1 tbsp. Oil inside peppers, arrange cut side up in a baking dish, then stuff peppers with filling. Spoon marinara sauce over filling. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 40-50 minutes.
Such a simple yet delicious dish which can be served at all hours of the day. This tasty yellow bread is sure to make your mouth, stomach, and head happy as can be with it’s fluffy texture and sweet taste.
It took a few tries, but those tries just made this better and better. It’s a good moist and a bit flaky. This one was made with egg and milk replacer so that’s why there’s little black specks in it. Be sure to enjoy it warmed up with some butter drizzled on top.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose white flour
- 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg, beaten
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Mix until blended then pour in the vegetable oil, milk, and beaten egg. Mix until a thick batter is formed.
Grease a 8″ or 9″ baking dish with vegetable oil, pour batter into pan, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, Let cool for 30 minutes, and Serve.
SERVINGS: 8
You ask and I deliver Jason, here you go! Lasagna… With the weather cooling it’s time to break out that oven and put a nice smell in the house. This meal is good for 6-8 servings, if you do 6 I won’t tell, so be sure open up your stomachs and enjoy this mash of tomato sauce, pasta, and three cheeses. Be sure to leave your requests and any tips or tricks are always welcomed in the comments.
Lasagna
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 box of no boil lasagna noodles (16 pieces)
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 jars of tomato sauce (48 ounces)
- 1 15 ounce ricotta cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 2 eggs
- 1 table parsley
- 1/2 salt
- 1/2 pepper
- 1 dash nutmeg
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brown the ground beef on a skillet and drain the juice. In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Mix until blended.
In a 9 x 13 glass baking pan, pour 1 cup of tomato sauce and cover the bottom. Lay 4 pasta noodles down and make sure they overlap a little bit. Put 1/3 cheese mixture and 1/3 meat in a nice layer. Repeat starting with another layer of tomato sauce and continue until you are out of pasta. The top layer should just be tomato sauce and pasta. Add some additional parmesan cheese on top.
Cover with a sheet of foil (shiny side down) and bake for 60 minutes, remove the foil for the final 10 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for 15 minutes and serve.
What can I say, I just simply love the oven! Brace yourself plant eaters, I got a great tasting zucchini bread here for you to make! You can now join in with the meat eaters in their love of zucchini bread. Meat eaters, you can also just use real eggs in this instead of the flax seed and you will get the same effect. I made two loafs and in the end, decided that I would eat them both this week rather than give away because they were so tasty!
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Vegan Zucchini Bread
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 90 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups grated zucchini, about 2 medium zucchini
- 3 tablespoons milled flax seed + 9 tablespoons water (3 eggs)
- 1 cup oil
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking powder
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350, combine grated zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla, flax seed/water and stir until blended. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder then mix until a thick batter is formed. Grease two bread pans and pour the batter evenly into each. Place in the oven to cook for 60 minutes then remove and cool for about 30. Serve warm and enjoy!
One of my favorite dishes since I was a child is nachos. It’s a little known secret that the sweet spot to the American taste buds is in layering and it’s no surprise that nachos rains supreme in likability! What I’m about to show you is what I consider the easiest and tastiest version of chips and nachos you could ever make. Recently I was thinking of alternatives to buying tortilla chips and these chips are 100 times better. I recommend making your own salsa and guacamole for this (as seen in our episode 5), but store bought can replace all of these ingredients as needed. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!
[print_link] Nacho Dip and Chips
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup of colby jack cheese
- 2 can re-fried beans
- 8 flour tortillas
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cajun seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shredded lettuce
- 1/2 cup sliced black olives
- 1/2 cup sliced jalapeno peppers
EQUIPMENT:
- a sheet pan
- a deep baking pan
- a measuring spoons and cups
METHOD:
To make the chips, we are going to stack the flour tortillas as evenly as possible. Cut them in half, then cut the halfs in half, then cut the halfs in halfs. They will resemble mini pizzas at this point. Lay them out on the sheet pan in a single layer, nothing stacked on top. In a side dish mix the chili powder, cayanee pepper, and salt with a spoon until blended. Using cooking spray, spray lightly over the top of all the chips. Pinch and spread the spices over the top oiled chips. Set aside as we’ll bake these with the dip.
First preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. For the dip, take your deep baking pan and pour the cans of re-fried beans down to form a nice layer on the bottom. Sprinkle the cheese to cover the full layer of re-fried beans. Now sprinkle the black olives, lettuce, and jalapeno peppers over the top.
Place both the chips and the dip into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove both the chips and dip. Top the dip with the salsa, guacamole, and sour cream. Place your newly baked chips decoratively on top and serve.
Bread is, hands down, the staple of any kitchen and it’s time to stop buying something so easy to make. I’ve made it every week for the past year and a half and everyone has raved about how wonderful this tastes. It was apparently so good, i stopped buying bread and just make this for our bread needs during the week. Honey wheat bread, here we come! There is a bit of work for this guy, but with the aid of a mixer and if you remove the “waiting” times, it is quite fast and simple. I highly recommend you try this at home.
[print_link] Honey Wheat Bread
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
- 1/8 cup Honey
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 1 teaspoon Dry Active Yeast
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
- 1 1/2 cup Water (110-115F)
EQUIPMENT:
- Bread Loaf Pan
- Kitchen Towel
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Mixing Bowls
- Baking pan
PREPARATION TIMES:
- 20 minutes mixing
- 1 hour rising
- 30 minutes shaping
- 30 minutes baking
- 30 minutes cooling
METHOD:
Add All Purpose Flour, Wheat Flour, Yeast, and Salt into a mixing bowl and mix until blended. Add Butter, Honey, and Water and mix until a dough forms into a large ball. Remove the ball of dough and begin to kneed on the counter for about 10 minutes or until the dough is somewhat elastic. Reform into a ball once completed.
Using the Vegetable Oil, coat a separate mixing bowl with 3/4ths of the oil. Transfer the dough ball into the newly oiled bowl and then flip so the oiled side of the dough is now facing up. Wet a kitchen towel with lukewarm water and drape over the mixing bowl containing the dough ball. Set aside in a draft free area for 1 hour or until the dough ball has doubled in size.
Remove the dough ball from the mixing bowl and punch down to make the dough flat. Now shape into an even log. Coat the bread loaf pan with the remaining vegetable oil and place the dough log into the pan. Set aside in a draft free area for about 30 minutes or until the dough has risen again.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and arrange the racks to have one in the center and one directly below it with enough room for the additional baking pan. In a separate baking pan add 1 cup of water and place in the oven. Place the bread loaf into the oven and cook for 30 minutes, making sure not to open the oven at least until the last 5 minutes of baking.
Remove from the oven and transfer from bread loaf pan to a cooking rack. Let bread stand for 30 minutes or until cool and than cut. If storage for later, place in a zip lock bag, making sure to remove as much air as possible from the bag. It should last for a 1 and 1/2 weeks.
Nothing tops off a great meal than some dessert right? Good, glad you agree. Here is an easy blueberry pie recipe which will make for an excellent finisher to the dinner made in the other two episodes. Also I hope to show everyone how easy it really is to make a pie crust, no need to over pay at the grocery store. Remember, you can substitute whatever you want for the fruit in this recipe, it’s very versatile.
[print_link] INGREDIENTS:
Crust
- 3 cups flour (12 ounces if by weight)
- 4 tablespoons of honey (any sugar really)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2/3 cup cold water
Filling
- 3 to 4 cups blueberries (fresh)
- 7 tablespoons corn starch
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/3 cup honey (any sugar really)
EQUIPMENT:
- 9″ deep-dish pie plate
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoon
- Rolling pin
- Colander
- Parchment Paper
PREPARATION TIMES:
- Active – 30 minutes
- Dough Chill – 30 minutes
- Bake – 1 hour
- Pie Cool – at least 30 minutes
METHOD:
Put the flour, honey, and shortening in a bowl and mix. Pour the water in solwly until it begins to look like dough. Make sure it is holding together but no to soupy. Wrap the dough up in some syaran wrap and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes. If you are crunched for time, you can skip this step. Rip off a nice size of parchment paper and lay it on the counter. Set aside half of the dough ball and place the other half in the center of the paper . Cover the dough with an equal size of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a nice circle, big enough to fit over your plate and hang over a bit.
Take the top part of the parchment paper off and set aside, then flip the dough and parchment paper into the pie plate and remove the parchment paper. Don’t worry if it breaks because you made it big enough to have some patching material. Now dress it up to make it all nice and pretty for display. Now is the point where you can remove hanging dough to patch any holes or thin spots you see.
Pour the blueberries in a colander and wash them making sure to remove any bruised berries or any stems. In a separate bowl combine the 1/3 cup honey, 7 tablespoons corn starch, and 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of water and stir it up. Dump the blueberries into the pie crust and don’t worry if they end up being higher than the pie crust itself, they will melt down when cooked. No pour the mixture we just made all over the top of the blueberries.
Turn on the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the parchment paper down on the counter again, put the dough you set aside back in the center, and cover with the other sheet of parchment paper. Roll it flat to a little bigger than the pie plate is now remove the top layer of parchment paper. Place the dough over the top of the pie, remove the bottom layer of parchment paper and then form the dough to meet at the edge of the crust. Cut a few vent holes in the top of the pie and place into the oven for 1 hour.
After an hour, remove from the pie and set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes.
I couldn’t leave you without some sides to go with that delicious oven roasted chicken now could I? Of course not! These two sides are sure to knock your or your guests socks off! Being a large fan of potatoes when I was a kid, I decided to take these up to a more adult spice level, which you can adjust by change the chili powder additions. These candied carrots are also great for holidays and special events. I really enjoy these potatoes and although I love to eat carrots, you can never go wrong with slapping some butter and brown sugar on them.
Cumin Roasted Potatoes
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 large russet potatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
EQUIPMENT:
- Large mixing bowl
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Square Cake Pan
PREPARATION TIMES:
- Active: 15 minutes
- Bake: 40 minutes
- Cool: 10 minutes
METHOD:
Wash and scrub the outside of the potatoes to make sure it’s nice and clean than proceed to cut the potatoes into about 1/4 inch slices, then each slice into 3rds. Go nuts with the size and shape! Once all cut, place them into the mixing bowl and add the olive oil, salt, garlic, cumin, and cayenne pepper.
Shaking, stirring, flipping, or whatever you feel like doing, do it to get those potato pieces covered in the seasonings and oil. Once finished, transfer the potatoes to your cake pan (or oven roasting equivalent). Turn the oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit and pre heat for about 5 minutes. Once the oven is good and hot at 450, place the potato pan onto the center rack and wait for 40 minutes until soft and golden brown. An easy way to check the “doneness” of the potatoes is to stick a fork in em, if it goes in very nicely, than you are good to go!
Candied Carrots
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 pound carrots, cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons of butter, sliced/diced
- 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
EQUIPMENT:
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Sauce Pot
PREPARATION TIMES:
- Active: 10 minutes
- Boil: 25 minutes
- Saute: 5 minutes
METHOD:
Fill your Sauce Pot with enough water to cover all the carrots (about 4 cups). Turn burner to high and wait for a roaring boil. While the water heats up, peal and cut the carrots into your desired pieces, which can range from bite size to long, but try not to cut them too thin as thickness will help absorb the goodness you’ll add on later.
Once your water comes to a boil, add the cut and peeled carrots and boil on high for in between 20 to 30 minutes. You want the carrots to be soft but not too soft, 25 worked best for me. Drain the water from the carrots and return the carrots to the stove. reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting. Begin to stir in butter, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, until the sugar is somewhat bubbly. Be sure to server these hot.