Panera Mac & Cheese

Who knew Panera had released their mac & cheese recipe? Not this girl... until two weeks ago. This should be national news.

 HELLO! What are you waiting for? This is easy. And stinkin' delicious!

 This is all you need... yes, the hot sauce is supposed to be there. Threw me for a loop too. I actually added more than the recipe calls for.

And what goes better with mac and cheese than a good Greek salad? Nothing!

It is a relatively easy recipe... the only bad thing is that mine tasted quite floury. I think this can be avoided by letting the flour cook longer in the butter... Try it! You'll love it. And you'll save a bunch of moolah :)

cinnabon!

A while ago, I found a recipe for "Clone of a Cinnabon" and thought about it for months. I don't know why. To be honest, I have never had a Cinnabon in my life. Not that they don't smell amazing when I pass by the store in the mall or anything... I just never have given in.

Well, because this was my first time making cinnamon rolls from scratch, I waited until I had some back-up. Two weeks ago, an old family friend of Andrew's, Alexa, came to visit. I love Alexa... probably because we are so crazy similar in our likes and dislikes. Very strangely alike. We are going to open a bakery someday... you just wait and see!

Here's the recipe... I honestly can't tell you if they are truly the clone of a Cinnabon... but I can honestly tell you that they were super crazy good!

Start with dough. We discovered the butter works better when you let it get really soft... almost melted. Cold butter = bad idea.

let rise. roll it out. spread with butter. spread with cinnamon & sugar!

roll up, slice into pieces, and place in a greased baking pan. YUMMMMM!

Bake...

And slather with cream cheese icing!

Enjoy while warm with a lot of milk!

We did change a few things... we just used regular dry active yeast and let it rise in a warm oven after kneading. We didn't use a bread maker (I don't own one), and they tasted wonderful! 

5th Graders.

Sorry for my little blog break... my little guys took the writing SOL here in Virginia today and yesterday. These past few weeks have been a little nutso... encouraging them as writers, while trying to make sure they are as well-prepared as possible. Now it's over... and I am beyond proud of them.

Anyways... (I use that word way too much. Need to expand my vocab.) we are learning about the five kingdoms that scientists classify with... My kiddos were having a bit of a hard time distinguishing between vascular and nonvascular plants... so we did an experiment :)

Celery is a vascular plant... so I wanted to show them how things travel through the plant using the 'veins.' This also helped my kiddos with the independent/dependent variables they struggle with always. Ask me why 10-year-olds should be able to identify the control in an experiment? THEY ARE TEN.

We put the same amount of water in two cups... put food coloring in one cup... and then cut the celery and put one stalk in each cup.

I don't have any idea why this is so grainy... but this is the 'right after we put the celery in' picture.

and this is the 'after two days of sitting in food coloring' picture. SO COOL.

Argentine Lasagna

When I was little, I never had a fondness for lasagna or spaghetti... it was too simple. Not my favorite. Nowadays, I LOVE a good bowl of pasta with meat sauce... yum. Comfort food :)

I love cookbooks... I have a lot of cookbooks. Before my Grandma died, she gave me a big box of her cookbooks and I love those... kind of retro, but fun. Lots of microwave magic cooking :)

Anyways, I get cookbooks for my birthday and for Christmas quite often. I'm perfectly okay with that :) My mama got me a cookbook for my birthday this year titled A+ Taste of Home Recipes from Schools Across America... I love reading it. It's a compilation of recipes submitted by people who work in our school systems... Awesome!

I found this recipe for Argentine Lasagna and had to try it :) It's very different... but very, very yummy.

One tip I'll follow next time: thaw the spinach and peas overnight. You'll thank me later.

all your ingredients. Notice I said 'your'... that means you need to make it!

after browning the beef/mushroom/onion/garlic mixture, your house will have an incredible smell. Mine definitely brought the hubs downstairs FAST.

White sauce... red sauce... mix the two. DELISH. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
•  1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese 
• 1 jar (15 oz.) Alfredo sauce
• 1 carton (15 oz.) ricotta cheese
• 3 cups frozen peas, thawed
• 1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 package (9 oz) no-cook lasagna noodles
• Fresh basil & parmesan for garnish :)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a Dutch oven (large pot), cook the beef, onion, mushrooms, and garlic over medium heat until beef is browned. Drain Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, pepper, and 2 cups of the mozzarella. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, combine the Alfredo sauce, ricotta cheese, peas, and spinach. 
4. Spread 1 cup of the meat sauce into a greased 13x9 pan. Layer with four noodles, 1 1/4 cups meat sauce, and 1 1/4 cups of the spinach mixture. Repeat 3x. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.
5. Cover and bake at 350 degreese for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes more (or until cheese is melted). Let it sit at least 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with basil and parmesan if desired :)

white chocolate raspberry cheesecake

We are very blessed to be members (very recent! YAY!) of an amazing church. It's so awesome to be loved, challenged, and accepted by the church... and our small group in particular. Anyway, last weekend, we went to our small group leader's house (he's also the Pastor of Education) for a dinner party. I brought dessert... this white chocolate raspberry cheesecake that is INSANELY good.

Believe it or not, this was my first solo attempt at cheesecake. I haven't even participated in making a cheesecake in probably ten years. I remember making them with my mom... well, actually, she made them. I remember being banished from the kitchen. I grew up in a really old house and she didn't want us kids jumping in the kitchen and cracking the cheesecake.

I guess I've always had the idea that cheesecake is VERY hard to make and is very finicky. That may be true for some cheesecakes, but this one was very easy. When I put it in the oven after following the recipe, I let my shoulders relax and exhaled... I had done it. But then during the two hour wait, I was plagued by the thought that it would fall, crack, or my springform pan would spontaneously combust. Not kidding. I'm a bit of a worry-wart.

I only made a few changes to the original recipe: I doubled the crust mixture (reflected in recipe below) and  I used a good quality seedless raspberry jam, so I didn't have to go through the step of making my own raspberry filling. I saw that someone had recommended this in a comment on the original recipe... so smart. It saved at least 30 minutes and it didn't change the delicious-ness :)

Ignore the raspberries. Didn't use them! 

does anything bad ever start with an Oreo crust? Debatable. 

Melt the white chocolate in a 'double boiler' (aka a glass bowl on top of a pot of simmering water)

Yum. It was so delicious... and because it's so rich, it can serve a lot of people!

I baked it in a springform pan wrapped in foil (so water can't get in) and then put into a big Pyrex with about 1 inch of water. This helps the cheesecake stay moist and not crack.

adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 2 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
• 4 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 4 tablespoons sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips with half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth.
3. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect.
4. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

broiled blood oranges

Aren't these babies beautiful?

and look at the inside:

Blood oranges are a variety of orange (hello, captain obvious), but they have a pigment that other oranges don't which gives them that purpley color. (Bonus: the specific pigment fights free radicals!)

They taste more intense... less sweet, almost like berries.

Anyways, try one. They're so yummy and also beautiful!

I've been hearing about broiling citrus for a little while now, so I decided blood oranges would be perfect to try.

I melted about a tablespoon of butter and then mixed in enough sugar to make a paste. I sprinkled some cardamom and cinnamon in there and then spread it on top of the orange halves.

I put the broiler on (I used the low setting) and put those babies on a cookie sheet and slid them in.

Wait five minutes... and ta-da. YUM. The sugar caramelized....

Next, I want to try putting the paste on the segments instead of halves. Such a fun and yummy dessert.

chicken parm

I've always been a fan of chicken parmesan... it's kind of a classic... like the Grace Kelly of chicken... kind of.

I found this recipe on Chef in Training (one of my favorite blogs) and knew I had to try it.

This is all you need. A classic. Made unbelievably easy. Sign me up. Immediately!

The only change I made to the original recipe was not adding the mozzarella to the crockpot. I didn't have any in the house (the horror!) so I asked AJ to pick it up on the way home from work. I added it just before serving and it tasted delicious. The chicken was cooked perfectly.

I apologize for this awful picture. I was in a hurry to eat! :)

Valentine's Day Dinner

I told you a few nights ago about my all-star husband making dinner for me the night before Valentine's Day. I've had a rough few weeks with back issues and school-related exhaustion (haha, but seriously)... and he's been so kind and supportive. I wanted to make him something special for Valentine's Day, but I didn't have a lot of time. I wanted to use some of his favorite foods: sausage, pierogies, and spinach! I googled it and didn't come up with much, but then I found this recipe at Taste of Home.

I was a little suspicious and didn't think it sounded THAT good, but it was rated well, so I tried it. It was delicious! I followed the directions exactly, but I microwaved a frozen pack of chopped spinach and mixed that in at the last minute. I also added some mushrooms that I had left over.

YUM. It was SO good.

pinterest projects

I did another Pinterest-inspired project this past weekend for my kiddos on Valentine's Day.

I found it on Caffeinated Conclusions, which is one of my favorite teaching blogs!

This is what she made:

And this is my version:

My kids loved it. I just mixed golden grahams, milk chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows. It's addictive ;)

stuffed peppers

I love the smell of stuffed peppers baking... it just smells so cozy and homey. So delicious!

AJ and I made our monthly trip to B.J.'s (our version of Sam's Club) today and they had some amazing-looking peppers today, so I was struck with inspiration: stuffed peppers! We used red peppers because AJ isn't too big of a fan of green peppers. They made the end result a little sweeter.

I followed this recipe pretty closely, but I had to make a few variations due to what I had in my pantry (and what I didn't have). I'll reflect those in the recipe below, but if you want to use the original, be my guest!

I didn't end up using the tomato paste. Isn't that the biggest box of rice you've ever seen? Not sure what I was thinking.

First off, I started to boil a big pot of water with some salt in it for the peppers to cook in. At the same time, I started browning my ground beef and onion in the same skillet. Smells amazing.

While I was waiting for the pot of water to boil, I cut the tops off my peppers and took all the seeds out (easy if you make one cut all around the top... twist and the seeds kind of pop out with the stem.) Then I put them in the boiling water for just five minutes. Drain them and place them in a baking dish open side up :)

After the ground beef was browned, add in the tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, water, and minute rice. Stir and cover. Let cook 10-15 minutes. At this point, I preheated the oven to 350 in preparation for my great creation... or allrecipes.com' great creation :)

While this was all coming together, I put a can of tomato soup in a bowl. I then added about half a can full of water and whisked it all together. I sprinkled oregano and basil in to add to the Italian vibe I had going on.

After the beef mixture has cooked for 10 minutes, check to see if the rice is tender (taste test!). If it's not, let it cook for about 5 more minutes. When it is finished, scoop it into the pepper shells until the pepper is about half full. Spoon some of the sauce on top, and then fill it up with the beef mixture. Top it off with the rest of the sauce and sprinkle some cheese (I used mozzarella) to finish it.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 tablespoons dried chopped onion (I ran out of fresh and frozen)
• 6 bell peppers (I used red. Recipe recommended green. Whatever's easiest!)
• 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (I had to use basil, oregano, and garlic because it's what I had)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup Minute rice
• Mozzarella and parmesan for garnish

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the tops off the peppers, and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain. Sprinkle salt inside each pepper, and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, saute beef and onions for 5 minutes, or until beef is browned. Drain off excess fat, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes, rice, 1/2 cup water and Worcestershire sauce. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender. Remove from heat, and stir in the cheese.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C). Stuff each pepper halfway with the beef and rice mixture, and place peppers open side up in a baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine tomato soup with just enough water to make the soup a gravy consistency. Put a few tablespoons of the soup mixture over the beef in the peppers. Fill with the beef and rice and then pour the rest of the tomato soup over the peppers.
4. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese if desired.
5. Bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.

pasta e fagioli soup

I've been on a soup kick lately, and I made pasta e fagioli a few weeks ago. I found this recipe and it was super easy!

here are the ingredients :)

cut up your veggies!

brown your ground beef!

rinse your beans!

You literally dump everything (so don't let the long list of stuff scare you) into the crockpot except the ground beef and pasta. Stir it up, and then add the ground beef. Let cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5. I boiled my pasta separately and added it at the last minute, based on some other reviews. YUM!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 2 stalks celery, finely diced
• 1 can diced tomatoes, NOT drained
• 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can cannellini beans (or white kidney beans), drained and rinsed
• 1 (26 oz.) container chicken stock
• 1 jar (25 oz.) spaghetti sauce
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked ditalini pasta (or your favorite small pasta shape)
• Salt, to taste 

Instructions:

• I wasn't kidding. Dump it all (except beef and pasta) into a crockpot and add the beef last. 
• Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
• When there's about half an hour left, start cooking the pasta separately :) Add it in right before serving.

be mine.

When I was little, I used to dream about the man I would marry... most of the time: he looked like a Disney prince and would fight off monsters for me.

As I grew older (aka in middle school), I began to realize that most guys I knew were not that guy. They were more interested in other things than protecting me. I kind of gave up on the finding a fairytale thing.

In high school, I mainly dated one guy who ended up getting drunk almost every day. Do I know how to pick 'em good or what? That did not end well.

My freshman year of college, I was certainly interested in getting my MRS. degree, but there was no one I really connected with.

The summer before my sophomore year of college, I met AJ. I thank the Lord every day for the blessing he is in my life, and I am so glad that all of my ruined expectations led me to him.

My husband is amazing... he's honest with me. He challenges me, which sometimes annoys me, but I know he sincerely wants the best for me. He cares for me. He protects me so well, and he listens to me. I could not honestly ask for more.

Last night, he made me dinner (he hates to cook), and let me brag: it may have been the best porkchop I've ever had.

Introducing: pesto porkchops and baked potatoes made by my incredible husband :)

are you drooling?

Happy Valentine's Day AJ! I love you so much.

Another French Fry Recipe...

I just wanted to share another INCREDIBLE french fry recipe :) 

potatoes + seasoning =

true love. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I've been on a bit of a soup kick lately... maybe it's because it's not as wintery (read: where are my snow days?) as I'd like it to be... 

Because of this, almost every Saturday, I've been making a different type of soup. Last week's was chicken tortilla soup! I chose this recipe because it was made in the crockpot and the ingredients are some of my faves (black beans... can you do wrong?)

Seriously, all you do is pour the onion, beans, Rotel, corn, chicken broth, water (I used half the recommended amount... if it looks thick, add some more!) and spices in the bottom of your crock pot. Stir it up and then lay the chicken breasts on top (mostly submerged). Cook for 6-7 hours on high or on low for 8-9 hours. You do have to shred the chicken about half an hour before it's finished so the chicken can better absorb the flavors... but that takes like 30 seconds.

We ate ours with tortilla chips and cheese on top! Yum!

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cans Ro-tel
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can corn
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cans low-salt chicken broth
• 1 cup of water
• 1 Tbsp.garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp. cilantro (I used dried)

Instructions:

• Pour everything except the chicken into the crock pot and stir it up. Put the chicken on top and cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 6-7 hours.
• Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream!

Asiago spinach sammies!

The great thing about these bagels is that you can make great sammies out of them. Last weekend, we were in a rush to get out the door to church so I put these together super fast!

I cooked two eggs over medium, toasted two bagels, and layered some fresh spinach and provolone.

seriously... stinkin' amazing. 

Panera's Asiago Cheese Bagels

Panera is one of my favorite comfort food restaurants, but it's quite expensive to eat there often. I love their iced green tea. I love their macaroni and cheese. I love their asiago cheese bagels... so I set out to make them.

I have made bagels numerous times, and they're not very hard. They do take time and patience, but a homemade bagel is so worth it.

Here's what I used and here's the blog I got the recipe from:

You basically knead, let rest, cut into pieces, let rest, broil, boil, and then bake :) YUM!

This is everything making friends in the mixer... Confession: first time I've used my dough hook. SO EASY.

When everything comes together, lay it on a clean, floured surface and knead until it looks like this:

See: smooth, elastic, absorbed a lot of the flour!

You let that rest and then cut into six 'equal' (do your best!) portions and then form into a bagel shape. I do this by rolling dough into a ball-shape, poking a hole in the middle, and then stretching out the hole until sides are mostly even. Try your best :) They will still taste good!

They need to rise again, but put a big pot of water with a tablespoon of sugar on the stove while you wait.

Then you need to broil the bagels for three minutes and then boil them. This was a new method for me :)

Happy face! Becoming good things... notice how small the holes got? That's okay. More room for asiago cheese!

Put in a hot 375 oven and bake for 12 minutes. Pull out and top with cheese and then bake for 12-15 minutes more :) Keep your eye on it. They could burn. Thankfully, mine did not :)

YUMMM!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 package (0.25 ounce) instant yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water (115 degrees F)
• 2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese, shredded (I split this half parm and half asiago) 
• 1-1/2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons minced dried onion
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) asiago cheese or six-cheese blend, shredded

Instructions:

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, yeast, 1-1/2 Tablespoons sugar, Parmesan, dried onion, and salt.  Add warm water and combine with dough hooks on low mixer speed until dough forms.  Add a little more flour or water if necessary to reach desired consistency. 
2. Roll out dough on lightly-floured surface.  Knead until dough becomes smooth and elastic (a few minutes or so).  Let rest in a lightly oiled bowl, covered, for 10 minutes.
3. With floured scissors, cut into six portions of equal size.  Shape each portion into a smooth ball and poke a hole in center.  Gently pull dough outwards until hole reaches 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter.  Place on greased baking sheet and cover dough with a warm, damp cloth.  Let rise 20 minutes.
4. While dough is rising, place 1 gallon water mixed with 1 Tablespoon sugar in a large, deep pot over high heat.  Once water begins boiling, lower heat until water reaches a simmer.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Broil bagels on low at least 6 inches from heat for 3 minutes, turning once halfway through.
6. Gently drop 3-4 bagels at a time into simmering water.  Cook 7 minutes, turning once halfway through.  Drain on paper towels.  Return bagels to greased baking sheet and bake 25 minutes.  When about 12-15 minutes of cook time remains, quickly remove baking sheet from oven, sprinkle asiago cheese atop each bagel, and then continue baking for remainder of time