Homemade Mac n' cheese

So blogger friends, I've come to hate taking pictures of all the steps for making pins. Like seriously, hate. So unless someone protests, I'm just going to post the end product. And the recipe. And the original pin. Basically all the other things, just not the step by step. UNLESS I change a step, then I will take pictures of that. 

We made this mac and cheese last Thursday. It's really simple. Like most of the things I post about. Pretty much I started this blog because I'm just a normal girl. A girl who didn't cook a lot (um... we cooked every day the last two weeks...) who taught herself how to french braid only a year or two ago, doesn't craft, may have sewn her prom dress in high school, but it was a really long time ago. Anyway, I wanted to do this blog so you could see what really works, what only seems like it works, and that pretty much anyone can have the life that they want, be the person that they want to be, if you just decide to do it. Also, that we can all be creative. I've made up a few pins, made up a few recipes, and found some amazing things. So yeah, there's my random rant...

Anyway here is the recipe :)

Here's what you'll need:
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups uncooked pasta of choice
2 tablespoon butter
2 cups grated cheese
1 teaspoon corn starch
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk, warmed

How to: 
Cook the pasta al dente (2 minutes less than instructions).  While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce.  Melt the butter in a large saucepan on medium heat.  Whisk in the flour.  Slowly add the milk while whisking, creating a smooth sauce.  Slowly whisk in the cheese until melted.  Do not overcook.  Mix in the cooked pasta. 

You may want to double the recipe if you're cooking for your family. We split it between three people and we all loved it (4 stars), but it was only one bowl a piece. I guess if you're doing it as a side then that's ok. 

Healthy Fettuccine (unplanned dinner party)

We have been planning to make this for two weeks. We finally made it last Tuesday. Just a heads up, it makes a TON of food. Here's the original pin.

You'll need:

1 lb. fettuccine noodles 

3 cans vegetable broth (or 6 cups)

2 large heads of cauliflower

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon salt

pinch nutmeg

pinch pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil 

1/4 cup heavy cream

 Bring vegetable broth to a boil and cook the cauliflower until it's nice and soft. About 10-15 minutes.
While that's cooking, melt your butter and saute the garlic for about 5 minutes.
While you're doing both those things, you get to be even more of a multi-tasker and cook your fettuccine.

 Put all your cauliflower in the blender with about 2 cups of your broth and puree until smooth. Add the olive oil, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and sauteed garlic and blend that in.

Transfer your puree to the skillet that you sauteed the garlic in and add the cream! Stir it all together and pour over your pasta. :)

We also grated some fresh Parmesan over the top and it really made the dish if you ask me! We then had to invite 3 friends over to help us eat it... And send some with them for their lunch tomorrow. And we still had leftovers. So remember that! Or reduce the recipe! Or you can have an unplanned dinner party like us :) I'm not complaining, it was good times.

I know what you're thinking, pureed vegetables?? Gross! Trust me, I kind of thought the same thing, but it really is delicious! And, everyone that ate it loved it! So there's at least 5 people saying it's good, so give it a try and let me know if yours is as tasty :)

Crock Pot Creamy Italian Chicken

I'm just going to say right here, you can totally skip the chicken in this recipe if you want to. The sauce is hearty enough that the chicken doesn't matter too much and is still delicious without it. In fact, my little sister said that if we make it again, she'd rather do without the chicken. 

So there it is. Also, I learned that chopping garlic makes Charissa cry. Who knew?

Here's what you'll need:

1-2 pounds chicken breast chopped into cubes (you could really just cook them in the slow cooker and shred if you're lazy... like me)

1/4 cup water or chicken broth

1 packet dry Italian dressing mix

1/2 cup chopped onion (we skipped this because Charissa hates onions)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 block cream cheese, softened

1 box rotini pasta

Add the chicken, Italian mix, and 1/4 cup water or broth to the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours

Then cook your pasta while you work on the sauce :)

Mix the soup, cream cheese, and chicken broth with your garlic. Mix it till it's smooth, we used a whisk to really avoid any lumps.
 Add it to your chicken and cook for one more hour.

Just before you serve, add your pasta and Enjoy!

Slow cooker buffalo chicken Nachos :)

This was our Sunday dinner last Sunday. It was AMAZING and let me just say, it's a great set it and forget it meal. And bonus, it's only a couple ingredients :)

Here's what you'll need:

3 chicken breasts

12 oz. bottle buffalo wing sauce (we used Frank's medium)

1 packet dry ranch mix

Put it all in the slow cooker and cook for 7-9 hours on low.

 When the chicken is tender enough to shred, shred it and put it back in the sauce for about an hour :) Ours ended up being about 2 or 3 hours because our Dad dropped by unexpectedly.

We didn't buy any rolls so we just toasted up some white bread and ate it as sandwiches, but you know what's REALLY tasty?

Make some nachos, put the chicken on top and the tomatillo dressing from THIS POST and you get the most tasty nachos I have ever had outside a restaurant

. OH, and here's the original pin

Tomatillo Ranch Chicken

Ok, so I have no idea when we made this one. Last week I think. We've tried recipes for Cafe Rio dressing before and this one was pretty similar... didn't stop it from being pretty amazing! Ok, I lied, we made it before the wedding on Saturday.
It was pretty simple!

Here's what you need:

• 1 cup mayo (my sister told me it HAS to be mayo, not miracle whip...I have no idea the difference)
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 package hidden valley ranch dressing mix
• 2½ teaspoons garlic
• 1 cup cilantro
• 4 tomatillos, husked and chopped
• ½ teaspoon lime juice
• 3-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

oh, here's the original pin

Looks tasty doesn't it? :)

 Pretty much you put everything but the chicken in the blender and blend till it's smooth

 Marinade the chicken in one cup of the dressing (set the rest aside) for at least 30 minutes. I think we did about an hour.
Bake the chicken at 375 for 25-35 minutes.

We also cooked some rice in chicken broth. Then put the remaining dressing over the chicken and rice. We did one cup rice, and next time I would do at least 2. We had plenty of left over dressing too. Just refrigerate and it makes for great dipping sauce with tortillas or nachos... or even salad! :)

Please don't judge my lack of more awesome dishes... Ha ha 

The Celtic Braid

Last Saturday a super awesome lady named Stephanie got married. She used to be Charissa and I's relief society president.She's actually the reason that Charissa decided that the single's ward wasn't the worst thing in the world. 

We went to her wedding reception, which is really kind of an honor because we never go to wedding receptions. Even for people we like. Well, we go sometimes...Anyway, we were downstairs watching the Hobbit with my bother Michael and our Nephew Toby and she told me to braid her hair. After several unsuccessful attempts at making something up, I turned to pinterest. This is what I found :)

It was actually pretty simple. I would recommend dampening the hair down, at least where you're braiding. It's pretty much just a waterfall braid. Braid your sections you dropped (I recommend only doing 4 or 5) and then adding those in like a french braid farther down.

 Here is the result! I was pretty happy with it! We also had a complete stranger compliment it, so that's how you really know that you did a good job :)

Happy braiding!

Stuffed Shells

So my mom has been out of town for two weeks, which meant that my little sister and I got to run the house. Of course we threw a few parties (my mom tells us to) but we also were pretty responsible and made dinner almost every night, something that doesn't happen even when my mom is home. 

This was the first thing we made...

It actually turned out pretty well. We cheated the recipe a little because we didn't want to make our own sauce. 

Here is the original pin

Mine did NOT look like that when we were finished, but it was still really good! So if you don't want to cheat, go ahead and follow her recipe :)

Here are all the things we used! You'll need: One 15 oz. container ricotta cheese, 1 egg (beaten), 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 cup grated mozzerella cheese, chives (we just added how much we wanted, the original recipe called for 1 bunch), 25-30 jumbo pasta shells, pasta sauce (we didn't even use half the jar).

 Mix together your ricotta and egg

 Add in your mozzarella, chives and salt!

 Mix it all together!

 After cooking your shells, let them cool a few minutes before you fill them! (don't burn your hands!)

 Cover the bottom of your pan with sauce. (Spray it with non-stick first!)

 Place your filled shells in the pan! We had more shells and filling, but ran out of room in the pan, so if you're doing this recipe, you might want to try a little larger pan (even though this pan claims to be a 9x13...I do not believe it.)

 Drizzle the sauce over the top and bake! I would even use more sauce next time around.

They were delicious and easy to make! Try it out!

It was even delicious the next day as left overs!