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Another Lazy Sunday!
I have been not feeling great as of late. I think it is a combination of winter and not exercising. My plan is to get back to working out even if it is just walking on the treadmill.
While I was trying to wake up and waiting for the doctor to call me with some blood results, I flipped on Food Network. I love their Sunday morning line up and usually get some great menu ideas for the week.
The show that was on when I tuned in was Cooking for Real with Sunny Anderson. Sunny is hit or miss with me, but today was a real hit. She was making comfort food: Spicy Macaroni and Cheese and Pan Fried Meatloaf in Tri-Color Peppers.
I started with the Mac and Cheese. I did lightened it up a bit. It is a force of habit and it still tasted great.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of elbow pasta, cooked until almost al dente
- 16 ounces Cheddar cheese, 1/2 cubed, 1/2 shredded
- 8 ounces Monterey pepper jack cheese, cubed
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 4 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 large egg, beaten (I used egg beaters)
- 1 cup heavy cream (I used skim milk)
- 1 cup half-and-half (I used fat-free)
- 4 slices bread (I used Panko)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- Special equipment: 2-quart baking dish
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cook pasta al dente.
In a large bowl, toss together pasta with the cheese cubes and pour into the baking dish.
In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg and sour cream, egg, heavy cream and half-and-half.
Pour over the pasta and cover with shredded Cheddar. Bake uncovered until top is just beginning to brown, about 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut the bread into crouton-sized squares. In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter, add cubes and toast until golden.
Sprinkle the bread cubes on top of the macaroni and cheese and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more.
It tastes as good as it looks!
I also started the meatloaf process while the mac and cheese was cooking.
Sunny Anderson’s Pan Fried Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground turkey
- 2 slices white bread, cut into cubes
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes with basil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 egg
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped sage leaves, plus 6 to 8 whole leaves, for frying
- A few dashes Worcestershire sauce
- A few dashes hot sauce
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon oil
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Remove core and seeds from peppers. Slice into 1 inch rings and place on nonstick baking sheet. You should get about 3 rings per pepper.
In a large bowl mix together beef, turkey, bread, 1/2 cup of the tomatoes, garlic, egg, onion, chopped sage, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and season with salt and pepper.
Press meatloaf mixture evenly into pepper rings.
In a skillet over medium-high heat, add oil. Saute meatloaf rings on both sides until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side.
Add remaining tomatoes to skillet and bake until cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.
Here is my yummy plate:
My kitchen smelled glorious and the best part is we have leftovers for tomorrow! I needed some comfort food today and my family did enjoy it.
I made a weekly menu and had to revise it because week starts lent which means no meat on Wednesday or Friday this week!
Monday: Carne Asada Steak
Tuesday: Chicken in the Crockpot
Wednesday: Taco Pie
Thursday: Chicken Parm
Friday: Shrimp Scampi
Have a great week!
Sorry for the lack of blogging! The week got away from me and I am finally catching up. I promise to also catch up on everyone’s weekend blog as well!
On Friday night my daughters and I decided that we wanted pizza. I really didn’t want to order out because I.. A) Really didn’t want to spend the money and B) Wanted to be able to control the quality of the pizza. So I decided on homemade pizza night. I let the girls each make their own half and they thought they were master chef’s.
Here is a picture diary of our event!
All of our ingredients: pizza crust, pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings.
Topping Bar: Black Olives, Yellow Peppers, Pepperoni (Regular and Turkey), Buffalo Chicken, Blue Cheese, and Mozzarella Cheese.
First we sauced our pizza dough. This is my youngest daughter showing her culinary skills.
Here is the girls pizza: 1/2 buffalo chicken, pepperoni and cheese.
1/2 Black Olive, Pepperoni, and Cheese
Pizza #2: Boboli Crust, Turkey Pepperoni, Yellow Peppers, and Cheese
Pizza #3: 1/2 Blue Cheese and Buffalo Chicken: 1/2 Pepperoni and Black Olive
(This was my favorite)
I made a lot of pizza so I did not have to make lunch on Saturday morning. It was a great success. The kids really loved getting to make their own and were so proud to show daddy and mommy’s blog friends
Here was my happy plate….
It was a great Friday Night!!
I cannot believe my week long vacation is almost over! It has been nice to relax and get some things done in my personal life that does not require me to take time off from work.
I started the morning with hot cereal. I found a great deal on Bob’s Red Mill products and tried the High Fiber Cereal. I really like all the mixes and other products I have tried.
I added blueberries, almond silvers, and a little agave nectar. Yummy!
While I was eating my oats, I browsed the blogs I follow and found that Stephanie at A Year of CrockPotting had posted a new recipe. I had a nice piece of pork loin in the freezer and thought this would be a great day to use my crock pot. I modified it a bit to make it more to my family’s tastebuds.
The Ingredients.
4 pounds boneless pork shoulder or butt (I used a boneless lean pork loin)
1 tablespoon brown sugar (I used the Splenda version)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1-2 tablespoons hickory liquid smoke (I did not have this)
4 cups water
The Directions.
Use a 5-6 quart slow cooker. Put the meat into a large plastic zipper bag with brown sugar and all spices. Seal well and shake to coat. Then pour contents of bag into stoneware. If the meat is too big for the bag, then just put it into the crock and rub the seasoning all over it. (This is what I had to do)
Top with chopped onion and butter. Pour in water.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat shreds easily with forks. Serve on toasted buns, on rice, or in large romaine lettuce leaves. (I actually cooked on high for 6 hours).
When I tasted the pork it was tasty but it needed something. I decided to shred the pork and add a little bit of BBQ sauce to make pulled pork sammies. 
The final product! The BBQ sauce was a great compliment to the slow cooked pork.
I placed the shredded pork onto a sandwich thin and added a bit of avocado mash.
It was very good. My children even asked for 2nds!
Now what to do with the leftovers….
I think that tomorrow night is going to be a homemade pizza night. Stay tuned to see what the kids and I create!
For anyone who loves granola…There is a great contest over at
Mon’s Appetite. She has found a great new brand and is willing to share some with fellow blogers.
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