Sunday, July 29, 2012

Mug Mac and Cheese

I love mug recipes!!!

My lazy teenage sons won't make themselves a real meal.  I have to spell it out for them.  So if I have the stuff, ready to go for them, or a recipe for a mug meal hanging up on the fridge, they will make it.  It's healthier than the box versions. 

Mug Mac and Cheese
1/3 cup macaroni pasta
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup  milk
small pat of butter
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Optional: peppers, broccoli, spinach, etc etc..whatdayalike?

Put the pasta and water in a mug...some water will overflow as it cooks, or you can put it in a bigger mug or  bowl so that this doesn't happen.  My mugs are BIG, because we drink giant cups of coffee in this house. 

Microwave for 2 mins, stir, and microwave again @ 1 minute intervals until the pasta is cooked. this could take about 3-5 minutes, depending on your microwave. Mine is done in about 4.

Then add milk, butter and cheese and nuke it another 30-60 seconds in the microwave until melted and heated through.

 If you like other stuff in your mac and cheese, go for it. I like jalapenos in mine...so I dice it up and throw it during the last minute of cooking the pasta and water. 

Also this could be just nuked and made into buttered noodles. Add broccoli to make it a bit healthy, really, anything you like in your pasta can go into this.  



Stretching Tacos for Surprise Company

Well, its been ages...I HAVE been cooking, but I am such a slacker when it comes to the technical side of the job here.  Fire me.  We have been busy, remodeling the house, and YES!, we are actually getting things done!  It wasn't planned but we redid our already redone living room.  I needed a change again.  ADD sets in fast with me.

I will try my best to post once a week at least...have I said this before?  LOL  Friends who follow my blog ask me why I have not posted. So even if its short and sweet, I will try my best to shout out a tip or maybe even a question some of you can answer for me.  PS  Follow me on facebook, because I post there a little more often with little things I find that are neat, but haven't tried yet. The link is at the top, but I will place it right here → Follow me on facebook 

I have been making my tacos with ground turkey burger and ground sausage...I love ground sausage and put it in everything now a days..I just don't care much for  ground beef, unless I grind it from a good cut of meat which I don't have much time for some days, so I keep these ground meats in the freezer for such times I need to whip up dinner fast

Anyway, here is a quick tip for feeding a crowd....Throw in some corn and black beans...I never know how many are coming for dinner..my teenage boys bring home strays constantly, so I have to find ways to stretch our meals out to feed everyone.  You will want to use extra spices, so the tacos don't get bland.
Here is my go to taco spice mix.
You decide how much you want to use, doubling or tripling, depending on the batch size you are making..This is for one pound of meat..

Magic Taco Spice:

  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons hot smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes