Amazingly Creamy (and Healthy) Mac N Cheese

I've been searching for a very long time for a healthy mac and cheese recipe that doesn't taste awful. Seems like only the unhealthy ones taste good until now. Thanks to one of my favorite blogs, Heavenly Homemaker, I can now make healthy mac and cheese. Click here for her recipes.

Only difference for me is that I use brown rice pasta and it takes longer to cook, so I cook it in water till it's about half way cooked and then I drain it and finish cooking it in the milk.

Disclaimer- when I say "healthy", some people might be thinking HUH? because of the whole milk and cheese. As I continue to research whole food nutrition and learn more about eating naturally derived foods, I consider organic whole milk healthier than lowfat milk and I use raw organic cheese instead of processed and pasteurized cheese. To learn more, read Nourishing Traditions.

Crock- pot Lasagna

I've seen this idea online and wanted to give it a try. I've never actually even made lasagna in the oven before. I love using my crock-pot to keep me out of the kitchen when I'm busy and tired in the late afternoon.


1 lb beef
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 diced onion or 1/8 minced dried onion
1 tsp anise seed
1/2 tsp salt
1 jar pasta sauce
1 container ricotta cheese (about 30 oz)
2 cups grated parmesan cheese (or italian cheese mix)
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese plus some for on top
1/8 c dried parsley
2 c chopped fresh baby spinach
1/2 box of regular lasagna noodles
1/2 c of water

Brown beef in skillet with next five ingredients. Once browned, add pasta sauce. In separate bowl, combine ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, and parsley together. In bottom of crock-pot using half of everything, layer sauce, then noodles (break to fit), spread cheese mixture over noodles, layer chopped spinach next and then repeat layers using the rest of the ingredients. Top with a few handfuls of grated cheese (mozzarella) and pour water over all.

Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. In my new crock-pot that cooks hotter than my old one, this was done at about 7 hours on low. But in my old one I'm thinking it might have taken about 9-10 hours. You can prep the night before and then pour water over in the morning and cook.

Wow, this was easy and yummy!

Robin's Pasta Sauce

I've been wanting to make my own pasta sauce for quite some time and so the experimenting began. But one day I was at a friend's house and she had this sauce cooking in her crock-pot and gave me a taste. Oh my was it good! I begged, pleaded, got on my knees, wept tears of envy as I petitioned her to please share her recipe with me. She was very kind and said that yes, I could have it AND I asked her permission to share it with all of you. Now, Robin doesn't have a blog otherwise I'd be pointing you to her blog but she IS a blog reader so feel free to comment on this post and thank her for this recipe if you like it. She made this up herself and well, as her sauce implies, she's a great cook. Not only is SHE a great cook (and I know this because I've enjoyed tasting her cooking several times) but her husband is also a great cook! (Sorry if I'm embarrassing you guys, but truly Bill, you and Robin make quite the culinary couple!) I used the same begging tactics to get a copy of Bill's chocolate bread pudding recipe that was incredible....so I'll have to ask them if I can share that on here too. It's time for Bill and Robin to open a restaurant or at least start a cooking blog! =0) hint hint.

Robin uses all fresh ingredients from her summer garden to make this recipe and then she freezes it in her deep freeze in canning jars. I have a very large deep freeze as well and seeing that I hate the time and energy it takes to can, I loved the idea of freezing it. BUT you can surely can it as well if that is your preference. If you are freezing it, be sure to leave room at the top of the jar for expansion like in my picture above. Do not fill them all the way.

I didn't have fresh garden produce to make this with so I converted most of the recipe for you to canned tomatoes and dried herbs. I have to admit that Robin's fresh version was better but that the canned and dried version still taste good and works well. This IS our new pasta sauce. I used the organic diced tomatoes from Costco and the organic tomato paste from Costco as well.

4 onions
4 garlic cloves (1 tsp garlic powder)
2 diced bell peppers
1/2 c olive oil
16 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (or 8 cans diced tomatoes -14.5 oz)
1/4 c fresh oregano (or 1/8 c of dried crushed)
1/4 c fresh basil (or 1/8 c of dried crushed)
1/4 c fresh parsley (or 1/8 c of dried crushed)
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp salt
2 6 oz cans tomato paste

Saute onion, garlic, peppers in olive oil. Combine everything in crock-pot. Cook 2-3 hours on low. Stir often. Then let cool. Put in canning jars and freeze.

Other Info-
-My kids aren't crazy about the chunky tomatoes (which I personally love!) so when I'm going to use a jar of sauce I pour it first into our blender to puree it and then the kids love it.

-This recipe makes about 5 large canning jar sizes. It also fits in my 6 qt crock-pot and I don't know how well it would fit in a 5 qt. but you could try it. There was a little room in my 6 qt still. My picture shows 4 jars because we used about 1 jars worth for dinner that night.


Differences-
-Robin doesn't add the tomato paste until she is ready to use a jar of the sauce. When she is heating it to use, then she adds 1-2 cans of the paste for one jar of sauce. I put 2 cans of paste into the original ingredients when it was cooking in the crock-pot and don't add anymore paste when I use a jar.

-I also rounded Robin's original recipe of 3/4 tsp of pepper up to 1 tsp.

-One of the times I made it, I added more sugar because the canned tomatoes just aren't as sweet as garden fresh ones. So I made it with 1/2 c organic sugar instead of 1/4 c.

-Robin uses green bell peppers, I use red bell peppers. (I use red because they are easier to digest and they are packed with nutrients and it's a sneaky way to get them into my kids who don't want to eat them otherwise.) You can use any color bell pepper that you prefer.

Homemade Noodles (fun with kids)

Making noodles with your kids can be a fun and healthy project. By making my own noodles I can also use all organic products and save a bit of money in the process. Noodles can be made for immediate use or frozen in batches for later use. I've had this recipe in my archives for over a year now and finally got around to making it!

You will need:
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon of water

Mound flour on a work surface and make a deep "volcano".
Break the egg into the volcano and add water.
Beat the egg and water lightly with a fork, being careful not to break down the volcano walls.
Begin to draw in flour from the inner sides of the volcano.
Continue to blend in flour until the dough becomes stiff. Eventually using your hands, knead the dough until smooth and stiff. You will not use all of the flour most likely so spread the excess flour around on your counter for rolling the dough out.

Refrigerate for about 1 hour to make dough easier to work with.

To shape the dough, either use a pasta maker or roll out with a rolling pin until very thin. Roll the dough out as thin as you can for thin noodles or roll them a little thicker for country style thick noodles. Keep in mind that the dough will thicken upon cooking though. Don't worry about the shape of the rolled out dough unless you are going for perfection. =0) The key to rolling out noodles is to use plenty of flour under the dough and on top of the dough.

I like to roll my dough into a log and then cut with a knife pressing straight down to make little wheels of dough. It's important to keep the top of the dough well floured before rolling so that the dough doesn't stick together when you unroll it.


Then, have kids with floured hands begin unrolling the dough to make long noodles. You can also make short noodles by first cutting the wheels in half. If you prefer to cut the noodles without rolling the dough, you can use a pizza cutter for easy cutting of strips. You can make the noodles as skinny or wide as you like.

I usually make these noodles up fresh while a pot of soup is on the stove simmering. Just add the noodles to the soup and let them cook for a few minute. Excess uncooked pasta dough can be refrigerated in an airtight bag for up to 4 days and frozen for a month.

For extra fun shapes, let your kids use mini cookie cutters to make shaped noodles.

The noodles in the picture were rolled very thin and left very long. We call them "ribbon noodles".

Variations- you can use whole wheat if you'd like to but I do not recommend whole wheat pastry flour as it leaves a grainy texture to the noodle. They work with the whole wheat pastry flour but they just aren't as good as white flour. =0)

The chicken soup pictured was:
1 diced medium onion
2 cooked chopped boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 carrots sliced
2 celery stalks
1 box chicken broth
6 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of rosemary
1 minced garlic clove
1 tbsp olive oil
1 batch homemade noodles

Saute onion, carrots, celery in olive oil till tender. Add remaining ingredients other than noodles. Simmer for 45 min. Add noodles and cook for 5-10 more minutes. Serve.

NOTE- Yes, you can make the dough in a food processor using these measurements: 3/4 c flour, 1 egg, 1 tsp ice water. Use more flour or water as needed to make a dough ball that you can roll out. =0) This method is quicker and a lot less messy.

Greek Feta Pasta

THANKS Kiley for pointing out my typo! Nope, this is NOT geek pasta, it's GREEK pasta. LOL Thanks! I needed that! Oh my, that's funny!

1/4 c olive oil
1/2-1 stick butter
1 package pasta
1 c peas
3 garlic cloves minced
1/4 of an onion minced
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp dry basil
dash of lemon pepper
heavy dash of black pepper
1 tsp dried parsley
1 handful of shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 c of greek feta cheese
1 diced tomato

optional to add: olives, chopped artichoke hearts, chopped fresh baby spinach leaves, capers, or anything else you have on hand that sounds good. =0)

While boiling pasta, saute garlic and onion in olive oil and butter till onions are browned. Add seasonings, peas and any other "optional" seasonings. Saute for about 2 min. Drain pasta and add to butter sauce skillet. Toss the pasta in the butter sauce. Toss in cheeses just before serving. Top with chopped fresh tomatoes.

Baked Marsala Chicken

I love Chicken Marsala (especially this recipe that I made up myself) but the other night I was wanting to make it but was pressed for time and didn't want the mess so I took a chance and invented a new version of it. Shocker, it turned out good!



4 frozen chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
1 can drained and rinsed artichoke hearts
1/4 c Marsala cooking wine
a sprinkling of capers
olive oil
plain bread crumbs

Brush olive oil on glass 9x13 pan. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Lay chicken in pan and pour wine over chicken breasts. Sprinkle with capers and artichoke hearts. Sprinkle the chicken with the bread crumbs, cover with foil, and bake for about 30-40 min. or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Remove foil and bake for about 5 more min. to brown the top a bit.

Serve over brown rice or noodles. OR serve beside mashed potatoes.



This turned out so good! How easy for company too...and impressive flavor! For some reason I kept thinking you could give it a Greek twist by adding Greek olives....

I don't see why you couldn't prep this and make it a freezer meal either.

Fast Parmesan Chicken

I was in a hurry the other day and decided to make an abbreviated version of Parmesan Chicken which turned out quite well and was considerably less calories because I didn't use mozzarella cheese. =0)

Spray a 9x13 pan with olive oil. Spread about 1 c of pasta sauce in the bottom. Lay frozen chicken breast in the pan, sprinkle with Italian seasoned bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake till cooked through (approx 375 degrees for about 45 min).

It was really good and the kids loved it. It was super fast and easy!

Oh ya, and take the foil off the last 10 min to brown the tops of the chicken.

Stuffed Shells

This is one of my favorite freezer meal standbys. It freezes so well that I've made it a week ahead of time, pulled it out and served it to company and everyone was impressed without the slightest idea that it had been in the freezer. It's one of my favorite meals to bring to another family in need as well. Serve with a loaf of french bread made into garlic bread, a green veggie, and a salad and you're set to go. Make this vegetarian meal into a meat meal by serving up with some Italian sausages.

1 package Jumbo Pasta Shells (approx. 36)

1 large jar pasta sauce (or 2 20oz jars)

2 15oz containers of ricotta cheese (low fat optional)

1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

parsley (optional)

(extra Parmesan and mozzarella for topping)

1. Boil shells until softened (they will cook the rest of the way in the oven). Drain and rinse in cold water till cool to touch. (this can be done day before for ease-store in frig in Ziploc with some olive oil to avoid sticking)

2. While shells are boiling, mix ricotta cheese and eggs together well. Then add Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Mix well.

3. Spray 9x13 glass pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour small amount of pasta sauce into bottom of pans and spread around. Spoon filling into each shell and press sides of shell gently together to slightly close. Place open side up in pans. When pan is full, pour pasta sauce over all the shells and top with extra mozzarella and Parmesan cheese (and parsley if desired).

4. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for about 45 min. (These freeze uncooked great. Cover with saran wrap and then foil and freeze. Remove saran wrap before cooking and you will need to extend cooking time if frozen.)

Macaroni Bake

1 lb ground turkey, veal, or beef

1 bag of large macaroni, penne, or ziti

1 jar of pasta sauce

1 tsp anise seed

1/4 tsp of poultry seasoning

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 tsp sugar

salt and pepper

1/2 tsp minced dried onion or 1/4 diced onion

1 cup shredded cheese

Brown the ground turkey with onion, anise seed, poultry seasoning, and garlic. Meantime boil the macaroni till done and drain. Add jar of pasta sauce to the cooked meat and add sugar. Then add salt and pepper to taste. Add pasta to the meat and sauce mix and then stir in cheese leaving a little to sprinkle on the top. Spray a deep baking with olive oil and pour pasta mix into baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese and put under broiler just till cheese is melted and bubbly.

Pretty healthy if you use ground turkey and whole wheat pasta and go easy on the cheese. Tomato sauce is super great for your body so getting that down the kids is easy with this dish. I made this recipe up on the spot but it was a huge hit with the family. Hurray! It also makes a wonderful freezer meal. Prepare it up to sprinkling the cheese on top and then cover it and freeze. Defrost it later and bake at 350 for about an hour or until bubbly.

Lasagna Roll Ups

These are really fun to make and fun to serve to guest. They also freeze wonderfully making it a great meal to make ahead of time and keep in your deep freeze. This stuffing can be used for traditional lasagna, stuffed shells, or manicotti as well. I've used it for stuff shells for years and will eventually post those on here as well. It takes about 30-45 min. to make this so a little more time is needed than my other recipes. They also need to bake for 45-60 minutes as well.

So, here we go....

1 box of whole wheat blend lasagna noodles
1 32 oz container of ricotta cheese
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs (although, for these roll ups, I recommend 3 eggs)
extra Parmesan for on top
1 jar of pasta sauce
spinach or parsley (optional)

Mix together in your electric mixer the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, eggs, spinach and/or parsley. (In the pictures I used about a cup of frozen chopped spinach defrosted.) Boil noodles about 6 at a time for 7 minutes in boiling water. Remove them onto a cookie sheet covered with a piece of wax paper. This prevents the noodles from sticking together or to anything else. While you are stuffing these first six, the next six can be cooking in the pot but be sure to set your timer for 7 minutes because if you over cook them they'll start to split and break apart.

Add a scoop of filling to each noodle close to the end but leaving about 3 inches at the end to roll it. You can do this right on the cookie sheet they were placed on so that you don't have to transfer them around anywhere. Roll each one and place them into a pan that has been sprayed with olive oil and a little sauce has been spread into.

Place the loose end up against the side of the pan so that it doesn't unravel. Continue filling and rolling until they are all done and then get your next 6 out of the boiling pot. Continue with this process until all the noodles have been used and the filling is gone. You should come out close to even when using one box of noodles.

Next, spoon a little more sauce over the tops and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. I like to make two pans and freeze one. The pan that didn't have as many in it is the one we ate for dinner that night.

If you are going to freeze one, I recommend always covering with cling wrap first and then foil to give it a tight seal and preventing freezer burn.

Bake covered with foil at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

You can just as well, lay the rolls on their sides if it is too difficult to stand them up. I didn't have trouble getting them to stand up but some of the filling did leak out the bottoms of them. Next time I'll probably lay a few flat noodles on the bottom to help seal the bottoms off. They are a really cool presentation standing on end though.

Variations:
-You can certainly use ground Italian sausage or Italian ground turkey sausage in your stuffing and sauce.
-You can omit the spinach and have it turn out just as well.
-You can use white flour noodles just as well.

I just have to tell you that this was the most difficult meal I've made and tried to photograph at the same time. =0)

Chicken Parmesan

This is a GREAT family meal. This recipe was inspired by my friend, Katey (yes, I'm trying to get her to start her own recipe blog) who has brought this meal to our family during times of need and she got it from the Family Fun Magazine. I love the Family Fun Magazine so I looked up the recipe. I of course can't leave any recipe the way it is, so I've simplified it (I love easy!). This is a major meal pleaser for my husband and kids.

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup flour (white or wheat)
2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil for frying
1 jar pasta sauce
Sliced mozzarella cheese

Grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Prep three separate bowls or rimmed plates with the following:

one with the flour

one with the eggs and milk beaten together

one with the Italian bread crumbs

Pound the chicken breasts until thin (on a cutting board, cover chicken breast with a piece of cling wrap and pound with a mallet or rolling pin).

Arrange the breading ingredients in assembly-line fashion in this order: flour, egg mixture, crumb mixture. Working one piece at a time, dredge both sides of the cutlet in the flour, knocking off the excess. Dip both sides of the floured cutlet in the egg mixture. Coat both sides of the cutlet with the bread crumbs.

Set a large skillet over medium-high heat and pour in enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Heat the oil for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the cutlets. (If your pan isn't large enough to cook 4 chicken breasts at once, cook them in batches rather than overcrowd the pan.) Fry each side for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, turning once, until the chicken is browned. Remove the cutlets from the heat.

Pour 2 cups of pasta sauce into a 9x13 pan. Add the chicken cutlets. Pour about 2 tbsp of pasta sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Lay slices of mozzarella on top of the chicken pieces, then cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake until the sauce is bubbly, chicken is cooked through, and the cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. I like to serve it over whole wheat blend pasta.

Note: Cooking them the rest of the way in the oven helps keep them moist. I use chicken breast from Costco which are quite large so after pounding them, I cut them in half pieces. 3 breast will give me a full pan of chicken as seen in the picture.