Adult Mac-N-Cheese...that kids will love too!

When we were at Bea's house a few months ago she made this amazing mac-n-cheese from scratch and I just had to share...not to mention all of us girls want to make it again, so here it is...


Adult Mac-N-Cheese

1 lb of elbow pasta (cooked and drained)

Sauté the following in olive oil for a few mintues:
Sliced mushrooms
1 diced onion
Spinach
*toss in food processor, pulse on and off a few times, until everything is minced evenly and set aside

Cook and crumble pancetta (or bacon) and add to veggies

Alfredo (I make my own, but you can use store bought)
Coat pan with olive oil on medium heat
Add 3-4 chopped cloves of garlic and cook about 1 minute
Add 3 spoonfuls of cream cheese and allow to melt
Add 1 pint carton of  heavy whipping cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
*Stir continuously for 15-20 minutes
Pull off heat and stir in 1 carton of parmesan cheese

Mix everything together and top with bread crumbs
Bake until heated through and serve immediately.

***You can use mix in any cheeses you want. I have used mozzarella and gorgonzola in the past. You can also use any mix of veggies (i.e. peas, corn) or spices (cayenne, parsely) that you like to make it your own!*

I just realized I have all of these ingredients...guess I know what we're having for dinner tonight.

-Amanda

A New Twist on a Few Old Favorites!

This week we met up at my house...which make me realize I need a bigger dining room (and kitchen). Our group is growing! We missed out on a few girls this week that had family in town for Easter plans and Jessica doing her community work at "The Dump" in Mexico. Sometimes it happens. We can't all make it every week, but we sure do try. We almost look forward to Thursday more so than the weekend anymore. It's our time to relax, have a glass of wine, a yummy dinner & have some "us" time. We're having fun planning weddings, house-warming parties & the Summer schedules. It also helps that our husbands/fiances/boyfriends & children all get along so we can all get together outside of just Thursday evenings.
For dinner I made All-American Meatloaf and dessert was Peanut Butter & Jam Cakes. My meatloaf recipe is from a cookbook my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas. It's called America's Family Favorites: Best of Home Cooking. (found here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1445405687/ref=cm_cr_error ). I've made a number of things from it, including Roasted/Stuffed Bell Peppers, and highly recommend it!

Dessert was from the Cuisine at Home magazine subscription my mom get for me. Check out www.CuisineAtHome.com for subscription options. I just renewed mine. 1 year for $24 (6 issues) or 2 years for $42 (12 issues). I love it because each issue you receive has recipes that are perfect for that specific time of year and with ingredients that are in season at the time.

Here are the recipes:

Many consider a plate of meatloaf and mashed potatoes to be the quintessential American comfort food. This modern version uses lots of aromatic vegetables to add moisture and flavor.


All-American Meatloaf

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup each, diced: carrot, celery, yellow onion & red bell pepper
4 large white mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp rosemary, fresh & finely minced
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 1/2 lbs ground chuck
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1 c plain bread crumbs

For the glaze...
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
Pinch of salt

• Preheat oven to 325 F
• Add the garlic, carrot, celery, onion, red bell pepper and mushrooms into a food processor. Pulse on and off until the veggies are very finely minced. Scrape down sides of bowl with spatula if needed so to allow them to mince evenly.
• Add the butter & olive oil to a large skillet and fry over med/high heat. When the butter melts, add the veggie mixture and cook while stirring, about 15 mins. The veggies are done when most of the moisture has cooked out and they begin to caramelize.
• Remove from heat and stir in thyme, rosemary, Worcestershire, ketchup & cayenne pepper. Set aside and allow to cool to room temp.
• Add the ground beef (which should be very cold), to a large mixing bowl. Very gently break up the meat with your fingertips. Pour in the cooled veggie mixture, salt, black pepper & eggs. Gently combine the mixture with your fingers for just 30 seconds. Add the breadcrumbs and continue mixing until combined. The less you work the meat, the better texture the meatloaf will have.
• Lightly grease a shallow roasting pan with a few drops of olive oil. Place the meatloaf in the center, forming it into a loaf shape, about 6" wide by 4" high. Place in the center of the pre-heated oven and set the timer for 30 mins.
• In the meantime, whisk together the brown sugar, ketchup, Dijon and a pinch of salt to make the glaze. After 30 mins, evenly spread the glaze over the top of the meatloaf and return to the oven to continue baking for another 35-45 minutes, or until you have an internal temp of 155 F. Remove and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Peanut Butter & Jam Cakes

The cakes can be made a day ahead. Let them cool completely then tightly wrap in plastic wrap.

1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 c Turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw)
3 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 c whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c creamy peanut butter
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 c granulated sugar
1 c packed brown sugar
6 eggs, room temp

• Preheat oven to 350. Coat inside of twp 9X5-inch loaf pans with 1 Tbsp butter; coat generously with Turbinado sugar.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda & alt in a bowl; set aside.
• Combine milk & vanilla in a measuring cup; set aside.
• Cream peanut butter, 1 stick butter, granulated sugar & brown sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on med-high speed until very well combined, 5 mins.
• Add eggs to the creamed mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Alternately add flour and milk mixtures to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition  just until mixed, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
• Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake cakes 50 mins, then sprinkle with additional Turbinado sugar. Loosely tent with foil if edges are getting too brown. Return cakes to the oven; bake until toothpick inserted in the center of each comes out clean, 10-15 more mins. Let cakes rest in the pans for 20 mins, then turn cakes out onto the racks to cool completely.
• Prepare Blackberry Jam Spread and Peanut Butter Frosting.

Blackberry Jam Spread

If fresh berries aren't available, frozen berries can be substituted.

3 c blackberries

1/2 c sugar

1 Tbsp water

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp berry juice (from the cooked berries)

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

• Combine blackberries, sugar & water in saucepan over med-low heat; simmer until berries release juice, about 20 mins.
• Whisk together cornstarch and berry juice in a bowl, until smooth; blend into the berru mixture, and cook until thickened, 2-3 mins.
• Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice. Cover and chill 30 mins.

Peanut Butter Frosting

3/4 c peanut butter

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

3 c sifted powdered sugar

1/4 c milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

• Beat peanut butter and butter in the bowl of a standard mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on med-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 mins.
• add powdered sugar, milk and vanilla, mixing just until smooth and creamy.

Filling and assembling:

Trim off the ends of each cake, and then cut into sixteen 1/2 inch thick slices. Spread 3 Tbsp of frosting and 1 Tbsp jam onto a slice of cake. Top with another slice, and cut diagonally into two triangles. Repeat with remaining cake, frosting & jam.

These recipes should give your loaf pans some use :) Enjoy everyone! I'll be making these again soon!

Amanda

A Cute Easter Dessert... for Next Year

Before I begin, I must say that I did not come up with this idea myself. Browsing another blog I follow (fabulesslyfrugal.html) I came across this super cute cupcake. And with Easter almost over, I guess you can just keep this in mind for next year maybe. Or I guess it could be a Spring cupcake.

Since I had some (cheap) cake mix and frosting I had picked up at Fred Meyer a couple of weeks ago and coconut already in the cupboard all I needed was the Robin's eggs for the top. And luckily, the blog posted a deal at Albertson's on the eggs. So I printed off my coupon and got a bag for $.69!

These were the eggs I used, but you could probably use any other type of candy eggs. I liked the fact that they were speckled. These also come in mini eggs, but they didn't have them.

The directions are pretty simple: bake cupcakes and frost. To tint the coconut I just put it in a zip lock bag and added food coloring. Shake until all coconut is colored. I ended up having to use blue and yellow food coloring because I was out of green. But I think it gave it an even deeper green color doing it that way. I then put the eggs on the frosting and covered the rest of the frosting with the coconut. Putting the eggs on first worked better because they stuck to the frosting better than the coconut.

And here is the final product!

Chicken Enchiladas (We can NEVER have enough Mexican food!)

You might notice we girls LOVE Mexican food...and let's be honest, when you want something easy that doesn't take a ton of effort and is amazingly delicious...Mexican is where it's at!

We got together at Meagan's this week for some of her yummy Chicken Enchiladas. She got her recipe from allrecipes.com. We love this site for recipes because you can change the amount of servings and it will automatically update the amount of ingredients needed. Why haven't some other sites figured this out yet? It's super helpful! Here is the link to the original recipe:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Enchiladas-I/Detail.aspx Meagan, however made some changes based on customer reviews and below is her version:

For 8 servings

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 onion, chopped
1/2 pint sour cream
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce -- I substituted the tomato sauce for salsa
1/2 cup water -- I didn't include, didn't seem necessary
1 tablespoon chili powder -- I didn't have, so substituted the powder for paprika
1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper -- I used green peppers and chiles and taste tested it for the right amount
1 clove garlic, minced
8 (10 inch) flour tortillas
1 (12 ounce) jar taco sauce -- I substituted the taco sauce for enchilada sauce
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions


2.   In a medium, non-stick skillet over medium heat, cook chicken until no longer pink and juices run clear. Drain excess fat. Cube the chicken and return it to the skillet. Add the onion, sour cream, Cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano and ground black pepper. Heat until cheese melts. Stir in salt, tomato sauce, water, chili powder, green pepper and garlic.
3.   Roll even amounts of the mixture in the tortillas. Arrange in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover with taco sauce and 3/4 cup Cheddar cheese. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

A few of us girls have started receiving fresh fruits and vegetables from Full Circle Farms. You can customize orders, pick up and/or have delivered FRESH, fairly priced produce from the farm to your table.

"With Full Circle you know where your food comes from. Farm-to-Table means you are connected to each certified organic farmer and artisan food maker responsible for items in your order. You always know where your food is from and who is responsible for its integrity; whether it’s what we’ve chosen for you or what you choose when customizing your order.

And when it comes time to use these amazing ingredients, we are there to help you with recipes, cooking tips, and suggestions with every order, to bring the best to your table." 

We are big fans!! Get started now at:  http://www.fullcircle.com/  If you plan on signing up, let us know and we'll be sure to give you a code so you can save $15 off your first order :)

Enjoy the week!1.   Preheat oven to 350.

Nelle's Baked Brie & Pesto Pasta

We got together at Danielle & Jake's new home in Kent this past week for a super yummy homemade dinner and talked weddings, weddings, weddings among a few other things. We have 3 weddings going to happen between this Sept & next June so there is tons of planning to be done. Tiff's is a destination wedding in Cabo. Cassie, who is a more frequent visitor to our Thursdays, is on a time crunch (Sept) but seems to be managing well. Jessica, who has also been joining more recently, has some time (June 2012) but seems to want to get everything done ASAP so not to have to worry about it later. As many of us know, time between starting to plan and the BIG day does approach rather fast, and WE ARE the group of girls you want to ask and help you with that special day. We have compiled a group of the best photographers, DJ's, cake makers/bakeries & flower arrangers in the area. Not only are they AMAZING but pretty inexpensive for the quality and product you end up purchasing. So.....if you have any questions, ask away...

Does anyone have a picky kid? Mine would eat anything until he hit about 16 months, after that, breakfast, lunch & dinner became one of my worst nightmares. Luckily it didn't take long for me to figure out a solution. Lauren let me borrow Deceptively Delicious, a cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld (yes, Jerry's wife). It's amazing and best of all knowing that hiding healthy fruits & veggies in a dish is delicious! How can you go wrong? Hell, even my husband ate all the leftovers of the Mac'nCheese which had pureed cauliflower AND sweet potatoes in it. You can buy it on Amazon.com for only $7.90 here: http://www.amazon.com/deceptively-delicious/dp/006176793X?tag=book0b48-20 I find the more mothers I talk to about this, the more have been using it for years and love it as well.

Here are last weeks recipes:

Homemade Pesto Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp water
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 clove garlic (chopped)
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated) veggies you like. We had sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms.
Top with more fresh Parmesan and enjoy!

Baked Brie
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp brandy
Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
Spread mix on top of a round of brie
Bake at 500 for 5-10 minutes, or until the top is bubbly and the cheese inside is gooey. Serve with crackers and fruit. (grapes & apricots go great)

Thanks you Nelle for having us all over & Megs, we look forward to seeing you this week :)

Amanda

Bright Ideas Jewelry

Check out Bright Ideas Jewelry! My mom started Bright Ideas 3 years ago when she discovered how much she enjoyed making jewelry (and how good she was at it!) Bright Ideas can customize pieces for any occasion. Here's a picture of my wedding jewelry

 She has several items available on her website http://shop.brightideasjewelry.com/main.sc and much more that she shows in her local area of Wamego, Kansas. For questions or requests for custom pieces email sjvkasas@yahoo.com 

Emily

Grocery Shopping Ain't What It Used To Be...

Good afternoon all...

Just wanted to share a few "deals" that Emily & I experienced already in our grocery shopping this week:

Emily went to Albertson's and spent $12.81 on all this fun stuff. Her milk & bag of m&m's were completely free!

I also went to Albertson's and was able to pick all this up for only $20.83 (which would have been the original cost for both pork loins). A total of a $50 savings with all my coupons/deals! Hard to believe that this all would have cost me $70, isn't it?

I don't normally like to shop at Albertson's but to save this much I think I'll put up with it :)

Amanda

Mixin' it up with some Mexican...

The big news of today is.......http://twitter.com/#!/ThurGirlsNights!!! Join us on Twitter, follow our blogs from there if it's easier for you and tell your friends, 'cause you don't want to miss out on all the fun.

So we got little talking in this week about couponing and more about the blog, although I did get a few questions answers from our experts and also some great sites to follow. More to come as I learn. If anyone has any input it would be greatly appreciated. Shoot us an email or leave a comment of your favorite sites you use.
Doing a bit of my own research and digging I found http://dealspl.us/ It's extremely easy to navigate and has deals and coupons from all the department & grocery stores we already frequent.

Here are your couponing/deal links that Emily uses daily and suggested:

http://www.hip2save.com/  (this site is mainly good deals online, free giveaways, and some different deals you wouldn't find on the other sites)
http://www.fabulouslyfrugal.com/ (this site is mainly grocery store deals and lots of coupons). FF has a great tutorial and simple instructions for how to get started on saving.
http://www.thekrazycouponlady.com/ (this site is mainly grocery store deals and lots of coupons)

Emily says, "All of them will send you emails daily with new deals but I check "hip2save" all day long because a lot of their deals are time sensitive. I also get four Sunday newspapers every week so I have at least that many of each coupon. You'll want as many as you can when you can get things for free! The stores I find the easiest to get deals at are Rite Aid and Walmart." These girls are hardcore with the coupon binders they bring in to the stores with them, and I just started putting mine together...took it for a test drive last night after my husband & I put the little one to bed. Now keep in mind that I didn't have the 4 Sunday newspapers, but I did search, print and clip my coupons. Anyway, I ended up saving $42 on things I need to stock up on anyway, plus I got a $5 Target gift card to use on my next trip. I gotta tell you, being at the register and watching your total decrease is a RUSH...I'm hooked! If my mother only heard me say that...it would be an "I told you so!" moment that I would never hear the end of :)

Now for some food & family talk...

As we know, having kids and/or a busy work schedule, we need to utilize things in our kitchen to create more "free time", if you can call it that. That being said, the crock-pot is one of the best ways to do so. It does all the work for you...take advantage! Lauren made some DELICIOUS burritos using hers - Cafe Rio Pork Burritos to be precise :) Here is the recipe:

1.5 lbs. pork roast (I used a Hormel Pork Tenderloin)
1/2 can Dr. Pepper or Coke
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup salsa (I used a little more)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
Place all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. With one hour left, shred the pork.

RiceUse the type of rice you prefer and follow directions for cooking time and amount.
When you add the rice to the boiling water, add the following ingredients as well
2 tsp. chicken bouillon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced green chiles
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup chopped onion

*You will also need a can of black or pinto beans...warmed on the stove.

Layer meat, rice, & beans in tortilla. Wrap and place seam side down. Cover with enchilada sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Cook under broiler until cheese is bubbly.

This recipe was courteous of Fabulessly Frugal...Again, their website is:  http://www.fabulesslyfrugal.com/

For dessert we had our options of Whoopie Pies that Lauren made and the 1st test of CAKE POPS that Tiff is in trial run for her wedding desserts! So yummy!

That is all for this week. We look forward to having dinner Thursday at Danielle's new house! Until then...