Tasty Tuesday - Quick and Easy Mac and Cheese!

I'm back after another crazy weekend!

A friend and I went to see this on Saturday:

It was actually really cute. I mean it's not going to make an Oscar list any time soon, but it was a cute, fun movie. Not to mention all of the amazing views of New York City, which is enough to make me happy. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. I was very concerned that it was going to turn out like Valentine's Day, which was not so cute.

This weekend also included my 4th party lite party since September. I am literally drowning in candles. The bestest and I have decided that the power could go out for a year and we would be totally fine.

With all of these busy weekends I feel like December is flying by. We are already half way through and there isn't even snow yet! Today I could go out in a heave sweater and no jacket. As much as I hate snow, I want it for Christmas. I have never had a snowless Christmas and since there are only 12 days to go, I'm starting to get a little antsy.

With all of the craziness that December brings, I figured I would share a quick and easy recipe that Chris and I fell in love with a couple of months ago.

Chris and I both work full time, and I don't own a car, so he needs to pick me up before going home himself. After the drive, taking puppy out and finally getting ready to eat neither one of us wants to wait an hour for food to be ready, so recipes that are good and easy to make are very important.

I found this recipe on Campbell's website sometime last year and it became an instant hit. The hardest part is cooking the pasta, and then popping it in the oven for 20 minutes.

Quick and Easy Mac and Cheese:

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup

1/2 soup can milk

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/3 of a 1-pound package rotini pasta or medium shell pasta (about 1 1/2 cups), cooked and drained

1 tablespoon plain dry bread crumbs

2 teaspoons butter, melted

• Heat the oven to 400°F.
  
• Stir the soup, milk, black pepper and pasta in a 1-quart casserole dish.
• Stir the bread crumbs and butter in a small bowl. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the pasta mixture.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until the pasta mixture is hot and bubbling.

My Adjustments:

• I normally double the recipe (4 cups of pasta and 2 cans of soup) but I make them in separate trays to make sure the portions are right (and I may have once crammed it all into one dish and had a small exploding incident in the oven....not important...). This way we always have left overs the next day, meaning no one has to cook, and occasionally Chris has enough to take for lunch.

• Honestly, the breadcrumbs are the best part and a tablespoon isn't enough. You barely know it's there. I normally use about 2-3 heaping tablespoons of melted butter, and then add the breadcrumbs until it is crumbly enough to sprinkle over the top of the whole dish.

Other than that I just follow the directions. Watch the oven because it will sometimes take less than 20 minutes and your breadcrumbs will burn (Also learned that one the hard way!)

Enjoy!!

Tasty Tuesday's - Chili!

Remember last week when I told you I had Chili cooking in my slow cooker??? Well this week I thought I would share the recipe with you.

I subscribed to a site where they e-mail me a different recipe everyday because, let's face it, I'm working hard to embrace this whole cooking thing, but I'm never going to be the kind of girl who can look in the pantry and make something magical with the things that I randomly have in there.

A couple of months ago they sent me this:

Quick Slow Cooker Chili

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 green bell peppers, chopped
• 5 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans with liquid
• 1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, with liquid
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium high heat, saute the ground beef for 5 to 10 minutes, or until browned. Transfer to a slow cooker. Then add the onion, green bell peppers, beans and tomatoes to the slow cooker. Season with chili powder to taste. Cook on high setting for 4 hours, or until all vegetables are tender.

*NOTE* I totally suck at taking pictures while I cook. In my defense, I was doing around 15 things at once and taking pictures was not at the top of my list. I'll do better next time.

I made a few adjustments. Instead of 5 cans of kidney beans, I went with a 5 blend of chili beans. I just thought that 5 cans of kidney beans was a bit much.

I also used onion powder instead of chopped onions. The boy has a large aversion to onions, so if he saw or tasted any it would have been over. I'm not taking that chance so a dash of onion powder was used instead.

It turned out really good and it was super easy. It was my first time ever using the slow cooker and I must say I'm a fan of throwing everything into one giant pot, turning it on and letting it essentially cook itself. Definitely my kind of cooking.

I will suggest that of you like your chili really thick to either cut the cans of beans to three, or use a thicker blend.

Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday

I'm suspending Television Tuesday for this week, even though there is TONS to talk about (Um...Once Upon A Time....!) because I had to share a fantastic new recipe that a blogger shared with me.

A couple of weeks ago, Nicole, from Life's a Beach, posted this recipe.

As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to try them. Chris LOVES Red Lobster....and I hate fish. Therefore, we don't go that often, so I figured it would be nice to make him something that tastes like something he would get at his favourite restaurant.

My sister's candle party last weekend (in which I spent way too much money....again) was the perfect opportunity for me to try them out. So the night before, at about 10, I got out all of the ingredients and gave it a go.


Seriously guys, these things are amazing. The first batch that I made didn't make it to the party (I had to go back and make more) as they lasted about 15 minutes before they were gone (which is fine because they take about that long to make). They are fantastic when they are fresh out of the oven. Warm. Soft. So Good.

They also weren't too bad the next day and went pretty fast at the party.

I am actually making them again tonight to go with the Chili that is currently cooking in the slow cooker (I've honestly begun to tackle this cooking thing. I'm even confident enough to consider myself decent.)

So go and try these, you won't regret it. And go check out Nicole's blog for even more tasty ideas.