Macaroni & Cheese

At my house, there is a dispute over which mac o' cheese is the best. Kenz will only eat Kraft brand, and it must be a shape of some sort. Twirly, Spongebob, Scooby Doo, it does not matter, just as long as it is not the regular package. Strange, I know. And Kade will only eat Kraft brand regular noodle. So no matter what I do, one of the kiddos is not going to eat. And this is Mac o' cheese for heaven's sake! Aren't all kids suppose to love it and be happy? Well, I guess my two did not get that memo. So I decided to try and make this recipe and see if that would work. It is from the Pioneer Woman. And it did for a little bit, but they found other reasons to not like what I made for dinner. I personally think that they have made a book of excuses for dinner time. I am hoping that they publish it soon. Then I can afford to make 2-3 different meals for dinner.

This recipe even surprised Jas and myself. He had two large helpings and took some to work for lunch. So I say it was a winner. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think.

Mac o' Cheese

4 cups dried macaroni
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 heaping tsp dry mustard
1 egg, beaten
1 pound cheese, grated
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 - 1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp season salt

* Cook macaroni until very firm. It should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.
* In a small bowl, beat egg.
* In a large pot, melt butter, and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat.
* Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. DON'T LET IT BURN!!
* Pour in milk, add mustard and whisk until smooth. Cook for 5 minutes until very thick, and reduce heat to low.
* Take 1/4 cup of sauce and pour our over beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking the egg. Whisk until smooth.
* Pour egg mixture into sauce, and whisk until smooth.
* Add cheese and stir to melt.
* Add salts and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt or pepper as needed.
* Do not under salt.
* Pour over cooked macaroni.

You can serve this immediately or pour it into a butter backing dish, top it with extra cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Both ways are really good. I guess it just depends on the mood you are in.

Emily's Famous Chili

Okay, so there is one thing that I can make that just about everyone loves... even my kids. I love this recipe. It has some really great qualities to it. It is really yummy, it is easy, it makes a ton, so you can have some freezer meals. I am a huge advocate of freezer meals. If for any reason I am not home to make dinner, I can feel confident that my family will not go hungry or rush out to the nearest fast food joint. Plus, if I am asked to bring meals in to a friend, I already have some on hand, and even short notice is just fine by me! So give this one a try, I am sure you will love it.

Emily's Famous Chili

6 lrg cans diced (or crushed) tomatoes
3 lrg cans of chili with beans
4 green peppers, diced (yellow and red ones work too)
2 med red onions, diced
5 lbs of hamburger
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp garlic powder
4-5 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp ginger (optional - however, it has been proven that ginger eases the stomach which helps your family have a more quietly and less stinky chili dinner, if ya know what I mean)
salt and pepper to taste.

* Mix raw hamburger, green peppers and onions in a LARGE stock pot.
* Simmer until hamburger is cooked thoroughly. Drain fat.
* Mix in the remaining ingredients.
* If using all 4 gallons of chili, simmer until hot. If not, separate into 1 gallon freezer bags, leave some for dinner and let that simmer until hot. If you put the chili in the freezer bags when it is hot, you will have to wait to put it in the freezer.
* Lay freezer bags flat in freezer, and do not stack until they have frozen as they may stick together.

Enjoy!

Canning cheeses

I am back. I have been super busy with work, my CPC exam, and just life in general, (aren't we all?) So here is a quick post about canning. I love to can and have food storage. I love the feeling I get when I see all my hard work on the shelf. So I think I will start some posts about canning. For my first one, I choose something interesting. So here we go!

Here are instructions for canning cheese ... real cheese! Great for pizza and other recipes we can make with our food storage, but really are better with fresh cheese!

Canning Hard cheese (like cheddar and mozzarella - I tried both)
I took shredded cheese and packed it into wide mouth pint jars. (5 lb bag filled 6 pt jars) You can also use cubes of cheese, but the shredded was cheaper when I purchased it at Sam’s club. I put the jars into a pan of water. I bought the water to a boil. The cheese melted and I continued to fill the jars till ¾ inch from the top. I then put on hot new canning jar lids and rings and water bathed them in gentle boiling water for 35 min. I let it set for a week and had to try it. I opened the lid; it came right out onto the plate. It sliced great and tasted great. I can use this to shred onto a homemade pizza. This was easy to do and you don’t need a canner, just a deep enough pan for the water bath.

I have only done this once. I will keep you posted on the progress.