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How To Make Better Mac 'n' Cheese

Baked Lemon Pasta | The Pioneer Woman Cooks I love simple dishes like this. They remind me of my single vegetarian days in L.A. when I’d often come home from work and find a total of three grocery items in my kitchen. This is in contrast to the 9.446 grocery items in my kitchen now—everything from bacon grease to a freezer full of beef, but we won’t go there today. Lemon is an unlikely flavoring for pasta, but oh…is it ever refreshing and good, especially in the spring and summer. There’s something about this baked version, though, that I just love. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. This recipe may be doubled, tripled, or octupled—it’s totally easy. The Cast of Characters: Spaghetti, lemons, garlic, butter, sour cream, olive oil, salt, Parmesan cheese, and parsley. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Start by grating the zest from one lemon. If you don’t have a microplane zester, please remedy that situation immediately. In a skillet, melt the butter over low heat. Add an equal amount of olive oil. And mince it very finely. Oh, yum.

Spicy Whiskey BBQ Sliders Are you having a New Year’s Eve get together at your house? If so, I must urge you to strongly consider making these decadent, drippy, diminutive, dreamy, and divine sliders. I made them just before Christmas and when I took my first bite, I actually heard angels singing. They’re positively out of this world. Here. The Cast of Characters: ground meat, salt & pepper, butter, onion, whiskey (not pictured because I didn’t think to add it until I was in the middle of cooking the sauce), jarred jalapenos, and small buns/rolls. You can use ground beef, ground turkey, or…guess what this is? Or my cattle ranching family. A girl’s gotta experiment from time to time, man. Form the meat into small patties (about 12) then sprinkle them generously with salt and pepper. Fry them in two batches in a skillet of melted butter over medium to medium-high heat. Mmmm. After all the patties are cooked, remove them to a plate. Now you’ve got a skillet of butter and grease and flavor, which is wonderful… Garshk.

Easy Crockpot Potato Soup If you're anything like me you use your crockpot at least once a week during the winter. Heck maybe in the summer as well. Anyhow, mine doesn't leave my counter during the winter months. Most weeks I use it twice. This past week I made potato soup. It was exactly what I was looking for. Rich, creamy and filling. Perfect for a cold winter night. Ingredients: 1 30oz. bag of frozen diced hash browns 1 32 oz box of chicken broth 1 can of cream of chicken soup (10 oz) 1 pkg. cream cheese (8 oz, not fat free) 3 oz bacon bits 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese salt and pepper to taste Directions: Put the potatoes in the crockpot. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or until potatoes are tender. An hour before serving, cut the cream cheese into small cubes. Once the cream cheese is completely mixed in, it's ready to serve. Top with cheddar cheese and some additional bacon bits.

Pithy and Cleaver » Alone in the Kitchen with a Zucchini Alone in the Kitchen with a Zucchini My fiancé is a pretty flexible eater. He often picks the weirdest thing on a restaurant menu to order. He’s ok with cobbled-together meals of steamed greens and turkey meatballs (the sort of thing my father Would Not Enjoy.) There a just a few things Matt doesn’t like: olives (though we’re working on that), shrimp (they remind him of bugs, I think), mayo (which I don’t eat either), and sour cream (ditto. Our love is like, totally meant to be, right?) And zucchini. I’d never really given zucchini much thought, but now I’m oddly drawn to the forbidden squash. Was the zucchini the best I’d ever had, or has it just been too long since my last taste? For half an hour, I hardly missed him. Pasta with Lots of Zucchini and Beaten Egg Adapted from Blake Royer/Marcella Hazanserves 2 Put pasta water on to boil. Crack egg into a bowl and beat lightly. Meawhile, cook pasta according to package directions until just al dente. In italian, pasta, vegetables, zucchini

Porcini and Rosemary Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Port Wine Sauce recipe on Food52.com Author Notes: This roast is worth celebrating. Dried porcini mushrooms are blitzed to a powder with fresh rosemary sprigs, creating an umami-rich crust for beef. It's stand alone good, but when served with a port wine reduction infused with rosemary and porcini, it becomes an elegant dinner worthy of any holiday celebration. If you have the time, salt the meat well in advance. Food52 Review: TasteFood's roast is definitely a show-stopper. Serves 6-8 For the Beef Tenderloin: 1 center-cut beef tenderloin, 3 pounds Salt 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped 1 teaspoon black peppercorns Olive oil Season the tenderloin all over with salt. For the Port Wine Sauce: Your Best Holiday Roast Contest Winner! Popular on Food52 and Provisions

Slow Cooker BEST Meatloaf EVER 2 1/2 lbs. ground beef or ground turkey 1 T. brown sugar 1/2 tsp. season salt 1/4 tsp. garlic, fresh or dried, minced 1/4 tsp. onion salt 1 - 2 T. mustard 1/4 c. ketchup 1 T. Worcestershire sauce 1 egg 1 c. breadcrumbs 1/4 c. milk, (Crock Pot Girl used Almond Milk, but you can use what you have on hand, even water) 1 onion, small, diced Honestly Slow Cooker BEST Meatloaf EVER, is exactly what the title states. It is moist and has a ton of delicious flavor! Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.Form into a loaf to fit slow cooker. Optional: If you would like to add vegetables like potatoes and carrots, place them in the bottom of the slow cooker, and put the meatloaf on top, so the vegetables can cook in the juices. NOTE: Foil is to make it easier to lift out! Happy Crocking! For over 400 more recipes, click here to get my eBook “Get Crocked: The Definitive Guide to Slow Cooking” Jenn

Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato (BLT) Pasta People think that because I write a food blog that I must cook constantly. Well, it is true that I do enjoy getting in the kitchen and making great food for my family. However, if I’m being totally honest, there are days when by dinner time I’m just completely wiped out. Does that ever happen to you? I bet it does! You start this recipe by putting on a large pot of water to cook 12 ounces of penne pasta. While the pasta is going, cook 8 slices of bacon until they’re nice and crisp. In the same pan that you used for the bacon, add a chopped red onion, the garlic, red pepper flakes and salt. Then add the tomatoes and cook for about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain the pasta and add it to the pan along with the arugula, bacon and basil. Top individual servings with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy! All the elements of a BLT combine with penne pasta and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Ingredients Instructions Cook the penne according to the package directions. –Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine

Prosciutto, Nectarine and Fontina Panini on Rosemary Focaccia recipe on Food52.com Author Notes: I came up with this sandwich because I love prosciutto and fruit together. They truly complement each other beautifully, as evidenced by the prosciutto e melone primi piatti on so many Italian restaurants' summer menus. I chose to add fontina to this recipe simply because I can't imagine a 'ham' sandwich without cheese, and it melts SO beautifully. And the infusion of rosemary in the bread just brings it all together; the herbal woodiness is divine with stone fruit. Food52 Review: Before making it, we were pretty sure we'd like this sandwich, but we weren't positive we'd want more than a couple of bites. Serves 1 1 large nectarine, pitted and peeled, cut in 1/4 inch slices 2 slices of rosemary focaccia, 1/2 inch thick 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened 2 slices fontina cheese 3 to 4 slices good-quality prosciutto Freshly ground black pepper Small handful fresh arugula Preheat an electric panini maker to high. Your Best Pork Sandwich Contest Finalist!

Ground-Beef Slow-Cooker Recipes – Slow Cooker Recipes – ALL YOU Because it’s summer time, I like to use my slow cooker often. It doesn’t heat up the house like the oven does. It also makes my life much easier. I’m able to save time and do the things that are more important to me, like reading or relaxing with my family. But, have you noticed the rising prices of beef lately? Unfortunately, I found that I was in a rut when it comes to ground beef recipes. Here are 20 ground beef slow cooker recipes that should help break up that monotony: 1. What’s your favorite ground-beef slow-cooker recipe? Photo credit: Kate Sears

Mediterranean Orzo Macaroni and Cheese Thanks so much for all your sweet, encouraging comments on teaching my first yoga class yesterday—it went awesome! Or at least, I think it went awesome. We’ll see who shows back up next week (I’m doing this community teaching for the next ten weeks as part of my training). I was talking to a friend later and she asked how it went and I said “well, I normally hate standing up and talking in front of crowd but I discovered that I love being the boss even more.” I so wish all of you could come over to my house for yoga and lunch, by the way! Next best thing? Orzo pasta is tossed in a creamy feta cheddar cheese sauce complete with diced tomatoes, olives and oregano for a Mediterranean flair. If you’re a feta freak like me, you’ll go crazy for this!! This was the perfect fix to the cold, rainy weather we’ve been having lately. Though I haven’t personally tried this with macaroni pasta, I’m sure it also work and be great. What? Mediterranean Orzo Mac & Cheese serves 4-6 Print this recipe! Time:

Creamy Potato Soup with Bacon Vinaigrette recipe on Food52 Author Notes: I wrote this recipe when I was having a down day. Simmering the stock all day lifted my spirits. - OB Cookie - OB Cookie Food52 Review: No wonder this recipe cheered OB Cookie up on a rough day. Serves 6 For the Soup 1 tablespoon butter 1 large onion diced 1 large carrot diced 1 rib celery diced 3 cloves garlic diced 1 sprig rosemary chopped 1 teaspoon salt 6 medium Russet potatoes (about 2 lbs.) peeled and diced into 1" cubes 7 cups chicken stock or water 1 cup low fat sour cream salt and pepper to taste For vinaigrette 4 pieces thick cut bacon 3 green onions finely sliced 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar 2 tablespoons olive oil pinch salt Add butter to large pot on medium high heat and melt Add carrot, onion, celery, garlic, rosemary and salt. This recipe is a Wildcard Contest Winner!

Stuffed Shells I haven't had stuffed shells in years. My mom used to make them every once in a great while when I was little. She also liked to make manicotti. That probably explains why I love stuffed pasta so much. I'll take any excuse to make a big pot of tomato sauce... add a creamy cheesy mixture and I'm beyond excited to make dinner. So when I randomly decided this week I was craving stuffed shells, I was looking forward to experimenting with my tomato sauce and a new ricotta cheese mixture. This time I decided to kick my sauce up a notch with some bacon and ground beef to provide a smoky flavor as well as a hearty main course element to an otherwise appropriate side dish. A few simple steps and you can recreate this delicious and weeknight dinner appropriate meal for your family! Recipe Tips Next time I'm going to try making the tomato sauce without ground beef. Until no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, roughly chop your bacon into small pieces: Then add your marinara sauce: And enjoy!

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