Double Cheese and Veggie Macaroni

Once again Kraft has helped me out with finding a good side dish that can act as most of the meal.  This one has the veggies, the tanginess, and the Mac n Cheese.  It is too bad that I don't think I used a single Kraft product in this recipe but that is what happens when you shop at Aldi.  It is amazing how easy this is and the only draw back is need for two pots. 

 

Origin:  http://www.kraft.com/

 

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg of Kraft Deluxe Macaroni and Cheese
• 1/4 cup Kraft Zesty Light Italian Dressing
• 2 small Zucchini, Chopped
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1/2 cup Kraft shredded Sharp cheddar cheese.

Directions:

1. Prepare Macaroni and Cheese per instructions
2. In a sauce pan heat dressing over medium heat and add zucchini and cook for 5 minutes or till crisp.
3. Add to Macaroni and Cheese along with chopped Tomatoes.
4. Top with shredded cheese.

 

A few things to note.  Shells work real nice as well.  regular Italian Dressing works since Aldi does not have Zesty.  The cheese on top is not nessecary and we have pretty much eliminated in the past couple of times making it.  This is a great recipe and Rae loves it.  It complements a good meal and can stand alone as well.  Most definately makes the book.  Another thing is the picture is from Kraft.com so thanks to them again for assist.

Easy Mini Quiches

I love Quiche and I love to cook Quiche except the fact that when I cook them I cook a lot of them. It is like Pot Pie from scratch. If you are going to put that much effort into cooking something then you might as well make it worth it. The last time I cooked Quiche I made about a dozen. Okay so I have some OCD issues and that is why it has been 6 years since I have cooked Quiche. I got the idea somewhere that there had to be a recipe for mini quiches and I searched and found a bunch. This one works real well.

 

Origin: http://www.allrecipes.com/

Ingredients

• 6 slices of bacon, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk baking mix (Bisquick)
• 1 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 2 cups shredded American Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease muffin pans with spray oil or whatever you have.  In a large skillet over medium heat, fry the bacon and onion together for about 5 minutes or until bacon is crisp.  Drain and Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs.  Stir in baking mix, parsley, shredded cheese, bacon and onion.  Spoon into greased muffin cups. 
3. Bake of 10 to 15 minutes in a preheate oven, or until tops are lightly browned.

So a few notes.  I don't eat pork so turkey bacon it is.  Turkey bacon does not really get crisp so play it by ear.  If you ever make the mistake of buying generic Bisquick this is a great place for it.

This good stuff.  Not the real thing but nice and quick and full of quichey goodness.  Rae loves it and has asked for it to be added to the weekly menu.  This makes it worthy of the Recipe Book.

Mexican Stir Fry

One day I had nothing planned and was kind of missing any inpiration on what to make.  So I hit the freezer and kind of stared for a while till something hit me in the toe.  This is what came out.
Origin: Duff's head

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup frozen corn
2. 1/2 bag of frozen tater tots or hash browns
3. 1 can of refried beans
4. 1/4-1/2 cup milk
5. 1 can cooked chicken
6. shredded cheese
7. sour cream

In a frying pan cook tater tots and corn with your oil of choice.  A little taco seasoning or chili powder can't hurt.  Once cooked where the tater tots are soft add the refried beans and milk and cook till thoroughly mixed.  Add chicken (undrained) to mixture and cook for several more minutes. 
Serve in a bowl or torilla with cheese and/or sour cream.

This was a mind bender at the time but is is amazingly simple and really quick.  It is full of nutritional goodness with a good balance of carbs and protein.  It is missing the greens but you can put it on top of a salad and make it a Mexican Stir Fry Tostada.  Eitherway, Rae did not aske for seconds she told me she was getting seconds shortly after her first bite.  What a complement.