Recipe: Crockpot Mac and Cheese

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know there hasn't been a blog post in awhile, I had some personal things come up and wanted to deal with them away from the computer. Keith and I changed our plans and ended up heading to my parents to celebrate Thanksgiving. After a normal 5 hour drive turned into a 8 hour drive, we finally got to Detroit.

We had a small dinner, only my mom and dad and Keith and I. My sister, brother-in-law and niece were visiting his mother, and we all needed a small dinner since only a week ago we gathered to say goodbye to my Grandpa. So, my mom and dad cooked a feast for us! Look at the spread.

However, I wanted to share with you my contribution. I made the best mac and cheese in the crockpot. And lucky you, I am willing to share my recipe!

What you need:
-One box of noodles, I used cavatappi this time but shells also are good
-2 cans of Cheddar Cheese Soup
-4 tablespoons of butter
-1/2 cup of sour cream
-1 bag of Colby jack cheese shredded
-1.5 cans of milk
-salt and pepper

Okay, now how do you cook it?
1.) Add noodles to a pot of boiling water. ONLY COOK FOR 6 MINUTES. You don't want to over cook, trust me
2.) Spray the crockpot with cooking spray. Put in the cheddar cheese soup. Measure out a can and half of milk and put that in. Place butter in and sour cream and mix well.
3.) Add noodles and stir well. Add salt and pepper to season
4.) Cook for about an hour on low. Then add bag of cheese and turn crockpot to high setting for 45 minutes.

Do not overcook the macaroni, I cooked it for about an hour and 45 minutes. If you overcook it, the noodles turn all mushy. I have done this recipe twice now and both times it turned out great! It was a big hit at thanksgiving and was always requested for an upcoming family weekend.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Zucchini, blackbean and rice skillet

Late starts at work mean I get to post about the awesome dinner we made last night. Actually, Keith made most of it, I was just there for support. It was a very easy recipe and didn't take too long, however there were a few things we would have changed doing it a second time. Anyway, here we go!

Recipe: Zucchini, black bean and rice skillet

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of vegetable or canola oil
1-1/2 cups of zucchini (we used wheels, I would cut it further)
1 cups of mix peppers (we got the pre-cut blend from the grocery store)
1 can of black beans, drained and rinse
1 can of diced tomatoes- we used chili style, however garlic ones would probably be good if you like garlic (we don't)
3/4 cup of water
1 cup of instant rice
1/2 cup of shredded cheese blend- we used cheddar and colby jack

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini and bell peppers; cook 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Again, if we would do this over again we would cut the zucchini into small pieces.

Add beans, undrained tomatoes and water. Increase the heat and bring to a boil.

Add rice; stir well. Once rice is in, cover and remove from heat and let stand for 7 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. This seems weird, but it will cook the rice. Uncover and sprinkle on cheese. Serve when warm. We got about 6 Jenn servings out of it, and about 5 Keith servings, so depending on your appetite you get quite a few servings out of it. With everything in it, it makes for a really good entree.


Enjoy :) (we sure did!!!)