Bacon & Caramelized Onion Mac & Cheese

You’ll love this because it hits every ‘comfort note’ in your brain. Pasta, cheese, bacon, and some crunch from the panko breadcrumbs. This dish is as decadent as they come and in my mind, the only thing missing is a cold beer to go with it and a piece of something chocolate for dessert. This is not for the faint of heart in terms of the ingredients, it does have a lot of cheese! Make this to share and freeze. It freezes like a champ for a quick single serving lunch or night when no one feels like cooking. I promise, this treat is worth the effort every now and then.

It is possible to make this dish up in one fell swoop in your kitchen or you can do it in stages. It’s up to you. I put the water on the boil, start the bacon and onions, and pre-heat the saucepan for the cheese sauce. While the pasta boils, the bacon and onions are working, and I’m whisking away at my cheese sauce. It is possible! If you’re not quite that confident, make the bacon and onions and set aside. Make the pasta and leave in strainer, and make the cheese sauce last. It’s up to you, but I have faith you can rock this recipe!

You’ll need:

an hour

makes a VERY FULL 9×9 pan when finished

• 1/2 lb elbow pasta
• 4 slices bacon, chopped into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced white onion

Cheese sauce:

• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2-3 cups milk of choice
• 2 cups shredded cheese of choice
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• hot sauce (optional)
• Panko bread crumbs or corn flakes, crushed (optional)

1. Cook bacon and onions together until bacon is cooked through and onions begin to brown and caramelize in a saute pan. You may like to remove the bacon before the onions are done if you prefer softer bacon. Should take about 15-20 minutes for the onions to brown up.
2. Remove from heat and drain off any extra grease or set into paper towels to cool. Set aside.
3. Bring water to a boil in a medium sized sauce pan. Boil pasta to desired doneness. About 9 minutes.
4. Drain in colander and set aside until you’re ready for it.

To make the cheese sauce:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Pre-heat a small/medium sauce pan on medium.
3. Add olive oil and onions.
4. Cook until onions begin to get translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Stir to cook evenly.
5. Add flour to make the rue.
6. Whisk the flour into the olive oil. If you need to add a bit more olive oil to make a paste, do so.
7. Cook rue for 2-3 minutes for a light rue. Overcooking the rue will burn it. Whisk this up!
8. Add milk.
9. Continue to whisk.
10. When the milk is heated through, add the shredded cheese by the handful and whisk to incorporate.
11. Once the cheese is added and melted into the mixture, it should be quite thick.
12. Add salt, pepper, garlic, mustard, hot sauce, etc… to taste. This is the perfect time to taste your sauce before adding the noodles. Use your best judgment.
13. Combine noodles, cheese sauce, and most of bacon/onion mix. Leave some out to sprinkle on top if you want.
14. Pour mix into a 9×9 pan.
15. Top with remaining bacon/onions/more cheese/panko breadcrumbs or crushed corn flakes.
16. Bake uncovered for 20-30 min.
17. Remove from oven.
18. Let sit at least 15 min. before serving or it will melt all the skin inside of your mouth. Trust me on this one.

This freezes like magic too. I like to make a big batch (9×13 pan) and freeze at least half. I portion it out into bags and label into 2-3 servings for a dinner and a few lunches. This also makes a killer dish to pass. You can enjoy it and so can everyone else!

No Boil Mac & Cheese

Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese

Spring Poppy

PB Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

You’ll love these because they’re simple to put together, require almost no effort, and if you’re a fan of peanut butter, let’s just say HELLO to your new best friend! These are moist, dense, packed with good whole oats and peanut butter, and inherently will leave you feeling less guilty about shoving a few into your piehole. I baked up a batch of these bad boys for a weekend cook out and the plate was almost clean following burger, dogs, salads, deviled eggs, etc…there’s always room for ONE COOKIE!!

I put in the recipe to NOT use natural peanut butter because it’s too oily for these. While it may violate some of your personal beliefs on food and nutrition, you might have to let it slide on this one–you can use the natural pb if you’d like, but don’t say I didn’t warn you……I am trying to cut back on some of the butter in my cookies and while I would be remiss if I didn’t say that butter is truly one of my favorite food groups, sometimes, even I need the gentle reminder that I can still have some sweets without a lb. of butter. Although, if you try to take butter away during sweet corn season, I might actually chase you down for some!

When I saw this recipe, I was skeptical. No flour? No fat outside of peanut butter? I was more intrigued to make these than anything and like a moth to a flame, I just couldn’t hold back. In my own defense, I did wait a couple of weeks because life has been busy and I’ll be honest here and say one thing: I don’t always have time to cook/bake intricate things or in this case: anything at all. Two colons in one sentence, probably also violating APA code….**sigh**

Ingredients

• 1 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter (not natural)
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup rolled oats (gluten-free if desired)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2/3 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In small bowl mix together the oats and baking soda; set aside.
3. In a large bowl beat peanut butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth, about 3 minutes. Mix in dry ingredients with a wooden spoon, then gently fold in chocolate chips.
4. Roll cookies into 2 inch dough balls and place onto cookie sheet 2 inches apart, then BARELY flatten the top of the cookie with your hand. The dough should be pretty sticky so if you find this method annoying, simply use a cookie scoop to drop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. The cookies may not be as round in shape and perhaps a bit thicker, but that’s okay, they will still be delicious.
5. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes and remove when edges barely begin to turn a golden brown. The cookies may look a little underdone, but they will continue to cook once you remove them from the oven. Cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough. Makes 16-20 cookies.

More oat, cookie, wonderous bites of fun….

Oatmeal Fudge Bars

Cranberry Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Spinach Cilantro Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

Remember the AMAZING Healthy Alfredo Sauce I sent your way a few weeks back? How could you forget!?!?!?! Here’s another great rendition of the base recipe with some added greens and a kick you’ll love. You’ll love this because it’s healthy, easy, and replaces something that’s extra rich for something that’s still delicious without making you need to worry about your blood pressure or cholesterol.

A-MA-ZZZING. That’s my final word on this stuff. In case you missed the original post (healthy alfredo sauce) this stuff is amazing as a fake out. For this round, I simply took half of the alfredo sauce and set it aside for the ‘white’ version. I left the other half in the blender and added a large handful of fresh spinach (frozen, drained well is fine too) and a handful of cilantro leaves. For good measure, I squirted some sriracha in the blender and turned it back on to blend.

You’ll need:

30 min.

• 8 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 5-6 cups cauliflower florets
• 6-7 cups stock or water
• 1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
• ½ teaspoon pepper (more to taste)
• ½ cup milk (more to taste)
• 1 good handful of chopped cilantro (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup raw spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• sriracha for spice (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Garlic: Saute the minced garlic with the butter in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. Cook for several minutes or until the garlic is soft and fragrant but not browned (browned or burnt garlic will taste bitter). Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Cauliflower: Bring the water or stock to a boil in a large pot. Add the cauliflower and cook, covered, for 7-10 minutes or until cauliflower is fork tender. Do not drain.
3. Puree: Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cauliflower pieces to the blender. Add 1 cup vegetable broth or cooking liquid, sauteed garlic/butter, salt, pepper, spinach, cilantro, and milk. Blend or puree for several minutes until the sauce is very smooth, adding more broth or milk depending on how thick you want the sauce. You may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your blender. Serve hot! If the sauce starts to look dry, add a few drops of water, milk, or olive oil.
4. Add parmesan cheese at the end and mix well.

Healthy Alfredo Sauce

Mother’s Day Mint Cho Buttercream Brownies

You’ll love these brownies because they’re just as decadent with half the butter, easy to make with a box mix, and minty-licious for spring! Let’s talk about…..butter cream. I know you love it. I love it. I eat it from the bowl. And then I remember there’s usually at least a cup of butter in it. Which is really what makes it so magical. However, it also does magical things to my arteries and mid-section the following day……While I can’t see the inside of my arteries, I can see my mid-section…..and it gets squishier when butter cream enters the show. **sigh** I had made these decadent brownies for Feaster and man, they were good. But, the reason they were so good is because they contained only the finest half pound of butter I could find. I wanted more of these brownies after finishing them but didn’t know about the butter factor….I headed to the fridge and voila! my friend: Chobani was sitting there, staring at me lovingly. If yogurt can look at me lovingly, I need to talk to someone at Cho. You know what I mean. So, instead of two sticks of butter, I took one out and pulled out my friend, Cho for some experimentation on the butter cream.

Now, I’m giving myself permission to still call it butter cream because there’s still butter in these, just half the amount that one would normally use. The final product was just as smooth, just as tasty, and dare I say it: comparable. The biggest difference: it wasn’t as dense and heavy in texture. Not necessarily a bad thing right?

You’ll need:

30 min. + cool time

• 1 box brownie mix, plus ingredients to make 9×9-inch pan of brownies
• extra chocolate or mint chips or add some peppermint extract/schnapps

Frosting

• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup non-fat, plain greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons peppermint schnapps or peppermint extract
• milk to thin butter cream if needed

Directions

1. In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar, greek yogurt, and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
2. Add vanilla and schnapps and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding milk if needed for spreading consistency.
3. Spread buttercream over brownies and place in fridge to get cold.
4. Leave in fridge about 45 min. or until cool.

Need more inspiration for Mother’s Day?

Mint Buttercream Brownies

Mango Avocado Cho Chicken Salad

Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

Say hello to my little (new, awesome, amazing) friend! You’ll love this recipe is you: A-like bacon, B-like cinnamon rolls, C-are human. Dear breakfast, you’ll never be the same. ever. The marriage of the sweet (albeit fake) cinnamon roll with a slice of salty, meaty, savory bacon was something that I immediately fell in love with and ate three. And then I had a stomach ache of my own making. It was totally worth it.

The “recipe” could not be any easier and this would make a great treat on a lazy weekend morning when there’s a reason to celebrate not shooting out of bed at light speed to get everyone out the door or it’s a rainy morning, which let’s be honest–we all really like once in a while. Nothing like snuggling with some bad tv, a book, a stack of magazines, some coffee or juice, and letting THIS smell fill your house. How am I doing painting that picture?

You’ll need:

5 min. prep + cook time

•  1 tube of canned cinnamon rolls
• equal number of slices of bacon

1. Pre-heat oven according to directions.
2. Take each roll and unroll it.
3. Roll a piece of bacon back into it.
4. Arrange in pan or on cookie sheet.
5. Bake as directed.
6. Spread fake, delicious icing on them.
7. Eat them like there’s no tomorrow.

If you like crisper bacon, cook the bacon for a minute or two in the microwave first to get it started. I like chewy bacon. Heck, I just like bacon.

Cool the bacon for a few minutes so as not to sear the skin off your fingers before rolling each roll.

Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon

Bacon Egg Cups

Apps For You & Me

Hi, my name is Tiffany and I love apps. Oh, you do too? Well then…..shimmy on up to catch a glimpse of what apps have me moving these days! It changes regularly! Yes, I know there’s a zillion apps, there’s competitors, and ones similar to the ones I love, but today: I’m showing you what I love! Please, leave me a comment and tell me your faves, we can exchange apps!

APP PAR-TAY!!

I used itunes links b/c I have an iphone, don’t be hatin’ if you’re an android user. I had an android phone and loved it but I also love my iphone.

Where do I find my apps?

Word of mouth

Seeing someone else’s post on social media & the tag that goes with it

Lifehacker or some other random internet page

Magazines (remember those?)

 Apps Gone Free – I have the app on my phone & it reminds me once per day (nothing too invasive or annoying) that the free apps of the day are available. I can swipe through them quickly and decide which ones to download or to just close it for the day. This is where I’ve found the majority of my apps lately and saved a little money along the way.

Photo apps

Snapseed is easily my favorite photo editing app right now because of all the presets. I used Adobe Express for a while, but eventually just picked one to avoid internal confusion when snapping pics. Of course, Diptic makes super fun collages. Pixlromatic and PhotoStudio each have their own fun ‘add in’s’ such as sparkles and effects for ‘play time.’ I love photostein and photo slice for making fun collages and slicing up photos. The keep calm app: plain entertaining…..

Instafood is the ‘free’ version and being the cheap arse that I am, I refuse to pay for it. I do put in my photos, add the instafood layovers and then just take a pic of the screen. I’m super cheap like that….

Productivity Apps

I am guilty of not using some of these very often–like the pages, numbers, & keynote. I do use the adobe reader quite a bit. I’ve become co-dependent on Bank of America since I can just grab photos of my checks and deposit them. Anyone who knows me in real life knows I really stink at going to the bank. (who does that anymore???)

SnapDat was also made for me. I have been on faculty for a year and a half and yet: no business cards and no door tag for my office. In faculty terms: LAME. Nothing like being at a conference with no card. While I think they’re highly antiquated, there is a segment of the world who loves them still. SnapDat helps b/c I can just send my personal business card to someone with no fuss and no actual business card. It’s a dream for me, a dream come true.

Fitness apps

Frankie say relax? OK!!! You’ll see there’s only ONE app that will make me work. I’ve been using youtube Jillian Michaels and FitSugar videos a lot lately. Paired with some brisk walks & yoga, it’s been my life for the past few months. I use the three calming apps when I practice yoga and meditate. Meditating is no joke! Just sitting quietly for 10 min. clears out a lot of head space for me!

Relax Melodies is super cool because it’s free, has a lot of sounds, and has timers included. Simply Rain is just that: rain noise and

Calm has some different sounds as well. I like calm but am too cheap to pay for it so it’s the free version. In truth, I will probably delete it, it’s not getting much air time.

I downloaded Gorilla just a few days ago so I’ll be honest and say: I haven’t worked with it much yet.

Fun apps

Priorities people. The ‘fun stuff’ folder is brimming over and perhaps not every app in it is properly placed. You get the picture though. Fun = blogging, pinteresting, eating, movies, apps, seeing in the dark, flying somewhere super awesome (united is who i have my FF miles through), word games, jamming out, & getting my news from my rss feeds. This category is pretty self explanatory and needs no link ups….

Everyday use apps

My home screens: I only have two swipes on my iphone. I can’t handle anymore. My head would explode. I like apps that sync my life:

• dropbox
• evernote
• calendars (through icloud)
• email (sad but true, all emails synced)

Of course:

• facebook (duh)
• twitter (or “the tweeeeeter” if you’re some of the southerners i know)
• huff post (self proclaimed news junkie)
• weight watchers app & scanner–that scanner is pretty effing handy & sometimes my least liked friend