Homemade Mac & Cheese

This is an AMAZING recipe! B made it a couple of weeks ago for a small dinner party and it turned out great! I made it as part of our Easter dinner and that's when I realized I need to post the recipe...so here it is!

1 lb. medium shell pasta (or pasta of your choice)
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 ts. garlic salt
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cup milk
16 oz. Velveeta cheese

Cook pasta and drain.

In a saucepan, melt butter and add flour. Whisk for approximately 3 minutes on medium heat to cook out the taste of flour. Flour should turn to a light brown. Add seasonings. Whisk in cream and milk. Keep stirring and bring back to a boil to thicken. Takes about 5-10 minutes to thicken.

 Add Velveeta. Stir with spoon or whisk until cheese is melted.

Pour sauce over drained pasta, then put in 9X13 glass pan.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, until it just begins to brown, but do not overcook.

*I got this from our super talented cook at Girls Camp last summer. Girls kept coming back for days to see if there were leftovers that they could have. It's a winner!

Delicious Egg Drop Soup

4 cups chicken broth, divided
(or 4 cups water and 4 bouillon cubes)
1/8 tsp ground ginger

2 Tbls. chopped fresh chives or scallions--optional

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 Tbls. cornstarch

3 eggs
About 1/4 cup each of frozen peas and diced carrots

Reserve 3/4 cup chicken broth, and pour the rest into a large saucepan. Stir the salt, ginger and chives/scallions into the saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil. Add peas and carrots. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining broth and cornstarch until smooth. Stir cornstarch mixture into broth. Return to boil.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs using a fork. Drizzle egg a little at a time into the boiling broth mixture. Egg should cook immediately. DO NOT USE WHISK! It destroys the "egg drop". (I found out the hard way.) I usually double the recipe for our family.

Yummy with a little soy sauce added to each bowl as desired.

Wassail

Have you tried THIS yet? I HIGHLY recommend that you do!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 large frozen chicken breasts
Chicken stock
1 can corn
1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
1 onion, diced and sautéed
1 avocado
Favorite cheese
Favorite chips (we like Tostitos Scoops)
Packet of taco seasoning (we like Taco Bell brand)

In a 2 quart pot, boil water and add frozen chicken breasts. While chicken is boiling, add cream of chicken soup to a 4 quart pot. Add corn and beans to cream of chicken. Once chicken breasts are done, remove from pot and put in large zip lock baggie. Add half a pack of taco seasoning and let sit. (This will allow the chicken to soak in the flavor and will also make it very tender.) Add chicken stock (the water you boiled your chicken in) to soup mixture. Keep adding until you've reached your desired consistency. (I use all of the water, but you can use less.) While your chicken is still in the bag, separate the chicken with your fingers. Add your now shredded chicken to your soup. Add the rest of the taco seasoning. Dice up avocado. Put soup in bowls, sprinkle desired amount of cheese onto soup, and top with avocado. You can then top with crunched chips or dip the chips. This makes about 5 full bowls. Enjoy!

Sorry there's not a picture yet. I plan to make this tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get one on here then.

💗This recipe is from Niki (Crum) Worthin's blog. Thanks for sharing, Niki!

Old Fashioned Pumpkin Cookies

Here's another pumpkin cookie recipe. With a different taste than the other one, but just as yummy!

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup pumpkin
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease baking sheets or use parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. (I use a small cookie scoop)

Bake for about 15 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle glaze over cookies. (I used a zip lock baggie with a pastry tip to put on glaze.)

Glaze

2 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 Tbls. milk
1 Tbls. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine in small bowl until smooth.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these yummy cookies last weekend and just had to make them again tonight! Perfect for the Fall weather that we're finally having!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teas. vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 cups (12 oz. bag) milk chocolate chips
Non-stick cooking spray or parchment paper

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray cookie sheets with spray or line with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets (I use a large size cookie scoop) and bake for 15- 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

As always, enjoy!