Homemade Mac N Cheese with Bacon!

I've just realized a lot of my posts have included bacon lately, but that's alright because bacon is delicious and any dish that includes bacon, my boyfriend will definitely eat.


But today, bacon is incorporated into a delicious and simple homemade mac and cheese recipe that never fails.

I began making this when I lived in Ireland. My friends from Wisconsin were really missing home and because the stereotypes are true (I've never seen a group of people eat so much cheese), they wanted a cheesy, creamy comfort food.

This is what I came up with.
These are all made with ingredients that I always have in the fridge, so it can be a last minute decision and be made for many or few eaters.

Ingredients:
Small individual size plain yogurt
1 cup milk
Italian bread crumbs
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
11/2 cups mozzarella
1/2 cup parmesan
4 strips crispy bacon
Olive oil
Penne pasta
Butter

1. Fry your bacon until crispy. I like to make the cheese sauce with the bacon grease but no need to use it if you do not want the added calories. Drain the bacon on paper towel then crush into small pieces.

2. Boil your water for the penne. Use the same pan as the bacon and melt 2 tblsp butter. Combine the milk and yogurt and add to the butter. Allow to simmer, then add 1 1/2 cups of the cheddar and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella and combine until cheese is fully melted.

3. Once the penne is al dente, drain the water and cover the noodles with the cheese sauce. Once the penne is coated, pour into a greased (with olive oil) casserole dish. Over the top, spread the left over cheddar. Then combine 1 cup of bread crumbs and 2 tbslp of olive oil and top the dish with the crumbs. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees (5 minutes covered, 5 minutes uncovered).

If you want to make this for just you, just drain the pasta and melt the butter over the noodles and add the desired amount of cheese and allow the heat from the pasta to melt the cheese.  Simple, yummy and almost like home.

Enjoy!

S'mores Cake Pops

I know a little girl who LOVES chocolate. Her third birthday was yesterday, and just for her I made Devil's Food and S'more Cake Pops. Super moist and chocolatey, enjoy s'mores away from the camp fire.

WARNING: Highly addictive and irresistible.

S'mores cake pops have been my most popular recipe yet. Even my boyfriend, whose sweet tooth is very small, loves them.

Ingredients:

Vanilla or White cake mix

Mini chocolate chips

Marshmallow fluff like Jet-Puff

Graham Crackers

Mini marshmallows

Whipped white frosting

Veg Oil

Eggs

Water

Chocolate Candy Melts

Sucker Sticks

1. Mix the cake mix as instructed on the box. Add 1 cup of mini chocolate chips to the batter. The chips will settle near the bottom of the cake, if this bothers you, coat them with flour before adding to the batter. Bake as instructed and allow to cool.

2. Process down two graham cracker sheets. And set aside with 1 cup of mini marshmallows.

3. Process down your cake until crumbs.

4. Add to the crumbs 1/2 cup of marshmallow fluff, 1/2 cup of white frosting, the processed graham crackers and 1 cup of mini marshamallows and combine.

5. Use about 3 tablespoons of the mixture and roll into cake balls.

6. Melt chocolate candy melts, dip in sucker stick and insert the stick in the cake ball and allow to harden. Process down 2 more graham crackers and quarter the mini marshmallows.

7. Once the chocolate is hard, dip the entire cake pop in the candy coating then the processed graham crackers for a delicious outer shell. While the coating is still wet, use the chocolate to place the marshmallow pieces on the grahams cracker layer.

8. Share and Enjoy!

Creamy-Healthy Carbonara (alright, alright...healthier)

Unfortunately, My photo refuses to turn 90 degrees clockwise, so please humor me and my tempermental photo by tilting your head.

Italian food is the ultimate comfort cuisine and carbonara is the ultimate comfort food. My recipe has a couple of twists.


Pancetta is replaced by bacon, whole eggs with yogurt and a few yolks and flavor added with red onion. And for protein, sauteed shrimp.

Ingredients:
Fettucine nests (5)
2 egg yolks
four slices of bacon
1/3 cup of yogurt
1 tablespoon of garlic
1/3 cup of parmesan cheese grated
1/2 pound of shrimp

Fry up your bacon until crispy and set aside to drain the grease. Use the left over grease in the pan to saute the red onion and garlic. Once the onion is soft, add the shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Once the shrimp is done, set aside with the bacon.

In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks, yogurt and parmesan cheese. Transfer the cooked pasta straight from the boiling water to the saute pan and spoon in a little pasta water to the pan as well. Pour the egg mixture over the top of the pasta and toss quickly until creamy and steaming. This ensures that the egg cooks completely but doesn't solidify.

Crumble the bacon strips and add it to the pasta along with the shrimp. Grate some parmesan over the top and plate. So delicious. And about 300 calories less than traditional carbonara.

Gimme those Mojito Cake Pops

This is part two of the wedding test run and the kitchen smells just like a Mojito with fresh lime, mint and plenty of rum.

This recipe is super simple and since you saw the first cake pop recipe, no need to repeat all of the explanations and tips, so on to the recipe. If you haven't seen it already, check out my Mimosa-Mango Champagne pop in the last pop.





Ingredients:

1 box of white Betty Crocker cake mix
Club Soda
Rum
Lime (zest and juice)
Mint
3 egg whites
Vegetable oil
White candies

Blend the cake mix, 1 cup of club soda, 1/4 cup of rum, 3 tblsp of chopped mint, 2 tsp lime peel, 3 egg whites, 1/3 veggie oil. Bake it for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees in two square cake pans.

Allow them to cool then process down to crumbs. The mint adds amazing color to the batter and the cake crumbs once they are molded into balls.

Use fluffy white frosting and a cup of mojito drink to the crumbs. (club soda, rum, mint, lime juice and peel).

Just as before, combine until moist and mold into balls. Melt down a few candies and insert lollipop sticks.

I used Wilton's oil based coloring to make the white candy a Tiffany blue. I used edible sugar pearls and mint as decoration a garnish. So adorable.

Decidant Cake Pops (For Adults only)

Cake pops are pretty trendy right now, especially in the wedding cake industry. For those of you that don't know about cake pops, they are lovely little balls of cake on a lollipop with candy coating.

Most of the recipes you'll find on the internet call for a simple vanilla or chocolate cake mix and a simple white chocolate candy coating. If you're looking for recipes that spice it up a bit, this is probably the only place you'll find it. The reason--everyone is stuck on creative decorating and have left creative flavors behind.

My friends Megan and Alek went to a lovely little bakery for their wedding cake and while this bakery makes cake pops, they charge $2.50 per pop. That's expensive and silly. So I'm making them instead!

Today I'm trying out a recipe for Champagne Mango Cake Pops with a orange butter cream, mango puree and champagne filling, with a coral candy coating shell.

You will need:
1 box of Betty Crocker white cake mix.
3 egg whites
1 orange (peel and juice)
Champagne (for the pops, and to sip on!)
Vegetable oil
1 mango
3 sticks Unsalted butter, room temp
1 bag white candies


I start with box cakes from Betty Crocker because they are cost efficient, simple and the mixes are easy to add your own twist.

1. Take a white cake mix and with a hand mixer, mix in 1/3 cup Veg oil, 3/4 cups champagne, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1 teaspoon grated orange peel, three egg whites and two tablespoons mango puree.

Grease 2- 9x9 baking pans and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.


While you wait for the cakes, start on the Butter cream recipe, although you could make one recipe if you wish. I am trying two different recipes to decide which works best for the wedding.

Cake pops need a gluing agent to stay in a solid ball. I typically use a blend of frosting, fresh fruit puree, and a little more champagne for flavor.

Do whatever you like, there is always room for variation.


2. So for one recipe, mix one stick of room temp unsalted butter, 4 tblsp of champagne, 1 teaspoon orange zest and between 2 and 3 cups of powdered sugar. Whip until stiff.

The original recipe calls for 6 c. of powdered sugar but you will not use all of the frosting with cake pops. So cut the needless money and calories out of the equation.

For the other, the Buttercream frosting is 2 sticks of unsalted butter (room temp), 5 tblsp of champagne and 4 cups of powdered sugar. Whip until stiff.

So easy!!!

3. Use a food processor to make the cake into crumbles. Add as much or little frosting as you want to the crumbles. Just make sure there is at least 1 cup of a wet agent to make sure the cake pops don't fall apart on you later. One really important tip to remember is to add a little at a time. Just a dollop of each to start with, mix and test the consistency. Keep adding and mixing until you reach a texture that is still dry enough to easily roll into small balls.

4. Next, melt a few candies and dip the end of the lollipop stick in, then place it in the cake ball to make a cake pop. After all of the cake balls have lollipop sticks, stick in the freezer for 5 minutes.

5. Melt the rest of the candies and dye them whatever color you like. My friend's wedding color is coral, so I add a 1 part pink to 2 parts orange. A little goes a long way.

6. Stick the pop in the candy coating and use a spoon to cover the sides with the coating without agitating the pop too much. If you continually twist it, the resistance from the coating will break it apart. Use your finger to smooth out the coating, take off the excess candy and you can make a swirling design as well.

Just use a foam core to stand the cake pops up so they can dry. Decorate as you like and then you can eat!

Alek and Megan loved them and I'm using this recipe with the second Butter cream recipe for the wedding!

Send me questions if you have them! I've got tons of variations.

My next recipe will be Mojito Cake Pops!

Hot Summer days- Salmon Burgers

Even though I'm not in London yet, I'm still pinching pennies and the hot summer days in Hastings, Nebraska make it difficult to find a meal that is healthy, light and delicious to share with friends.

So tonight, after we escape the heat I am making Salmon Burgers with a cool cucumber-avocado yogurt sauce and other fixings on a pita bread bun.

First, we need ingredients.
Fresh salmon filet, fine chopped

1 lemon (zest and juice)
1/4 cucumber chopped

1/2 avocado
1 cup fat-free plain yogurt
fresh spinach
1 tomato
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 egg
1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1. Chop your salmon into fine pieces and mix in bowl with the bread crumbs, egg, lemon zest, and spices. Mold into patties and saute in saucepan with olive oil or fire up the grill and use aluminum foil pouches. The aluminum foil pouches will allow the salmon patties to stay together, on the grill they may fall apart with out it.

2. For the cucumber-avo sauce, peel the cucumber and wring out the moisture with your hands and chop into fine pieces. Then halve the avocado and smash one half like you are making guacamole. Mix the cucumber, avo and yogurt in the food processor until creamy and smooth. Add a little lemon juice to taste if you like. It would even be great with hot sauce mixed in.

3. Assemble your burger with your favorite fixings. My favorite is toasting the pita with a little olive oil on the grill and adorning the burger with the cucumber-avo sauce, a few thin slices of tomato and a crown of spinach on top.

This great summer dinner is low calorie and full of flavor with plenty of good protein and healthy belly fat burning foods. Enjoy!