Stovetop Spinach Mac and Cheese

I have a lot of love for Mac and Cheese… 

I could eat it everyday. I just can't get enough of the cheesy noodles! It is a good thing there are lots of variations out there. I found this one in a recent Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine.

It is creamy and flavorful! Plus the spinach makes it seem healthy, sorta!

Here is what you need,

3 tbsp. butter

½ cup minced yellow onion

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups whole milk, at room temperature

Coarse salt and fresh cracked black pepper

1 ¾ lbs. of fresh spinach, I used baby but you could use regular and just chop it into ½ inch pieces.

2 cups Gruyere cheese, grated

¾ lb. elbow macaroni, cooked according to package instructions

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes.

Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring frequently until mixture is pale golden and has a slightly nutty aroma, about 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, add 2 cups of milk, then add the remaining 2 cups of milk, raise heat to medium high and whisk until smooth, season with salt and pepper. Cook whisking constantly, until sauce comes to a boil, 8-10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, 13-15 minutes.

Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes. Add in the cheese and stir until melted, about 2 minutes. Add the cooked macaroni and stir to combine.

Serve right away.

This was a great variation I will be making it again, for sure. It is soooo creamy and rich. They Gruyere is the perfect cheese, it is nutty and salty and melts up perfectly!

A nice side salad and it made a lovely dinner.

Enjoy!

Jen

Recipe Source: Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine

Making Jerky

When I was at home last week my Dad and I made some Jerky.

I love my dad’s Jerky, so does my in house taste tester! We decided to make a big batch so I could bring some back with me.

My Dad has mastered his Jerky making process. He uses fresh wild meat; I think this was mule deer. 

First he grinds it up,

then it is time to add in some Jerky spice, we chose pepper flavoured (my in house taste tester's favourite flavour!)

He forms equal sized balls of the meat and stashes them in the fridge to chill for half an hour.

After they are chilled it then he rolls it out between 2 pieces of saran wrap.

He puts it on the racks of his food dehydrator and lets it go for 5-7 hours.

Once it is firm enough you flip it over, then after a few more hours he cuts it into strips and lets it finish drying.

It is so good! Try making your own; you will never go back to that brutal store bought stuff again.

I am sure it won’t take long for my in house taste tester to mow through the stuff I brought him!

Thanks Dad!!

Jen

Spiced Pear Muffins

I have yet another muffin recipe for you!  I think I might be addicted to muffins. 

This one is too GOOD not to share! 

  

I love pears, they are in season and very tasty right now.

 

These muffins are soft and moist with the perfect spice and soft chunks of fresh pear. The added crunch from the cinnamon sugar topping is just a lovely bonus!

What you need,

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup white sugar

½ cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ground ginger

¼ tsp. nutmeg

½ tsp. salt (I used salted butter so I left this out!)

½ cup milk

2 pears, diced, about 2 cups. I peeled mine but you don’t have to.

Cinnamon sugar for the topping. (Mix 3 tbsp. white sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon)

Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Line your muffin pan with paper liners.

In a mixer on high speed beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Mix in the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, spices and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add in half the flour mixture than half the milk. Alternate the rest of the flour with the rest of the milk, mix until just combined.

Stir in the chopped pears by hand.

Divide the batter between 12 muffins cups and sprinkle the tops with the cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool completely on a wire rack. 

A little butter or honey butter would be amazing on these!

Jen

recipe from Key Ingredient

Favourite Things Friday Vol 10

I just got home from a visit with my family. I had such a great time!! 
The one thing my family does well is eat!! That is one of the things I look forward to most when I go home. As I have said my dad is a big outdoorsman so we get to eat all kinds of goodies!
Here is just a glance at some of the awesome stuff I ate at my Dad's!!

My all time favorite breakfast, Fried red garden tomatoes on toast with bacon!! I died when I ate this!! There is nothing better than fresh garden tomatoes, YUM!

Then Dad decided he shoud smoke a turkey.... Here it is in the smoker. It was so moist and flavourful!

We made a Saskatoon Berry and Cranberry Crisp for dessert! I miss Saskatoons, they are so good!

To go with our smoked turkey we also made my dad's famous Jambalaya! It is made with his fresh deer sasauge and shrimp. I love this recipe. I will make it and share it with you soon!

We had fresh french bread, homemade cranberry sauce, chinese salad (I will have to make this one for you too!), and homemade dill pickes and dilled beans! 


Thanks Dad! Super was AMAZING!!

Have a great weekend everyone!
Jen

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

As soon as I saw this recipe on Heather’s Dish I knew it was going to the top of my list. 

 

Doing the fajita filling in the slow cooker is such a great idea! It gave all the flavours a long time to meld together. The veggies were so tender and the chicken was all shredded. YUM!

Here is what you need,

3 chicken breasts, sliced into ½ inch thin pieces

1 whole onion, sliced

1 each red and green pepper, sliced into strips

1 cup salsa

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tbsp. corn starch

1 tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. cayenne powder

1 package small flour tortillas

Sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, guacamole, lettuce, whatever you like for topping!

Mix the spices with the corn starch, oil and salsa. Add the chicken strips to the sauce to coat. Put in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the cut onions and peppers on top and cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Serve on the tortillas, with all the fixin’s.

These were amazing!  I was starving when I took these pictures, and it shows. I think I still had the camera in one hand when I started stuffing the first bite in.

Thanks Heather for a great recipe!

Jen

Recipe adapted from Heather’s Dish