No-Bake Macaroni & Cheese

This is a super easy, fast recipe and we had everything in our house so it was a perfect after work meal.

• 8 ounces elbow noodles (2 cups)
• 2 cups frozen chopped broccoli
• 1 3/4 cups milk, divided
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 3/4 cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

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Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta for 4 minutes. Add frozen broccoli and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the pasta and broccoli are just tender, 4 to 5 minutes more.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 1/2 cups milk in another large pot over medium-high heat until just simmering. Whisk the remaining 1/4 cup milk, flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl until combined. Add the flour mixture to the simmering milk; return to a simmer and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in Cheddar, Parmesan and mustard until the cheese is melted.
3. Drain the pasta and broccoli and add to the cheese sauce. Return to the heat and cook, stirring, over medium-low heat, until heated through, about 1 minute.

We topped ours with classic Tony Chachere's seasoning and Dane pointed out that it would be good to sprinkle more cheese on top and bake 

Delicious Chocolate Cake and Frosting

This recipe comes courtesy of my friend Erin. She made this cake for a BBQ this summer and it is amazing! I love it! (It might have something to do with the 2 sticks of butter....) It is even easy to make, it is the first cake I have made that did not begin with getting a Betty Crocker box out of the pantry and it turned out pretty well :)

Cake

2 c flour
2 c sugar
1/4 salt
1 stick butter
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 c water
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 c cocoa powder
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c buttermilk with 1/2 tsp baking soda dissolved

Mix together flour, sugar and salt in large mixing bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, oil, water, vanilla and cocoa. Cook until it comes to a full boil. Add to dry ingredients and stir to incorporate. Add the buttermilk/soda mixture and the eggs, stirring vigorously to avoid scrambled eggs :) Pour into a greased sheet cake pan. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes. (I think this would work in a regular cake pan also, it would just need to bake longer and it would be thicker.)

Frosting

1 stick butter
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c cocoa powder

Right after cake comes out of the oven, cook the above ingredients until they come to a boil. Then remove from heat and add 2 cups powdered sugar. Stir until all lumps of powdered sugar are melted into the frosting. Pour over the hot cake and spread evenly.

Homemade Mac n Cheese

This is a favorite at our house....

2 cups elbow macaroni
1/4 c butter
1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 ground mustard
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 c milk
2 c shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (I use whatever we have, usually mild Cheddar...the recipe suggests mixing half cheddar and half spicy cheese for some adventure)

Cook macaroni. Melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly. Add milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute, remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted. Add macaroni to sauce. Pour into 9x9 casserole dish. Bake uncovered at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

My Dad's Pizza

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything! I am not the biggest blogging fan, I just try and keep up with my blog for our parents. But here it is at last...a post! I know you are all dying in anticipation
So I may be biased, but I think my dad is the greatest cook ever! And I know it is those fabulous Wilcox cooking genes. But this is one our fav's! His pizza recipe. I will not take credit for it at all because he 100% made it up. The dough, sauce and all!

Dough:
1 package,or 1 tablespoon yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 1/2-4 cups flour

Put yeast, warm water and honey in a bowl and let the yeast proof. After proofed, put in mixing bowl with and add salt, olive oil and flour. Knead for a few minutes. Let rise for 1 hour and punch down. Let rise again for 30 minutes and punch down. Split it in half and roll out one of those halves in a cookie sheet, its super hard to transfer. (this recipe makes 2 pizzas). And be liberal with flour while rolling out because it is sticky dough. (we just roll it out on a cookie sheet because we don't have a circle pan. My dad tosses it, but we aren't that tricky).

Sauce:
28 oz. can of tomatoes, Italian style
3 cloves garlic,crushed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. olive oil

Blend the tomatoes so they aren't chunky ( if you bought diced or whole tomatoes). Lightly brown the crushedd garlic in 3 Tbsp olive oil. Add blended tomatoes and cook over med/ high heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer for a half hour.

To put it together you have you dough rolled out. Put the sauce on, then mozzarella cheese. Then top with your favorite toppings!

Cook for about 10-15ish minutes at 450 degrees. It may be a little shorter then 10 or longer then 15, I can't remember. Just check that the crust is golden and the cheese is all melty.

This is our FAV pizza!

(here is one we made when Bryan's brother came to visit)

Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Who doesn't love oatmeal cookies? I love this recipe, the spices make your home smell like Christmas while they are baking!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely.

birthday cakes

since I just celebrated my 26th birthday I thought I'd share how to make one of the most fabulous cakes ever....

Ingredients

1 baked dome cake (baked in a 1-liter bowl, such as Pyrex)
1 baked 9" round cake
4 baked cupcakes
2 to 3 cups pink icing
2 green Hi-C Fruit Slices (hooves)
1 pink Hi-C Fruit Slice (mouth)
2 m&m's (nose
2 m&m's (eyes)
Red shoestring licorice (ears and eyelashes)
1 red Sour Belt (tail)

Instructions
For the basic shape, set a dome cake upside down in the center of a round cake and secure with icing, as shown.Cut one cupcake in half and place it as shown for the ears, then arrange two more cupcakes as legs. Add a cupcake snout.Frost the cakes and cupcakes pink and decorate as shown.

everyone will gwak at your talent and if you make this for your kiddies, I think you might win the title of best mom ever.  you would if I was your child any way.  for more cool cakes you can click here.

Twice Baked Potatoes

Who doesn't love a twice baked potato? Well this recipe is the best I've ever tasted and it is completely fat free!  (ok not really but I bet you got a little excited for a second :) )

8 Baking Potatoes
8 oz Cream Cheese
2 C Cottage Cheese
1/2 C Sour Cream
1/2 C - 1 C Swiss Cheese
1/2-1 C Milk
1 tsp Garlic
1/2-1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Wash potatoes, rub olive oil and salt on the skin then bake for 1 hour or until cooked well.  Remove from oven and let cool until slightly warm.  Slice off top half of potato.  Scoop out cooked potato and place in a large bowl; keep shells on the baking sheet.  Add remaining ingredients to potato and mix well.  Add more milk if necessary.  Fill empty potato shells with creamed mixture to overflowing.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until starting to brown.

If you like cheesy potatoes as much as I do, you can add cheddar cheese to the top of the potatoes in the last five minutes of cooking.