Dare I say, Gourmet Chicken Mac 'n Cheese!

This could be the most gooey, delicious macaroni and cheese I have ever eaten in my life. It's also "one" of the most expensive things I've ever made for dinner as the cheese isn't exactly "every day cheese". If you are craving the ultimate macaroni and cheese, take the leap to make this. It is A-mazing! It can be made just as macaroni and cheese but I added chicken to make it more of an entree rather than a side dish. It is uber rich so don't expect to eat a large portion.

Ingredients:
Olive oil
Kosher salt
1 pound bow tie pasta
1 quart milk (4 cups)
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 oz Gruyere, grated (3 cups) (This is where the expense comes into play)
8 oz extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 lb. Chicken breasts
1/2 c canned mushrooms or fresh
1 cup Garlic breadcrumbs

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Drizzle oil into a frying pan and saute the chicken breasts until fully cooked.
3. Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling water. Add 1 Tbsp kosher salt and pasta. Undercook the pasta about 2 minutes- this will ensure the pasta doesn’t get too mushy while it’s baking in the oven. Drain well.
4. Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it.
5. In a separate large pot, melt 6 Tbsp of butter, and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk.
6. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth.
7. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 Tbsp salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
8. Add the cooked macaroni, chicken and mushrooms, stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.
9. Melt the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter, combine them with the fresh breadcrumbs, and sprinkle on the top.
10. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

**Gruyere can be bought at Kroger in the deli specialty cheeses. It can be bought as a chunk or shredded in a fondue mix. For this recipe, I used the shredded fondue mix. It was $12.99 for the bag already shredded or $8.99 for the chunk. Sorry, it may not seem like much to some of you but to me, this was sticker shock. :-)

**Reminiscent of Ina Garten's mac n' cheese with some Ashley twists!

Beginner Stromboli

Ingredients:

1/2 lb lean ground beef (I recommend using sausage)

1 T crushed red pepper

1T garlic powder or fresh garlic

1 can Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust

1/3 c pizza sauce

1 c shredded mozzarella cheese (I used ched/monterey jack)

1/4 tsp Italian seasoning

I also added a handful of mushrooms because that's what I prefer but you could easily add whatever you like for toppings.

Olive Oil (Or melted butter)

Garlic Salt

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 F.

2. Spray large cookie sheet with cooking spray.

3. Brown ground beef, once browned add in crushed red pepper and garlic. Continuing browing until thoroughly cooked. Drain. Set aside.

4. Unroll dough; place on cookie sheet. Press out dough until it's approx. a 15X11" rectangle.

5. Spread pizza sauce over dough within 2" of long sides and 1/2" within short sides. Spoon and spread ground beef (or sausage) lengthwise down center.

6. Top with cheese, Italian seasoning and any other toppings you choose.

7. Fold long sides of dough up over filling; press edges and ends to seal.

8. Brush olive oil (or melted butter) over the length of the top of dough. Sprinkle with garlic salt.

9. Bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cut Stromboli into slices to serve.

*Partial recipe courtesy of Pillsbury

Cheesecake Filled Strawberries

I recently made this for a jewelry party I hosted and oh my, were they a HUGE hit! I thought what better way to keep kicking off my food blog was with the most in demand recipes I've made. They sound so complicated but are sooo easy. You will for sure be asked to bring them to every get together you go to!

Ingredients:
Cheesecake filling (recipe below)
24 large, firm strawberries
Ziploc bags
Graham cracker crumbs (You could easily do sprinkles, choc. chips, etc. but I just thought the graham crackers went along with the cheesecake)

Cheesecake filling: (You can also buy pre-made cheesecake filling but this is way better IMO)
12-oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
¼-1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Combine and whip together the cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Skip this step if you are using the pre-made filling.
2. Wash your strawberries and cut off the tops. Using a sharp paring knife, hollow out the inside of the strawberry without puncturing the bottom. I use the "white" insides as a measure and try to use that as my diameter to hollow out. **This part intimidated me a little but once I got started with my PC paring knife, I could have kept going for hours!
3. Dip in graham cracker crumbs and serve.

**Courtesy of The Piggly-Wiggly blog

Pizza Breadstick Casserole

The one everyone has been asking for. This is the recipe that I had the most requests for so this was my true push over the edge to start this blog! I also forgot to mention, if it's not already obvious, I am NOT a photographer. I do like to see pictures before I cook something so I will always "try" to have a picture that goes along with a recipe. :-)

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup diced pepperoni
5 green onions, sliced
1 1/2 cups chunky tomato pasta sauce
1 can refrigerated Parmesan/Garlic breadsticks (I bought regular and added the parmesan and garlic powder myself)
1 cup shredded Colby-Monteray Jack Cheese

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375. Spray 2 qt. glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Cook ground beef over med-high for 5-7 minutes, drain.
3. Stir in pepperoni, onions, and pasta sauce. Cook until boiling.
4. Unroll breadstick dough into 1 large rectangle. Sprinkle mixture from can or your own concoction over dough. Seperate breadsticks and cut into 3 pieces.
5. Spoon ground beef mixture into baking dish. Spread dough pieces evenly over top of beef mixture.
6. Bake 15-18 minutes or until topping is brown and NO LONGER DOUGHY (I double layered some breadsticks so mine was a little doughy still)....I recommend only single layering the breadsticks to avoid this.
7. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 10 minutes longer!

It is delish! A favorite of my husband's that's for for sure!

*Pillsbury inspired

Getting the hang of this

Hi all,

I have been wanting to do this for some time and am now excited to dedicate part of my life to this. I have a crazy life so bear with me but I promise to post a new recipe weekly. Crafts will be much more random and may come in spurts as that's how I craft. I may from time to time just post about my life, day, dogs, books I've read, etc. Hope you all enjoy coming here as much as I know I'll enjoy posting! Please leave me comments if you make something to let me know how you liked it!

Bon Appetit!