Easy Peasy Creamy Mac

As I previously wrote I absolutely love Mac and Cheese, so when I found this super duper easy sounding recipe I dove right in! As opposed to the casserole type dish, this is a Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese and it is damn good!

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups uncooked pasta (I used Rotini)
1 tbsp butter
1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
2/3 cup fat-free milk
(the recipe calls for 1 cup frozen peas, but I left this out)
4 tbsp all purpose flour

Directions:
Prepare pasta according to package directions and cook until al dente.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. When butter is nearly melted, add pasta and toss to coat. Add cheese, stirring frequently until melted. Add milk and flour and let simmer until sauce begins to thicken. let simmer until sauce begins to thicken.
Serve topped with salt and pepper.
I also added some crushed red pepper.

Makes 2 servings.

As I've said before you simply cannot go wrong with any type of mac and cheese. This was a super quick and easy recipe for a very creamy product. Delicious! Though, unfortunately its really high in points at 10 pts/serving. But definitely a yummy treat!

No Bake Cookie

I like the idea of "no bake" cookies because obviously they are super easy and very time friendly. I had some peanut butter left over from the fluffernutter cookies last week so I thought this No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies via Coconut & Lime was a perfect way to use it up! And I was right!

Ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
3 cups old fashioned oatmeal
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Bring sugar, butter, and milk to a full boil, remove from heat, add oatmeal. Stir. Then add vanilla and peanut butter. Stir. Drop by teaspoonfuls on to waxed paper. When cool, pack in single layer in Tupperware or other air-tight container to store.

I got about 70 cookies out of this, but they are pretty small. Bite size if you will and come out at 1 pt/cookie. I took them to a "Lost" watch party a friend was having and they were a huge hit! Gobbled up quite fast, and everyone really seemed to like that they were "bite-size." Mmmm.

The Final Product!

You can see a wide variety of snacks including the 3 recipes I made and much more made by Shira and other friends!


All in all the party was a great success and quite delicious!

Mmmmac n Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is by far my favorite food ever! If it wouldn't make me obese I could honestly eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I love the homemade, casserole type stuff, but will never discriminate against the blue box known as Kraft. There are about 10 different recipes bookmarked in my "catalogue" of recipes and it's just a matter of time before I get through them.

So rounding out my recipes for the party were these Three-Cheese Mini Macs and they did not disappoint!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. elbow macaroni (about 2 cups)

1 1/2 tbsp unsalted better

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

3/4 cup fat free milk

4 oz cheddar cheese, shredded (one packed cup)

4 oz deli-sliced American cheese, chopped (about 5 slices)

1 large egg yolk

1/4 tsp smoked Spanish paprika (I used regular paprika)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the macaroni until al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain, shaking off the excess water.

Brush four 12-cup, nonstick mini muffin tins with butter (I actually just sprayed them with cooking spray instead, and actually used one 24-cup mini muffin tin and one 12-cup regular muffin tin and cut those in half at the end). Sprinkle with 2 tbsp of the parmesan, tap out the excess.

In a large saucepan, melt the 1 1/2 tbsp butter. Whisk in the flour over moderate heat for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking, until boiling, about 5 minutes. Add the cheddar and American cheeses and whisk until melted. Off the heat, whisk in the egg and paprika. Fold in the macaroni.

Spoon slightly rounded tablespoons of the macaroni into the prepared muffin cups, packing them gently. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tbsp of parmesan on top. Bake in the upper and middle thirds of the oven for about 10 minutes, until golden and sizzling. Let cool for 5 minutes. Using a small spoon, carefully loosen the mini macs, transfer to a platter and serve.

The result... yummy! Even cold they were still good. Though I'm not a huge fan of American cheese, it's pretty hard to be unsuccessful when making any type of macaroni and cheese. These are surprisingly not that bad, since they are so small. Actually only 1 pt/bite. Just be careful because they are just that - bites! These were a huge hit too!

YUM!

Fluffernutter-y

Fluffernutter sandwiches used to be one of my favorite things as a child. The combination of marshmallow fluff and peanut butter - how can you go wrong?! So when I found this recipe for Fluffernutter Cookies via Picky-Palate.com I just couldn't resist! This was the second recipe for the big party...

Ingredients:
1 cup creamy peanut butter (I used JIF of course)
1 large egg
1 cup marshmallow cream


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix the peanut butter and egg until well combined. Slowly stir in the marshmallow cream until just combined. You want to see the marshmallow cream not fully incorporated, almost like swirled through. With a cookie scoop (I just used a spoon), scoop dough onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet (or tin foil). Bake for 12-15 minutes or until baked through. Let cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

I got about 21 cookies from the recipe (the original said about 18).


These turned out OK to me. I was a little disappointed, maybe because I love those sandwiches so much. Anyway, I would have preferred them to be a little softer, so would suggest baking them for 10 minutes. But all in all, another fun recipe to try.

As far as pts 2 per cookie, not too bad, but not worth it in my opinion.

A Feeding Frenzy

Last weekend my roommate and I decided to throw a little "Spring Fling!" In honor of the weather (sort of) being nice and summer in sight, we thought why not! It was also the perfect excuse for me to make a few new recipes - three to be exact! I'll put them in separate posts, but here goes numero uno.

Tequila Bars. Mmm.

I've been meaning to make these for quite sometime, but whenever the time came I always decided on something else... until now! The recipe is from Guy Fieri via the Food Network and I just made a few alterations.

Ingredients
1 12oz box of vanilla wafers (I used reduced fat Nilla Wafers)
1/2 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted
1/3 cup tequila
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
5 large egg yolks, plus 2 egg whites
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pulse the wafers and pine nuts in a food processor until well ground up. Add the butter and blend until evenly mixed. Set aside 1/4 cup of crumbs; press the rest evenly into a 9x13 baking pan. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool.
In a medium bowl, thoroughly whisk together the tequila, lime juice, egg yolks, and condensed milk.
In another medium bowl, beat the egg whites and sugar with an electric mixer until they hold soft peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the tequila mixture.
Spread the filling evenly over the crust.Bake for 25 minutes. Cool.
Sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top.
Chill in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight before cutting.

The final product? Pretty good - very sweet! I had a hard time pulsing the wafers and pine nuts, probably since I don't have a food processor I had to make a blender work. Not as easy as I thought it would be. Also, as I write this, I realized I did not melt the butter before mixing it with the crumbs. That will probably explain why my crust mixture was much more doughy than crumby. But alas, despite all that these came out great! Very limey, not so tequilay. I personally liked the crust part better than the topping, it was just a little too sweet. For me, at least. But I think this may be the most challenging recipe I've ever made! Woohooo!


As far as servings and points... the original said cut into 16 bars, but I cut it into 21 squares instead. Makes it about 6 pts/square.