Recipe | Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

Just quickly blogging a pasta salad recipe!  Pasta salads are quick, easy, and delicious for a summer meal.  And, they're great to pack for a lunch on the go, whether a picnic, road trip, or fun outing somewhere.

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

1 (12 or 16 oz.) package pasta, such as Bowtie or Mostaccioli
3-4 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
1 cup mayonnaise (I do 1/2 light & 1/2 real)
3 tablespoons dry ranch dressing mix (the same as a 1.0 oz. package)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup milk, or as needed
about 1 cup sliced grape tomatoes or diced large tomatoes (remove seeds)
about 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (4.5 oz) can sliced black olives, optional

Cook pasta. Drain.

Mix mayonnaise, ranch dressing mix, garlic powder, and pepper together.  Stir in milk until smooth.

Place pasta, bacon, tomatoes, cheese, and olives (if using) in a bowl and toss with dressing to coat.  Cover and chill at least 1 hour in refrigerator.  Toss with additional milk if the salad seems a little dry right before serving.

**Mix in sliced, grilled chicken if desired.

Recipe | My Favorite Homemade Mac & Cheese

I'm not a big fan of cheese.  I actually used to hate cheese.  So, I have never liked mac & cheese.  But, I have started to like cheese a little more and more - I started putting it on sandwiches, I like it more mixed-in and on top of dishes.  I'm still not a big fan of just eating plain cheese though.

As I have started to like cheese more, I decided to try mac & cheese.  Homemade mac & cheese.  And, I have actually really started to like mac & cheese.  It took me a couple times eating it to get used to it, but I really like it now.  I like more mild cheeses, so I like a pretty simple homemade recipe.  I've tried a few recipes now, and this one is my favorite!  It's quick and easy to make, the recipe can be halved (which I usually do since I'm a single person), and the bread crumbs on top are yummy!

To go along with the mac & cheese (to add some meat!) I usually do meatloaf, BBQ meatballs, or some sort of grilled meat.  This time I made these meatballs.  And, some veggies on the side are good too!

 Baked Macaroni & Cheese
Recipe from here
1 pound of macaroni (I usually just do whatever fun shape I have)
salt
1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
4 cups milk (I use 1%)
12 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz. havarti cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
4 slices bread, for crumbs

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook pasta until it is almost done - make sure it is not completely cooked.  Strain the pasta.

In a saucepan, melt 6 tablespoons of butter on medium low heat.  Stir in flour.  Cook butter and flour for 1 minute, while stirring.  Whisk in milk.  Cook over heat while whisking until smooth.  Cook for 5 minutes on medium until thickened and bubbly.  The mixture should coat the back of the spoon.  Remove from heat.

Add the shredded cheeses to the milk mixture, stirring until melted and smooth.  Season with pepper. Add the pasta into the cheese and stir to coat the pasta.  Pour into baking dish.

To make the breadcrumbs, pulse the bread in a food processor until it is in fine crumbs.  In a small skillet, melt remaining two tablespoons of butter, add the bread crumbs, and cook over medium heat until they have toasted.  Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of the macaroni.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until bubbly.

Notes:

• I use about 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese.
• For the breadcrumbs, I have used homemade honey wheat bread to make them, and I have also used store bough breadcrumbs to toast.
• Can make a half batch.

Enjoy!

Recipe | Cinnamon Rolls

Hello!  I haven't blogged for a while now.  I wish I could blog more - more recipes - but there just isn't enough time to spend taking pictures and then blogging them.  My semester has been crazy busy, but also really good.  It feels like classes just started for the year, but we are almost to Thanksgiving break.  When we come back from break, we only have 2 more weeks of classes and then finals weeks.  It will go by so fast!

Between school, work, being involved with Cru, and hanging out with my roommates, I have had some time to cook and bake.  Last weekend I made these cinnamon rolls - they are my favorite recipe.  I have tried lots of recipes, but this one is simple and delicious.  They are more of a bun-like cinnamon roll, not the goey kind.  I do have a couple favorite recipes for the more goey-like cinnamon roll, but these is my all-time favorite.

Cinnamon rolls are perfect any time of the year, but especially now with the weather becoming colder and the holidays just about here.  I have been trying to do lots of fall baking - lots of pumpkin and cinnamon.  And, cinnamon rolls are nice and cinnamony.

I ended up cutting the rolls kind of thin this time.  So, with the ones that were real thin, I basically ended up real rolling them individually - popping up the center some and rolling them tightly.

I prepared the rolls and then refrigerated them overnight.  The next morning, I let them rise, baked, and frosted them.

Confession:  I didn't add all the cinnamon sugar this time, and they weren't as good - they were a bit dry.  Make sure you add at least 3/4 of the cinnamon sugar mixture before rolling the dough.

My Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup (5 Tbsp.) butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
4 - 4 1/2 cups bread or all-purpose flour (bread flour makes for a lighter roll)
1 pkg. (2 1/4 tsp) yeast

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar (or white sugar)
2 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
a few tablespoons butter, melted

Icing:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (4 Tbsp.) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Microwave milk for 45 - 60 seconds.  In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk.  Add sugar, eggs, butter, salt, and most of the flour.  Mix well (by hand with spoon/fork or with an electric hand mixer).  On a floured surface, knead dough (and add in the some remaining flour), and form it into a large ball.  Place dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size (may need to turn on oven to generate some heat and let bowl sit on top of oven).

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon.  On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 16X21 inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.  Spread dough with some melted butter and sprinkle evenly with cinnamon sugar mixture.  Roll up dough starting with the longer side.  Trim off ends and slice log into 12 rolls.  Place rolls in a lightly greased 9X13 pan (can use glass baking dish, cake pan, jell roll pan).  Let rise until nearly doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Bake rolls at 350 degrees until golden brown, 18-20 minutes.  While rolls are baking, beat together the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla for the icing.  Spread icing on cinnamon rolls while they are still warm.

Notes:

• Dough can be make in a bread machine.
• The rolls can be assembled the day before, refrigerated, and then let rise and bake in the morning (rising time will be longer).
• Make a double batch of icing if you want well frosted cinnamon rolls.

Recipe | Chicken Chipotle Pumpkin Barley Soup

I've been wanting to start blogging more recipes again.  But, I just haven't had the time to.  Ever since coming back from Norway, I have been going nonstop with work, school, and CRU leadership.  I don't think I've ever been this busy in my life.  It has all been really good things that I'm doing, and I want to do them, but there just hasn't been enough time in the day to all the things I need and want to do.  Hopefully after this three day weekend, I can get more into the routine of things.

With all the business, I really haven't had much time to cook or bake - I usually am pretty prepared with meals to have ready and eat throughout the week - but, I feel like I've been slacking in that for the last few weeks (which is maybe ok for me).  On Friday, I had a few hours at home, so I made a batch of soup and bread.

^^Salt and pepper the veggies right away.^^

Soup is probably one of my favorite things to make.  It is quick and easy to make and eat - it's a one pot meal (just add some bread/crackers/chips to go along with it).  It is easy to freeze and pull out for another time too.  And, it can be heated up quickly if you get home and are needing something to eat (when I get off work at night, I go straight to the kitchen because I'm starving), or packed with you for lunch in a thermos or microwavable container.

This is one of my favorite soups!  I might sound like a strange combination, but is is so good.  And, with fall right around the corner, this is a perfect soup to make.  I am so excited for the season of fall - cooler weather, dressing in cozy clothes, the leaves, apple picking, fall baking... and for soup (sometimes I do make soup when it's like 90 degrees in the summer, but I just feel like it not very normal)!

I always get frustrated with how my pictures turn out for the recipes I make, so it sometimes stops me from blogging.  But just know that even though these aren't the greatest pictures, the soup is really good.  So, just don't focus on the pictures - the soup is real good.

^^Add in the chipotles!^^

^^Add in a splash of cream.^^

Recipe from Life{in}Grace.

Chicken Chipotle Pumpkin Barley Soup

• 2 T. butter and 2 T. olive oil
• 1 onion
• 1 large carrot, sliced (I probably do about 1 cup)
• 3 stalks of celery, sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 boxes of good chicken stock
• 1 - 14 oz. can of pumpkin puree
• 3 c. cooked & shredded chicken
• 1/2 c. barley
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. ginger
• 1/4 t. nutmeg
• 2-3 T. honey
• 1-2 t. chipotles chopped very fine (they come in a small can in the Mexican section at the store and are packed in a heavy sauce) - they have a lot of heat so be cautious
• 1 c. sour cream or greek yogurt
• 1/4 c. heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. To begin, saute the veggies in the oil and butter until carrots are almost tender. 
2. Always salt as you go along and then adjust the salt at the end.  Don’t wait till the very end to add salt or your dish will lack a depth of flavor. 
3. Add garlic after the veggies have cooked about 5 minutes.
4. Then add chicken stock, pumpkin, chicken, barley and all the spices. 
5. Cook at medium to high heat for about 45 minutes to an hour or until barley is tender. 
6. Turn heat down to simmer. Add sour cream or yogurt and whisk so that no lumps remain and then add cream. 
7. Taste and reseason. If you need to, add more honey to balance the heat of the chipotles, but DON’T leave out the chipotles. The smokey flavor makes the soup. It just wouldn’t be the same without them! Enjoy!

^^My roommate helping me to get a fun picture!^^

P.S.  I always get frustrated with how my pictures turn out for the recipes I want to blog, so it sometimes stops me from blogging.  But just know that even though these aren't the greatest pictures, the soup is really good:)