Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese - quick fix

I’m a cook-from-scratch kind of girl. Something in me just loves pulling out all my ingredients and preparing a delicious meal from them. I try my best to make my dinners from scratch each night but I also know that some nights that just won’t be possible. I hate fast food as much as I love cooking from scratch. So on nights where I’m in a time crunch I need a quick fix meal that will make my family happy but will keep me out of the drive-thru lane.

Yeah! Mac and Cheese!

I tried out this recipe last night. I was in a super time crunch and the shrimp stuffed shells I had on the menu just weren’t going to be done on time. It was an easy choice to swap one pasta meal for another. I was able to pull this together in about 20 minutes. Husband did put a pot of water on the stove to start the water boiling and that did help so much. I already had the chicken cooked, chopped and portioned out over the weekend. Prepping what I can on the weekends has made my life so much better.

The only change I made to this recipe was adding extra buffalo sauce. I just wanted a little extra kick. I knew that the mac and cheese wasn’t super high on the healthy scale so I made a large garden salad and heated up some green beans. Seeing lots of green on our dinner plates made me a happy girl.

Enjoy!

1 pkg.  (12.6 oz.) Kraft Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese Dinner

1 ½ cups  chopped cooked chicken

1 T.  Buffalo wing sauce

½ cup cheddar, shredded

1 T.  green onions, chopped

Heat oven to 425ºF.

Prepare macaroni and cheese as directed on package, except do not top with bread crumb topping.

Toss chicken with buffalo sauce then stir chicken into the mac and cheese. Spoon into a 1 ½ quart casserole sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and crumb topping. Bake for five to ten minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with onions.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/buffalo-chicken-mac-120033.aspx 

Creamy Tortellini Soup

Soup weather is finally here and I don’t think I could be any happier! I’ve been avoiding making soup over the summer. It has been a very difficult task because soup is one of my favorite foods in the entire world. Our air conditioner is crazy old and wasn’t consistently working over the summer. We had a repair man come out twice to get it through the summer. We are planning on getting a new AC next year but we did everything we could to plow through the summer heat. We were lucky that the summer wasn’t too hot. I avoided hot foods where I could, reduced stove/oven time and grilled as much as possible. But now it is OCTOBER! The AC is off for the rest of the year. The leaves are glorious shades of fall wonderfulness. The weather is delightfully cool. Sweaters are being paired with jeans. Coffee is now served hot instead of iced. Soup is making an appearance on the menu at least once a week.

This soup recipe was a quick fix in the slow cooker. I made it on a Friday night when I was planning on having some friends over. Every other month I get together with a few of my sorority sisters for our book club. We always meet at one of our houses to share a meal (sometimes just appetizers) and a few bottles of wine. Since the weather was finally cool I was excited to serve soup and crusty French bread. I find it so much better to serve uncomplicated and comforting dishes when serving a crowd. Nothing is more uncomplicated and comforting than soup.

The soup was delicious and a few of the girls went back for seconds. You could easily adjust the recipe to fit your tastes. The flavor of spaghetti sauce will make a difference. I typically avoid jarred spaghetti sauce because I often find it too sweet but when mixed with all the other ingredients jarred is perfect. I used sweet Italian sausage but you could use any meat that sounds good to you. Try ground beef, hot Italian sausage or a mixture of meats. While I used cheese tortellini you could easily use a meat filled tortellini. Make sure you use full fat cream cheese. Reduced fat or fat free cream cheese could curdle instead of melting.

 

Enjoy!

24 oz. spaghetti sauce

1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, browned

4 cups chicken broth

8 oz. cream cheese, cubed

8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced

5 oz. fresh spinach leaves

16 oz. cheese tortellini

Combine spaghetti sauce, sausage, cream cheese, chicken broth, and mushrooms in a slow-cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours, on high for 2-3. Stir the soup from time to time to help cream cheese melt.

Half an hour before serving, turn heat to high and stir in spinach and frozen tortellini. Cover and cook until the pasta is warmed through.

http://www.heatherlikesfood.com/creamy-slow-cooker-tortellini-soup/ 

Pumpkin Brownies

Our family has had such a busy fall. We have had so much fun attending weddings, traveling, meeting with friends and enjoying all that fall has to offer us. I’ve found a great recipe that I can cook in a morning without much work on my part to bring along with me when I need a dish to share. This might be one of the best brownie recipes I have in my arsenal of dessert recipes. It has a different texture than most brownies so if you are looking for a traditional brownie recipe this one might not be the right fit. If you are looking for something thick, a little chewy and crazy moist you are in luck.

This recipe can be two ingredients or three depending on your tastes. Since it is fall and pumpkin spice is the flavor of the moment feel free to add ½ tsp – 1 tsp of pumpkin seasoning to the brownie mix. The flavor of the pumpkin spice isn’t overpowering at all but it adds a nice subtle depth of flavor that makes these brownies extra special. Add a little more umpfh by frosting these bad boys before cutting. I just happened to have half a can of butter cream frosting in the fridge and it really made the brownies look beautiful.

Make these for your friends and family. Share them. Eat them yourself. Feel slightly less bad about these because they are made with pumpkin instead of oil.

Enjoy!

Family Size box brownie mix (for a 9x13 pan)

15 oz. pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9x9 pan with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. In a bowl mix together brownie mix and pumpkin until smooth. Spread batter into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until set.

Let cool completely. Frost if desired.

http://cookiesandcups.com/2-ingredient-pumpkin-brownies/#_a5y_p=2321375