My Favorite Mac N' Cheese (Macaroni or Other Pasta)

Happy Holidays!!!

I haven't had a post in a while. The good news is that I have cooked this Mac N' Cheese many times now. So it's now a staple that I can make without even glancing at the recipe. The original recipe is from Cooking Light found here. But I modified it.

My Fave Mac N Cheese Recipe
Prep Time: 10 min      Cook Time: 25 min
Ingredients: 
4 oz sausage (of your choice, chopped)
1 1/4 cup whole milk
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 cups cheese
4-5 cups of macaroni (or pasta shape of your choice)
1 tsp garlic salt

Directions:
In a small bowl using a whisk, mix milk and flour until there are no lumps. Set aside.

In a big pot, boil water for your macaroni. I usually leave about 5 inches of space between the water and the top of the pot. If you don't have macaroni on hand, use whatever pasta shape you have. Make this recipe with rotelle, penne, shells, etc. Cook as the package instructs which is usually 8-9 minutes to al dente. Strain the pasta. Set aside.

Using the same big pot (You took out the pasta already. It is in the strainer.), brown chopped sausage on medium heat for 3-4 minutes. This will also create more aroma for your sauce.

Add the milk+flour mixture to the sausage stirring constantly. The sauce will thicken about the next 4-5 minutes. Add the cheeses. I like to use the Mexican Cheese mixture since it has monterey jack, mild cheddar and queso. You can find it in the grocery aisle. Stir until melted. Sprinkle the garlic salt to the sauce. Add cooked macaroni (or pasta). Mix until the sauce it incorporated with the pasta. DONE!!

If you want an element of veggie, you may add chopped spinach like I did.

For a more macaroni-like look, top it with parmesan cheese,

Be creative. At all the gathering where I have brought it my potluck dish, everyone has gobbled it up. When I make it at home for dinner, I see my husband refilling his bowl for seconds...and maybe thirds...lol.

ENJOY!!!

Note: The original recipe calls for some cream cheese but using whole milk already makes it thicker. That's why I omitted it. Also, I don't usually have cream cheese readily available.

Chinese Lion's Head Meatball

Chinese Lion's Head Meatball is one of my favorite dishes. My grandma would make this for me every time she saw me since she knew that I loved it that much. Funny that I've made Italian meatballs but not the Chinese kind until now. It is just making meatballs with asian seasonings.

Traditionally, these meatballs are supposed to be as big as possible like a lion's head; however, I like to make them smaller since cooking time is shorter for browning them.

Chinese Lion's Head Meatball (Soup)

Prep Time: 20 min     Cook Time: 

Ingredients: 

1 lb ground pork

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 green onions

2 tsp ginger (minced)

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp cooking wine

1 egg

sesame oil (or peanut oil)

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, put the ground meat in. Add salt, white pepper, sugar, cornstarch, cooking wine, soy sauce, green onions, ginger, and 1 beaten egg. Mix in a circular motion until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Wet your hands, then form the meatballs into the desired size. Traditionally, the lion's heads are to be as big as you can get it. However, it will take more time to cook if your meatballs are too big. I like to keep it to roughly 1.5 - 2 inches in diameter. 

In a pan, pour a couple teaspoons of sesame oil (usually it's peanut oil, but I don't have it on hand). Place the meatballs in the pan after you heat the oil. Brown the meatballs on all sides which takes about 10 minutes. You do not have to fully cook the meatballs since you will be braising it with the napa cabbage later.

To make the soup:

Put two cans of chicken broth in a big pot. Add as much napa cabbage as you like. I put in a whole small head of napa cabbage. Place the meatballs on top of the napa cabbage. If you would like, you can add other things. I cut some bamboo shoot to throw in along with some ginger to for the soup also. You can put mushrooms, etc. Braise on medium heat for about half an hour.

If you would like glass noodles, soak the clear noodles in a bowl with water for half an hour. Drain the noodles. Add them last when you are about done cooking.

 

I used lean ground pork. For a more authentic Chinese Lion's Head Meatball, use fattier meat. 

Enjoy!!

Spaghetti & Meatballs

My husband LOVES LOVES LOVES spaghetti and meatballs.

One of our Valentine's Week dinners (Yes, I made it a week of cooking...hehe) this year was Spaghetti & Meatballs. He was all touched that I made homemade meatballs just for him. (Well, it's for ME too...haha) Thought I would try the recipe called Meatball Nirvana. I followed the recipe to make my delicious meatballs. The change I made was to use 1/3 cup of oatmeal for the breadcrumbs (and maybe more onions).

Homemade Meatballs
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup onion (diced)
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 1/2 tsp italian seasoning
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3/4 tsp oregano
1 1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup milk
some hot sauce (I used Tapatio)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400F. In a medium sized bowl, mix ground beef with the onion and dry seasonings first. Then add Worcheshire sauce, milk, oatmeal, some hot sauce. Once all the ingredients are incorporated, you are ready to create the meatballs.

I lined a pan with aluminum foil to make it easier to clean. 

Form meatballs with your hands. Make them about 1.5 inches in diameter. I'm sure you can use an ice cream scoop for size control but it's not hard to do with your hands.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. 

Meatballs are cooked!! Thought I would show this picture since the finished dish has spaghetti sauce on top.

There were twelve of them. (The other three were in a smaller pan, not pictured.) Cook your spaghetti per the directions. Heat up your sauce in another little pot. I liked keeping the meatballs separate from the tomato sauce. When serving, put some spaghetti on the plate, then the meatballs. Lastly, pour some sauce over it.

Meatball Nirvana is definitely a keeper!!

Enjoy!!

Curry Fish Stew

I realized that I haven't cooked fish in a while. When I went grocery shopping, I bought some wild alaskan cod and coconut milk. Had an idea that I was going to make some kind of fish stew. This is how it turned out...

Curry Fish Stew
Prep Time: 15 min      Cook Time 25 minutes
Ingredients:
1 lb of fish (I used Wild Alaskan Cod)
1 can light coconut milk
1 onion (diced)
some bell peppers
cauliflower
carrots
tomatoes
2 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Chop the onion. Cook it in a medium to large pot for three minutes until soften. Add all the other veggies. Bell peppers, cauliflower, tomatoes, and carrots are just some options. Sprinkle some salt. Basically, I added whatever I had on hand in my refrigerator.

After about five minutes, add the fish (I use filleted fish).  Sprinkle some salt on top. Spoon some of the veggie mixture on top of the fish. Cook for about another 20 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!!

Mexican Casserole

For Christmas Eve, I had a request to make my Mexican Casserole. I had to go to the grocery store to pick up tortillas on Christmas Eve. The line was long but as long as you are prepared to wait, it's not so bad.

Mexican Casserole

Prep Time: 20 min     Bake Time: 30 min

Ingredients:

tortillas (I used corn tortillas. About 10 small ones.)

1 lb ground meat

1 small onion (diced)

1 cup salsa

1 corn

1 black beans

1/2 cup salsa

a little butter/oil for the pan

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Melt a little butter in a pan. Add diced onions to cook. After about three minutes, add the ground meat. When the meat is browned, remove some of the liquid by pouring it out or using a spoon. Add salsa, black beans, and corn. Your mixture is finished.

In an 8x8 pan, cover the bottom with corn tortillas. Spoon about half the mixture on top of the tortillas. Sprinkle a layer of cheese on the mixture. Cover the cheese with another layer of tortillas. Spoon the other half of the mixture on top of the tortillas. Then add another cheese layer and tortilla layer. Put a layer of salsa on top.

From the bottom:
Tortilla
Mixture
Cheese
Tortilla
Mixture
Cheese
Tortilla
Salsa

Bake the casserole at 350F for half an hour. Pull it out to top the salsa with a cheese layer. Bake for another five minutes to melt the top layer of cheese.

Cut and serve. Enjoy!! =)

Homemade Healthy Lasagna 1

Mmm... lasagna!! I have wanted to make homemade lasagna for a while now. When there was a sale on Barilla lasagna noodles, I thought it was time.

I only used cottage cheese. Typically, lasagna is made with ricotta cheese but it was three times the price of cottage cheese. Besides, cottage cheese is low-fat, low calorie, low carbs, high in calcium, and high in protein.

Nutrition facts for you Cottage Cheese vs Ricotta Cheese (Click on pic to enlarge)

Homemade Healthy Lasagna
Prep Time: 25 min      Bake Time: 45 min
Ingredients:
Lasagna noodles
1 onion (diced - I used a brown onion)
1 lb ground meat (I used lean turkey)
1 lb pasta sauce
12 oz tomato paste
1 lb cottage cheese
1 egg
3 tsp parsley
2 tsp basil
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:
On medium heat, cook the diced onions to soften. Add the ground meat. Stir to cook until the meat is browned. Remove most of the liquid in the pan.

Put the pan back on medium heat. Add the pasta sauce, tomato paste, 2 tsp parsley, 2 tsp basil. Set aside. (Meaty sauce layer)

Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the cottage cheese, egg, salt, half cup parmesan cheese, and one tsp parsley. (Cottage cheese layer)

In an 8x8 pan, begin the lasagna building.

At the bottom, place lasagna noodles so that they slightly overlap. Next, evenly spoon and spread the cottage cheese layer. Sprinkle a layer of shredded cheese on top of that. The fourth layer is the meat sauce. Repeat.

(I only did the layering twice.)

The top layer will be the meat sauce. Sprinkle Kraft parmesan cheese generously to top it all off.
It is very heavy!

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 350F. Cut and serve!!

It was much healthier than other lasagna, but it still tasted quite sinful!! heheh.
(Next time, I will skip the tomato paste.)

Enjoy!!

Note:
If you want to cut down the bake time, you can cook the lasagna noodles al dente before you start layering your lasagna. If you do cook your lasagna noodles first, you only need to bake your lasagna for 20-25 minutes.

What's for Dinner, vaLINtine??

For quite a while, I have wanted to make meatloaf and pecan pie from scratch for my hubby.  He has expressed love for the two food items.  So today, valentine's dinner consisted of quinoa meatloaf, sauteed arugula/spinach, soycutash (frozen corn, bell peppers, soy beans from TJ's), mini pecan pie tarts.

Traditional meatloaf is made with breadcrumbs.  Quinoa took the place of breadcrumbs in my meatloaf.  What I loved most about this meatloaf was the subtle Sriracha sauce.  Click for the recipe.  It says that it serves 5, but it's more like 3.  Or maybe we are pigs!  Lol..

My mini pecan pie tarts did not look like the picture in the recipe.  Perhaps I'll have better luck next time.  Think I changed the recipe so much by halving it so it didn't come out like that.  *When halving it, I was supposed to put 3 oz of cream cheese in; but since I didn't want to open a new package, I only put 2.  Haha.*  Nevertheless, they were delicious!!  Asked hubby if he wanted to share with others.  He replied, "That they were his."

Mine looked more like mini pecan pie muffins.  Oh, but they were sooo divine!  Next time, I will be making the full recipe.

Hope you had a great day with you and yours!! 

*Note: vaLINtine refers to Jeremy Lin on the NY Knicks.  For those of you living in a cave, he's come out of nowhere (Okay, really from Palo Alto...norcal baby!!).  The only reason he has had a chance to start as a point guard is because there was no one else.  He's led the team to six straight Knick wins.  Tonight, he made the 3-ptr with 0.5 sec left.  Read more here..

Simmering Chicken in Soy Sauce

This is a simple recipe that produces moist, flavorful chicken.  Personally, I don't like my food too salty.  That is why I add so much water in my recipe.

Simmering Chicken in Soy Sauce:
Prep Time: 5 minutes        Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
8 Chicken Drumsticks (You can also use thigh, breast, etc.)
1 cup soy sauce
5 cups water
1/2 cup cooking wine
scallions (optional)
ginger (optional)

Directions:
Grab a big pot with a lid.  Add the water, soy sauce, and cooking wine.  Place the chicken in the pot also.  (You can more than 8 drumsticks.  Chicken should be immersed in the liquid.  If it isn't, don't worry.  Halfway into cooking just flip the chicken so that the other side has its share of flavor.)   If desired, chop the scallions or slice ginger before adding it in the pot.  Heat on high with lid for about 45 minutes.

Transfer cooked chicken to a plate/bowl.  That's all there is to it.  Smells and tastes delicious!  I like to eat my chicken with brown rice.  Usually, I will cook a simple veggie dish to hit another food group.

Enjoy!!