Homemade Mac & Cheese

I am a sucker for pasta. Especially if it's smothered in rich sauce and not very healthy for you. :) Here's the recipe for the ONLY macaroni & cheese I will eat - no offense Kraft! When I do make it, my kids always come running saying "Mom made homemade mac & cheese!". The rewards don't get much better than that!

From "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook":

Creamy Stovetop Mac'n'cheese
8 oz. macaroni (2 cups)
salt
2 large eggs
1 (12oz) can evaporated milk
1 t. dry mustard, dissolved in 1 t. water
1/4 t. Tabasco
Pepper
4 T. unsalted butter
12 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded (3 cups)

1. Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a large pot for the macaroni. Stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and the macaroni and cook until almost tender but still a little firm to the bite.
2. Meanwhile, mix together the eggs, half of the evaporated milk, the mustard mixture, Tabasco, 1/2 t. salt, and 1/4 t. pepper.
3. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Set the pot over low heat and stir in the butter until melted.
4. Stir in the egg mixture and half of the cheddar. Continue to cook over low heat, gradually stirring in the remaining milk and cheddar, until the mixture is hot and creamy, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Applebee's Chicken Wings

Here is another knock off from the same web site.
35 wings pieces ( I cut up my chicken breast, I am a chicken snob and I won't eat chicken of the bone, yuck!)
12 ounces Louisiana Hot Sauce
6 Tbsp marg or butter
3 Tbsp white vinegar
1 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tbsp flour
Cook the chicken until done, either bake or deep fry. Mix all sauce ingredients except flour in a saucepan on the stove. Cook over low-medium heat. When warm, add flour to thicken sauce. Stir frequently. Mix all together and place in a 9x13 pan and bake at 300 for about 20 minutes. Serve with celery sticks and ranch dressing. These are pretty zippy, not for the week taste buds!

Applebee's Fiesta Lime Chicken

We went to Applebee's the other day and my husband had this for dinner, he really enjoyed it! I have used this website before for Panda Express orange chicken, so I hopped on and snagged some more knockoff recipes. www.cdkitchen.com. It is a copycat website full of good stuff.
1 cup water
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce, or soy sauce.
1/2 lime, juiced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
mix together and Marinade your chicken (4-6 breats) for atleast 2 hours.
1/4 C mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp salsa
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp cajun blackening spice
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp hot sauce, I used tabasco
1/8 tsp dried dill weed
1/8 tsp cumin
mix this together and place in covered bowl in your fridge
1 Cup shredded colby jack cheese
2 Cups corn chips, crumbled

Grill your chicken and discard marinade. When cook thru cover with remaining sauce and cheese and broil until cheese is melted. Serve over chips, YUM!
1/8
April 26, We just made this again tonight and my husband helped me make it. He reads better than I do so he actually used teriyaki sauce, which is what it calls for. I laughed because I used soy sauce the first time. Yes I can read but for some reason that is what I did. Anyway we liked it better with the soy sauce, FYI.

April Fool's Day Cupcakes

Take this recipe, and place in/fill cupcake liners in cupcake pan. Bake as per recipe. Whip up a batch of instant mashed potatoes, adding 2 T. dried parsley to the water, and using slighty less water than usual. Place potatoes in a pastry bag fitted with fluted tip, and pipe on top of 'meat-cake' (lol) like frosting. Voila. You have one confused family when they get to eat dessert first...or the entree last.