Another version of cheeseburger macaroni

Cheeseburger Macaroni
Favorite Brand Name 100 Best Hamburger Recipes Copyright 2003

1 cup mostaccioli or elbow macaroni, uncooked I used Dreamfields penne and I used more than 1 cup
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (14 ½ ounces) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
¼ cup tomato ketchup
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese I used my leftover odds and ends - a cheddar and mozzarella blend and I think the other one was just cheddar

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.
2. Brown meat with onion in large skillet; drain. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Stir in undrained tomatoes, ketchup and pasta heat through.
3. Top with cheese. Garnish if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

I've made Cheeseburger Macaroni previously but this version, although very similar, packs a lot more flavor since it uses flavored tomatoes and some ketchup. The cheese isn't stirred into this one but you could stir it in if you wanted to. I like cooking the pasta separately. I cooked more than one cup of pasta (probably closer to two) and there was easily enough sauce to handle the extra pasta. I would make this again.

This recipe is actually something we had last week. Last night we had hot dogs and smiles. I'm really trying to cut back on our grocery bill and use up what we have on hand. I planned next week's menu last night and I'm making progress on emptying out the freezer. It's kind of fun trying to use up what I already have but we'll see if that makes for interesting food blogging or not.

I'm a big fan of all the Favorite Brand Name cookbooks. Unfortunately there's a lot of overlap of recipes but that's pretty common in the cookbook industry, I've found. A publisher will rework the same recipes into several different cookbooks.

Question of the Day: Do you make it a point to clear out your pantry/freezer/fridge every so often?

Something good was hiding in the freezer

Milwaukee Pork Stew
Favorite Brand Name Slow Cooker Casseroles and More Copyright 2002

2 pounds boneless pork shoulder or sirloin, cut into ½-inch cubes
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 large onions, sliced ½-inch thick
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can (14 ½ ounces) chicken broth
1 can (12 ounces) beer
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 bay leaf

Coat pork with combined flour, salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven; brown meat over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Pour off drippings. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover; cook over medium-low heat 1 to 1 ¼ hours or until meat is very tender. Stir occasionally.

Makes 8 servings.

I'm really making an effort to be more frugal since my grocery bills are getting out of hand. I haven't been to Costco in ages because I'm spending too much in the regular grocery stores. I miss Costco! So I'm trying to cut back a bit, which is difficult because I don't feel as if I'm buying excessively. So this week I pulled out this stew (and I have enough for another meal) even though I wasn't feeling excited about it but I was pleasantly surprised how much we enjoyed it.

I made this a couple of weeks ago but I ended up freezing it after we had a crazy day and we ended up eating McD's that night. Freezing didn't seem to hurt this at all. While I didn't like it as much as the similar beef stew I made recently, it was still pretty good. I love the taste of caraway seeds. My two year old really enjoyed this too which shocked me because he hasn't show much interest in beef or pork that isn't filled with nitrates. (Why or why do they love the bad stuff?)

I had to put this cookbook aside at one point because I love it and I didn't want to rely on it too heavily (same with the Food and Wine books which are on vacation right now). I'm enjoying getting reacquainted with it. I also made Ham and Egg Enchiladas again this week (a brunch recipe I like to serve for dinner).

I used the red peppers that I bought marked down and then froze. They worked well in this recipe. They let out a lot of moisture but I just cooked that all out and then added the green onions and ham. This is one of our favorites.

Question of the Day: Do you feel that fast food is a treat or a cop-out?

A different slaw for ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday

Broccoli Slaw
The Ugly Binder,
from Taste of Home’s Light and Tasty Magazine 2004

4 cups broccoli coleslaw mix
1 can (11 ounces) Mexicorn, drained
½ cup salsa
2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
3 tablespoons cider vinegar

In a bowl, combine the coleslaw mix, corn and salsa. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sugar, salt and pepper. Gradually mix in vinegar. Pour over coleslaw mixture; toss to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Yield 6 servings. Per serving: 92 calories, 2 gms fat, 2 mg cholesterol,
621 mg sodium, 17 gms carbs, 4 gms fiber, 4 gms protein

I had a copy of Taste of Home's Light and Tasty magazine stuck in my ugly binder. I actually like Taste of Home, which is not fashionable to admit among certain crowds but there, I said it. I like that the recipes are from 'real' people and there are lots of pretty pictures for me to drool over.

This slaw caught my eye because it was a bit different. They usually isn't anything particularly unusual in Taste of Home. I knew I was going to have salsa leftover from another recipe this week so I decided to try this. I'm always on the lookout for sides to serve with Mexican food. I thought it was a good sign that the broccoli coleslaw mix was marked down to 49 cents. Woo hoo!

I almost didn't get to make this in time for Sweetnick's ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday since I had a bit of a stomach bug at the end of the week and over the weekend and the last thing I needed was roughage but I'm feeling better now.

I really liked this. The corn is sweet and crunchy, the salsa adds flavor but isn't overpowering. There isn't much added sugar or fat. I have to admit, we're big fans of slaws - especially the ramen noodle version but this recipe is much lighter. A great recipe for ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday, it has broccoli, red cabbage, carrots, corn, and tomatoes - also apple cider vinegar which some believe is a miracle food product. I'll definitely make this again.

Question of the Day: What do you usually serve with Mexican food (or Tex-Mex - quesadillas, enchiladas, etc)?

A pretty pink mousse

Cream Cheese Strawberry Mousse
Weight Watchers Five Ingredient 15 Minute
Cookbook Copyright 2006

1 ½ cups fresh strawberries
1 (8-ounce) tub light cream cheese
½ cup powdered sugar
1 ¾ cups frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed

1. Process first 3 ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
Transfer strawberry mixture to a large bowl; fold in whipped
topping.
2. Spoon into 6 (6-ounce) dessert dishes. Cover and chill at
least 4 hours.

Yield 6 servings. Per serving 4 points, 170 calories, 6 gms fat,
3.8 gms protein, 22.5 gms carbs, .8 gms fiber, 18 mg cholesterol,
189 mg sodium, 54 mg calcium

The stomach bug hit our house and even though I wasn't hit very hard (knock on wood), my appetite hasn't been that strong the past few days. I had planned on making this mousse for a while so I really needed to get it made while the strawberries were still fresh. I didn't think this was bad but I probably would
have enjoyed it more had I been feeling 100 percent. The mousse was a bit soft
even after chilling it for quite a while - I might have used too many
strawberries. I would have like this more with real cream cheese and real
whipped cream but who wouldn't? More in keeping with it's intentions, I think a sprinkle of graham
cracker crumbs might have perked this up too.

Question of the Day: Have you been enjoying more fresh fruit than usual
this winter?

A slightly different way to prepare chicken breasts

Brenda Theune’s Cheesy Chicken
500 More Low-Carb Recipes Copyright 2004

2 boneless, skinless frozen chicken breasts I used 5 smaller breasts and they were thawed
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons cream I omitted this
1 tablespoon minced onion
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon seasoned salt I used regular salt and I added too much
½ cup shredded cheese I used 2% colby/jack

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place the chicken breasts on a 9”x9” baking pan spray with nonstick cooking spray. Mix together the cream cheese, butter, cream, onion, and spices. Spread the mixture evenly over the breasts. Put the cheese on top of the sauce. (Oops! I blended the shredded cheese into the cream cheese but I recommend doing it that way since I think the cheese would burn otherwise.) Bake for about 45 minutes or until done.

This would have been really good had I not oversalted the cheese mixture. There's a similar recipes in one of my Food and Wine Quick From Scratch books that only uses cream cheese mixed with veggies that I've been meaning to try but I was worried it might be too bland. I think the shredded cheese added a lot the flavor here. You could really play around with this - adding more veggies for color and flavor and varying the type of cheese you use. You can even use flavored cream cheese. Overall, a good concept. A little bit of the cheese mixture slid off the chicken but enough of it stayed on.

I picked up both 500 Low-Carb Recipes and 500 More Low-Carb Recipes after sampling the first book from the library. This second book actually includes calories in the nutritional information, and it can be a bit scary. This particular recipe was quite scary although I don't know what size chicken breast they assume in their calculations. I used small ones and spread the cheese mixture over 5 breasts instead of 2 breasts (that would be ridiculous no matter how big they were), and I omitted the cream and used 2% cheese. Some of the cheese mixture slid off too so hopefully I can in under the 600+ calories that they book listed (I told you it was scary!) I will say, I served this only with a simple side salad and I never even thought about eating the rest of the evening (unusual for me).

Question of the Day: Would you like to see nutritional information with every recipe in every cookbook?