Triple Cheese Baked Beefaroni

As I mentioned in my last post I have been hungry for Hamburger Helper.  And while I loved that recipe, it didn't satisfy my Hamburger Helper craving.  This recipe did!  Matt told me a couple of years ago that he doesn't like Hamburger Helper.  I have always assumed it was because I wore him out with it during our early days of marriage!  

My two boys LOVED LOVED this!  I could hardly believe how much they ate!  A definite 5 star recipe rating from them!  Matt didn't rate it as high, he said it needed some kick.  Which turns out is his same complaint with boxed Hamburger Helper (I never knew that was the reason he didn't like Hamburger Helper!)  If you are looking for a wonderful Hamburger Helper tasting meal without all the added preservatives and other nasty hard to pronounce stuff make this right away!  You won't be disappointed!

Triple Cheese Baked Beefaroni  Source: One Crazy Cookie

Ingredients:

1 pound penne pasta or pasta of your choice

Meat Sauce

1 cup minced onions

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 pound hamburger

2 cups spaghetti sauce

1/2 cup chicken or beef broth (I used beef)

Cheese Sauce

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

1 3/4 cups beef or chicken broth (I used beef)

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Topping

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Cook pasta until tender but firm. Drain and set aside.

3. Make the meat sauce: Brown hamburger with the garlic and onion.  Stir in the pasta sauce and 1/2 cup broth. Simmer for 10  minutes of until thickened. Set aside.

4. Make the cheese sauce: Whisk flour, milk and  1 3/4 cup broth in a nonstick pan until smooth.  Place over medium heat and cook until the mixture comes to a boil.  (Be careful here, I put a lid on the pot, which of course resulted in the pot boiling over :) Reduce heat and continue to cook, for five minutes or until thickened. Stir in the cheddar cheese until it is all melted. Remove from heat.

5. Combine the cheese sauce and meat sauce.  Add the pasta. Pour everything into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

6. Bake for 10 minutes or until bubbly.

*I didn't actually bake this because I didn't want to turn on the oven on a nice day! I just sprinkled the Parmesan on top and served it straight from the pot :)

Cheeseburger Pasta

I used to not really cook dinner.  In fact when we were first married Matt told me that he would be happy eating Hot Pockets for dinner every night!  We ate more than our share of pizza, Hot Pockets, Hamburger Helper and grilled cheese sandwiches in the first years of married life.  I (as is obvious through this blog) have developed a real love for cooking and baking and am thankful to have the opportunity to do it!  Strange as it may sound I have been hungry for Hamburger Helper lately. 

I found this recipe at Can You Stay For Dinner and the author mentions that it reminded her of Hamburger Helper.  That was all it took for me to put it on my 'need to make' list.  Matt & I really liked this recipe, but didn't think it tasted that much like Hamburger Helper.  It was better!! It has way more flavor thanks to the steak seasoning and the wonderful tomatoes.  The only thing missing is that there was not as much cheese as I expected with the title.  I typically pile the cheese on, but this time I only added the 1 cup the recipe only called for.  As I am writing this I realized that I used more than 8 oz of pasta...hmm, that could be the reason for the lack of cheesy-ness!  I think next time I will add a little more cheese to compensate for the additional pasta I like to add :)

Cheeseburger Pasta  Source: Can You Stay For Dinner

Ingredients:

8 oz uncooked pasta (I used more)

1 lb ground beef

1/4 C finely chopped onion

1/4 C chopped mushrooms (I used more)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14-1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp ketchup
1 1/2  tsp steak seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese (if you use more than 8 oz of pasta, add more cheese)
Chopped green onions, optional (I didn't use)

Directions:

1. Cook pasta to al dente and set aside.
2. While pasta is cooking, start browning the ground beef.  After a minute or two of cooking add in the onion, mushrooms and garlic.
3. Drain the ground beef and add in the tomatoes, Dijon mustard, ketchup and seasonings.
4. Cook for about 10 minutes to let the flavors combine.
5. Stir in the pasta and cheese.  Mix well and enjoy!

Rice Krispie Easter Egg Treats

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!  ~Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"

After the snow and cold gray days of winter I love spring and especially Easter.  This is the first Easter treat I have made this season and wanted to share it with you!  As I have mentioned before I am not an overly creative person by nature.  I don't often come up with cute ideas on my own, but that is one of the things I like about reading your blogs!  I saw this cute idea at Sun Scholars.  Enjoy!

Rice Krispie Easter Egg Treats  Source: Sun Scholars

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. butter or margarine
6 C miniature marshmallows
6 C Rice Krispies cereal
Easter sprinkles
cooking spray

Directions:

1. Prepare Rice Krispies by your preferred method.  Stir in your sprinkles.  (I actually added my sprinkles after forming the eggs but think it would be much easier to add the sprinkles along with the Rice Krispies during this step.)

2. Spray plastic Easter eggs or Jello egg molds with cooking spray.  Spray your hands with cooking spray as well.  Using your hands fill the eggs with the Rice Krispie mixture.
3. Once the Rice Krispies have set up, carefully remove the formed eggs.  You may need to do a little more forming with your hands if they get mis-shapen when you remove them.  Just remember that eggs are fatter in the middle and skinner on the ends so you don't get funny looking eggs :)

Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie

We had a couple days with wonderful weather this week!  The boys and I just loved being outside and having the windows open!  Unfortunately, the warm weather didn't stick around and the temps were back to the thirties :(  Join us in dreaming of warm weather by making this Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie!

Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie  Source:  Macaroni and Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 cup strawberries, tops removed (I used frozen)

1 cup fresh pineapple, cubed (I used 3/4 cup crushed pineapple from a can)

1/2 cup skim milk

1/4 cup orange or pineapple juice

2 tbsp. honey

1 tsp. truvia or other natural sweetener (I used 1/2 tsp. regular sugar)

4 cubes ice

* I also added in 1 1/2 cups of vanilla yogurt and 1 tablespoon of flax meal.

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

2. Pour into glasses and serve.

Recipe makes 3 large smoothies if you add the yogurt.