Bacon MacNCheeseburger

I realize that I have shared several mac n' cheese recipes on my blog before (Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Mac N' Cheese - Mac N' Cheese with Steak and Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms). Both of those were using boxed mac n' cheese which I happened to have on hand due to a sale but rarely ever use. Ever since I learned how to make my own homemade mac n' cheese I have continued to tweak and play with the recipe and it has changed many times over. We love it plain but it is always fun to jazz it up with new ingredients as well.

Those of you who have been reading my grocery store posts or following Chrystal's Corner on Facebook know that I have recently gotten a HUGE stock of pasta built up. So this recipe doesn't actually use macaroni noodles because I wanted to use some of the penne I had on hand. I had been playing around with this recipe in my head for a little while and it finally all came together as I was cooking it. You could do lots of different things with this recipe like substituting the mustard and ketchup with BBQ sauce or using a variation of toppings. I am excited because I think it is a great summertime/BBQ/potluck version of mac n' cheese that I hope you will love as much as we did.

Bacon MacN'CheeseBurger
Ingredients:
- 1 lb box of pasta (macaroni, penne, shells, etc)
- 1/2 lb of ground beef
- 6 slices of bacon
- 1/4 cup of ketchup
- 3 Tbsp. butter
- 4 Tbsp. flour
- 1-1/2 cup milk (more if your sauce is too thick for your liking)
- 3 packed cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (or whatever combination of cheese you like)
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 extra large egg yolks
- 2 heaping Tbsp. spicy brown mustard
- toppings of your choice (shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, chopped pickles, additional shredded cheese)

Directions:
1. I start by getting the meat all cooked. Season your ground beef with a little salt and pepper and cook until brown and crumbled. Turn heat way down and add the ketchup, stirring until heated through. Remove from heat. In a separate pan (or on an electric skillet) cook up the bacon, remove to paper towel when crisp. Once cooled down chop the bacon into pieces and then mix it in with the meat mixture.

2. Cook your noodles according to package directions. Only cook until al dente as it will continue to cook in the oven (this would be a good time to preheat that oven to 325 degrees while you are at it). Drain the pasta.
3. Time to make the sauce. Heat a pan over low heat and add the butter. Once melted stir in the flour until all mixed in and then let the mixture sit over the heat for about a minute. Slowly whisk in the milk stirring continuously as it thickens. Once thickened, remove from heat and stir in cheeses. Then stir in egg yolks and mustard. If the sauce is too thick just add in a splash of milk and stir some more.
4. Add the cooked pasta and the meat mixture to the sauce and blend all together. Pour into a 13x9 pyrex and pop in the oven cooking for 20-25 minutes. Dish up and add desired toppings.

**I was kind of writing this as I was making it so sorry there aren't more pictures...but I figure most of you know what cooked pasta and cheese sauce look like! I mostly wanted to come back to add that this really was delicious! My husband ate after the rest of us and just heated up the mac n cheese without any toppings and as he was shoveling in large fork fulls he kept saying, "This tastes JUST like a bacon burger!" I liked it with the extra stuff but it is a winner all by itself too:)

Mac N Cheese with Steak and Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms

On the continued quest to use up the stockpile of Kraft Mac N Cheese I got on sale, I tried out another variation on the tired boxed pasta. Last time it was Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Mac N Cheese. This time I decided to go for steak with sauteed onions and mushrooms. Let me tell you, this was delicious! Hearty too. Throw a salad on the side and it felt like I was eating a real meal.

Ingredients:
2 boxes Kraft Mac N Cheese
1 and 1/2 sticks butter, separated 
1/2 c milk
2 c chopped steak meat
1/2 an onion, sliced
8 oz sliced mushrooms

Directions:
1. Cook macaroni according to package directions.

2. If using uncooked steak (leftovers would work well too), cook in medium pan at medium high heat. I used some flank steak we had from my in-laws cow and it cooked up quickly. Remove to a plate once fully cooked. (Mine was bland so I through it in a ziploc with some steak sauce...delicious!)

3. Put 1/2 stick of butter in warm steak pan. Once melted add onions and mushrooms and saute until soft and brown. (I used red onion since I had it on hand but whatever you prefer works). Turn the heat down to low and add steak back in to warm it up.

4. Drain and stir in 1 stick of butter, milk and cheese packets provided. Add in onion, mushroom, steak mixture and stir. Enjoy!

Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Mac N Cheese

Let me start with the disclaimer that this is in no way a figure friendly recipe. You could definitely make it healthier (grilled chicken, turkey bacon) but as is it is super fatty. But oh so very delicious!! I will also say that I typically make homemade mac n' cheese but lately have been stocking up on the boxed version due to sale prices and coupons that have made it practically free. This would also be absolutely delicious with homemade mac n' cheese but since I used the box version that is the recipe I will share.

Ingredients:
* 2 boxes Kraft Mac N Cheese (or your favorite brand/homemade recipe)
* 3-5 slices bacon
* 1 pkg ranch dressing mix
* 2 cups shredded chicken (I used fried chicken leftover from a party, but grilled or rotisserie would work great too)

Directions:
1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Layout other ingredients as listed on box (mine called for 1 stick of butter and half a cup of milk).

2. While the noodles are cooking, fry the bacon in a medium skillet until crispy. Remove to paper towels and chop when cooled.

3. Drain bacon grease, turn down heat and add butter. Once melted, stir in cheese packets and ranch dressing mix. Once mixed, stir in milk until well blended. Let simmer until thickened. I added some cream at this point to make it a little creamier. Put in the chicken and bacon and let heat through.

3. Drain the pasta, add it into the cheesy ranch mixture. Stir and enjoy!

I wish you could taste the ranchy, bacony, cheesy goodness of this through the computer!! Truly yummy:) Be prepared for some continued twists on the plain old boxed mac n' cheese as we have quite a few boxes stored up. There is some serious brainstorming going on around here!

Peaches N Cream Crockpot Oatmeal

A few weeks ago my cousin posted a recipe for oatmeal in the Crock Pot that she was raving about. So I decided to give it a shot. Something I can throw in a pot the night before and have waiting for us at breakfast time the next morning? SOLD!! After trying and loving it the plain way (seriously this is creamy good oatmeal) I decided to spice it up for dinner tonight and make a peaches and cream version. It turned out sweet and delicious and makes me excited to try some other variations.

PEACHES N CREAM CROCK POT OATMEAL

Ingredients:
* 4 cups old fashioned oatmeal, separated
* 9 cups water
* 1/3 cup vanilla creamer
* 1 large peach, diced (could use canned peaches as well)
* brown sugar for topping (optional)

Directions:
1. Combine 3 cups oatmeal with 9 cups water in a 5 to 6 quart Crock Pot. Cook on low for 8 hours.
2. After 7 1/2 hours stir oatmeal and add in additional cup of oatmeal, peaches and creamer. Stir. Top with brown sugar if desired.
3. Replace lid and let cook for another 20 to 30 minutes. I usually turn down the heat to warm at this time as well.
4. Serve and enjoy!

This makes quite a bit of oatmeal but I only have the large crockpot right now so this is the amount I make in it. It could easily be cut in half or third for a smaller crockpot. I also find it nice to have the leftovers. We keep it in the fridge and then reheat it in the microwave, adding milk to reconstitute the oatmeal. I am thinking of trying apples and cinnamon as well as bananas with walnuts and caramel. Any other ideas?