Creamy Taco Mac

I go this recipe form the Delish blog. The boys and I really liked it. We'll be making again for Daddy who'll be SURE to love it!


Ingredients:
1.25 lbs ground turkey (used 1 lb. beef)
8 oz dry pasta + 1 cup reserved pasta water
1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes (didn't use)
4 Tbsp mild taco seasoning (or more!)
3 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
salt & pepper
cheddar cheese
Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta per directions. Reserve one cup of pasta water.

Over medium heat, brown meat until no longer pink. Add taco seasoning and diced tomatoes if wanted. Allow to simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Add cooked pasta, reserved water, cream cheese and sour cream. Give it a good stir until cheeses are melty and incorporated. Simmer over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt & pepper, as desired. Top off with cheddar cheese.

Avocado Chicken Pitas

This recipe is really quick and easy. It's from the Taste of Home website.

Ingredients

• 4 whole pita breads
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 3/4 pound rotisserie chicken, cut into strips
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

• Brush one side of each pita bread with oil. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until browned and crisp.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mash avocado with the lemon juice, salt, garlic powder and hot pepper sauce. Spread over pitas. Layer with chicken, tomato and cheese.
• Bake for 5-6 minutes or until cheese is melted. Yield: 4 servings.

Halloween Dinner

This was our dinner this past Halloween, jello worms, bone bread sticks, green spaghetti with eye-meatballs, and a yummy red slush punch! It was a hit to say the least! Thanks JD and Megan for the spaghetti portion! Down below you'll find recipes for the punch and the jello worms (and where I found them)

Red Slush Punch

Found this recipe here at allrecipes.com. So yummy, and pretty easy! If you go to the website, the serving is HUGE. This amount below gives you just enough to fill a bundt pan with a little extra.

Ingredients:
• 1 (3 ounce) packages strawberry flavored gelatin mix

• 3 cups and 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 1-1/3 cups and 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 cups and 2 tablespoons water
• 2/3 (46 fluid ounce) can pineapple juice
• 2/3 cup and 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1-3/8 (2 liter) bottles ginger ale

Directions:
In a large pot, bring the water to a boil. Stir in the sugar until dissolved, then add in the jello. Next stir in the pineapple juice and lemon juice, mixing well. Pour into 1-gallon size resealable freezer bags, or pretty Bundt pans to freeze.

• To make punch, place one of the frozen portions into a punch bowl, and pour 1 bottle of ginger ale over.

(Jello) Worms!

I really wish I could get this picture bigger...don't they look real?! Braden was a little freaked out at first that we were supposed to be eating these, but once he tried them, he couldn't get enough. I was so excited to find these at The Idea Room, and she has LOTS of other fun holiday ideas!!

What you'll need:
100 flexible plastic straws

1 package (6 ounces) raspberry or grape flavor gelatin

3 envelopes unflavored gelatin
3 cups boiling water
3/4 cup whipping cream
12 to 15 drops green food coloring

To Do:
Combine gelatins in a bowl and add boiling water; stir until gelatins completely dissolve. Chill until lukewarm, about 20 min.
Meanwhile, gently pull straws to extend to full length; place in tall container. Wrap together with a loose rubber band to hold straws together.
Blend cream and food coloring with the lukewarm gelatin mixture. (I didn't know if she meant heavy whipping cream, or cool whip-but I did cool whip and it turned out fine,) Carefully pour into container, filling straws.
Chill until gelatin is firm, at least 8 hours, or cover and chill up to 2 days.

Pull straws from container or, if you're using a carton, simply tear the carton away from the filled straws. Pull straws apart. I put them in a tall glass and in order to get them out, pulled them out individually. Run hot tap water for about 2 seconds over 3 to 4 straws at a time. Starting at the empty ends, push worms from straws with rolling pin, or use your fingers. RECOMMEND THE ROLLING PIN...used my fingers and they cramped up.

I used right away, but she said to lay the worms on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Cover and chill until ready to use, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. Worms will hold at room temperature for about 2 hours.

(Almond!) Sugar Cookies

I've been trying different sugar cookies to find my favorite...and I think I did! I don't know if it's the almond, the ease, or how well they stayed together...but I LOVE these!! I found these at Our Best Bites...I'm so excited!

Ingredients:
1 C real butter (no substitutions!)
1 C sugar
1 egg (make sure to use a large or extra large egg)
1 1/2 t almond extract (or other flavor of your choice, like vanilla)
3 C flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy- about 2 minutes. Add in egg and extract and mix to incorporate.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined.

Chill the dough in the fridge for about an hour, or use this great tip to make things easier:

When your dough is made, instead of putting it in the fridge, immediately roll between 2 sheets of waxed or parchment paper and then place on a flat surface in the fridge. Chill for about 20-30 minutes and then start cutting it out. This way it chills faster and the bonus is that you don't need to add extra flour to roll it out. If you don't use this tip, proceed as follows:

When you're ready to roll out dough lightly sprinkle flour onto your work surface and roll out dough with a rolling pin.

Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes. The baking time really depends on how you like them. If you like them really and slightly chewy, about 8-9 minutes does it. If you like them slightly crisp and buttery, then go for 10-12

Almond Glacé Icing

Not only did I find yummy cookies but I found a great icing to put atop! (Also found at Our Best Bites)
Ingredients:
1lb powdered sugar (about 3 3/4 C)
6T whole milk (low-fat actually works, but use whole if you can)
6T light Corn Syrup (6T is equal to 1/4 C plus another 2 T)
1 t extract (I use almond because I use almond in my sugar cookies)

Directions:
With a whisk, combine sugar and milk until smooth (no lumps!) Then stir in corn syrup and extract.

You will use this same recipe for both glazing and piping. The way it is right now is the consistency you want for glazing. It's smooth and thin, like in the picture below. It easily runs off the whisk in a pretty thin drizzle.

To prepare the icing for piping, you just add more powdered sugar. Just eyeball it. You can't really mess it up because if it's too thick you just add more milk and if it's to thin, you add more powdered sugar. I add it in small amounts until it's a good consistency. For me, it's when it gets to a point where it's relatively hard to whisk it by hand. When I pick up the whisk, it still runs off, but in a very slow, thick stream now.