Cajun Bacon Mac

So over my spring break, I had a bunch of people stay at my apartment. We ended up doing a couple cook outs because getting into restaurants around Savannah during St. Patty's Day is just crazy. So one of the recipes that I made is my Cajun Bacon Mac. It's one of everyone's favorite recipes of mine. It's spicy, smoky, and creamy, but it's still really comforting like any mac n' cheese would be. My favorite part of the CBM is actually the topping. I decided to crush up some goldfish and mix it with some panko for a super-crispy crust. If you are not a fan of spicy food, then you can always tone it down some. But actually for this recipe I did a lot less spice because normally we like it to kick us in the ass. So, feel free to tinker with the recipe a bit. Cajun Bacon Mac goes great with BBQ & Burgers. Enjoy :)

Cajun Bacon Mac

For the Mac n’ Cheese:

1 16oz Box of Pasta Noodles

3T Butter

10 Strips of Bacon, Chopped

¼C Flour

1t Salt

½t Dry Mustard

¼t Pepper

2 ½C Milk

1 ½C + ½C Cheddar, Shredded

½lb Velveeta, Cut into Cubes

1C Smoked Gouda, Shredded

2T Hot Sauce

2T Cajun Seasoning

2t Paprika

1C Goldfish, Crushed

1C Panko

¼C Parmesan

1t Cajun Seasoning

2T Butter

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions.
3. In large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, mustard and pepper until smooth; take off heat. Also, in a separate pan, cook the cubed bacon until crispy, drain from the fat and set aside.
4. Little by little, stir in milk until smooth. Stir constantly for 10 minutes on heat until thick; take off heat. Stir in 1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese, Velveeta cheese and Smoked Gouda cheese until melted. Next stir in Cajun seasoning, paprika, and cooked bacon.
5. Put cooked macaroni in a greased casserole dish, pour cheese & bacon mixture over and mix well. Sprinkle over the ½C of cheddar, then top with the crushed goldfish, panko, parmesan, and Cajun seasoning. Cut the 2T of butter into little cubes and sprinkle them on top of the crust, so that it will brown nicely.
6. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes. 
7. Serve immediately.

source: smokehouse macaroni and cheese

*Check out the Pasta Link Party for this recipe, as well as many other wonderful recipes!

Spinach Artichoke Bread

Hello all and Happy St. Patty's Day here from Savannah! It was a crazy celebration, and I'm already counting down the days until next year's celebration! Here are a couple pictures from our crazy day :)

Me and the boyfriend :)

Good Luck Irish Kisses 

Anyway, we made a lot of food this week, since I had about 10 people staying at my apartment. But one appetizer we made was Spinach Artichoke Bread. It's practically spinach artichoke dip on top of crusty delicious bread, and its just melty-goodness for reals! Anyway I hope you enjoy it, and it's super good for a party!!

Spinach Artichoke Bread 

For the Bread:

1 Italian Loaf of Bread, Sliced in Half Lengthwise

1C Artichokes, Chopped

1 10oz Box of Frozen Chopped Spinach, Defrosted and Squeezed

1T Garlic, Chopped

½ Block of Cream Cheese, Softened

¼C Mayo

½C Sour Cream

½C Mozzarella, Shredded

¼C Parmesan, Grated

¼t Garlic Powder

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

For the Topping:

1 ½C Mozzarella, Shredded

¼C Parmesan, Grated

½t Garlic Salt

Directions:

1. Mix together the cream cheese, mayo, and sour cream until it is a blended mixture. Then add the artichokes, spinach, garlic, mozzarella, parmesan, and seasonings.

2. Once the mixture is incorporated, spread it on to the two slices of the bread until there is a thick layer. Then top it with the cheeses and seasonings. Place on the baking sheet.

3. Bake 350 for about 20 minutes, then broil the bread just until the cheese melts and starts to brown.

4. Cut into thick slices and serve immediately!

source: artichoke bread

Tomato Basil Soup

I don't know what is more comforting than soup... I mean honestly. But the funny thing is that I really don't like soup. I wouldn't order it at a restaurant, and I usually don't ever make it. But one of the only soups that I love is Tomato Basil Soup. There's something that is so rich and creamy about this kind of soup and it's just so wonderful. It's smooth but packs a bold punch of flavor. So, we finally decided that we were really in the mood for some Tomato Basil Soup, and I never realized how easy it is to make! So if you love this soup as much as we do, then you'll love this recipe! And of course I always have to give anything I make an extra kick, so the red pepper flakes are optional. I served ours with a grilled pimento cheese sandwich... even more yum! Well, enjoy :)

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with a Grilled Pimento Cheese Sandwich

For the Soup:

2T Butter

1T Olive Oil

1C Onions, Chopped

2T Garlic, Chopped

2 28oz Can of Crushed Tomatoes

4C Tomato Juice

1 ½C Heavy Cream

3T Pesto

1C Fresh Basil, Chopped

2T Italian Herb Paste

½t Red Pepper Flakes

½t Garlic Powder

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

Directions:

1. Melt the olive oil and butter on medium-high heat in a deep pot, toss in the chopped onions and garlic, and cook them until soft and translucent. Next, add in the crushed tomatoes and tomato juice. Let this cook on low heat for 30 minutes.
2. After the tomato mixture has cooked, add in the fresh basil, italian herb paste, pesto, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder. Return back to low heat and cook for another 10 minutes.
3. Now, using an immersion blender, blend the tomato mixture until it a smooth, creamy soup. After the soup is blended, slowly stir in the heavy cream. Lastly season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Serve immediately!

source: tomato basil soup

Breakfast Pizza

We were starving this morning, and I mean starvin'. So we made some Breakfast Pizza. The nice thing about Breakfast Pizza is that you can really top it with anything you like. I decided to top ours with scrambled eggs, runny eggs, bacon, cheese, and fresh herbs. So if you want to make this, you can customize it with all your favorite things, maybe some sausage or some spinach... the possibilities are endless! Enjoy :)

Breakfast Pizza

For the Pizza:

1 Pizza Dough

3T Pesto

6 Slices of Bacon, Cooked & Chopped Roughly

2 Eggs, Scrambled

3 Eggs

1T Fresh Parsley, Chopped

3T Chives, Chopped

3T Green Onion, Chopped

2C Mozzarella, Shredded

¼C Parmesan, Grated

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 500.

2. Stretch the pizza dough thinly on your pizza pan.
3. Spread the pesto in an even layer over your pizza. Then top with the two scrambled eggs, mozzarella cheese, chopped bacon, and Parmesan cheese.
4. Crack the three eggs on top of all of the ingredients, and then lightly salt & pepper them.
5. Cook the pizza for 8-10 minutes or until the egg whites are cooked, but the egg yolks are still runny. Once the pizza is cooked, top it with the parsley, chives, and green onions.
6. Serve immediately! 

source: breakfast pizza

Homemade Oreos

Hi everyone! I hope where you are is prettier than here, it's just not a pretty day here in Savannah :( Anyway, I'm sure everyone has that one thing that they love... and that they have to keep in their apartment for the late night snack or dessert. We definitely do. It's Mint Oreos. We keep them in my favorite cookie jar in the world, Mr. Owl. I have to have one every night, it's my guilty little pleasure, and well Clayton has to have like 5, no joke.  But to my dismay, I go to Mr. Owl to retrieve a cookie, and there weren't any left :(

Mr. Owl with no Mint Oreos

So that completely sucked. But luckily I had stored away a homemade oreo recipe that I had been dying to try, and I guess this was the perfect opportunity to make them. So, now Mr. Owl is full again with lots and lots of oreos; he's so happy! Well... Enjoy :)

Homemade Oreos

For the Cookie:

1 ¼C AP Flour

½C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1t Baking Soda

¼t Baking Powder

¼t Salt

1C Sugar

1 Stick + 2T Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

1 Large Egg

For the Filling:

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

½C Vegetable Shortening

3C Powdered Sugar, Sifted

1t Vanilla

Green Dye, If Needed

Mint Extract, If Needed

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spray with Pam.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, soda, powder, salt, and sugar. Then slowly add in the softened butter and egg. Mix until incorporated. Using a small ice cream scoop (or a teaspoon), scoop balls of cookie dough on the prepared sheets and bake each sheet for 9 minutes (flipping the sheets halfway through).

3. Once the cookies are done cooking, let them cool for 5 minutes on their cookie sheet, and then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

4. Meanwhile, make the filling by beating together the shortening and butter in a mixer until light and fluffy. Slowly add in the powdered and vanilla. Also, I added some mint extract and green dye to the filling because our favorite Oreo is the Mint Oreo. But the possibilities are endless, so you can make any type of filling you like.

5. Spoon on about a teaspoon of the filling into the middle of the cookie and top with another cookies. Slowly squeeze the cookies together, so that the filling spreads evenly.

6. Enjoy! 

source: homemade oreos

Homemade Twix Bars

It's another lonely night at the apartment for me, since Clayton had to work all day today :( I guess it's a good thing because I was actually semi-productive and studied all day for my test on Monday. But I took a study break to make some Homemade Twix Bars. They have a nice shortbread layer that's just the perfect texture, a salty-sweet caramel layer, and smooth, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate layer. If you like Twix Bars, then you will definitely like these! Well, enjoy :)

Homemade Twix Bars

For the Shortbread:

1 Stick + 3T Unsalted Butter, Softened

¼C Sugar

1 ¾C AP Flour

¼t Salt

2T Ground Rice, Sifted

For the Caramel:

2C Sugar

¾C Light Corn Syrup

½C Water

1t Lemon Juice

1C Heavy Cream

1C Sweetened, Condensed Milk

¼t Salt

Salt, For Sprinkling Over Caramel Layer

For the Chocolate Topping:

1 ½C Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

4T Butter

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper and spray with Pam.

2. To make the Shortbread: in a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Gradually add the flour, salt, and ground rice. To make the ground rice flour, blend any rice that you have in your kitchen until it is a fine powder. Sift this rice power, so that there are no large rice pieces. After the dough is incorporated, press it into the prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes, then rotate and bake for another 10 minutes until the shortbread is lightly golden. Let this cool while you make the caramel layer.

3. To make the Caramel: Combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and lemon juice in a sauté pan and cook over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil (do not whisk). Once this mixture begins to turn caramel brown, insert a candy thermometer and when the mixture reaches 300 degrees F, remove from heat and let it sit for 1 minute. Whisk in the heavy cream, then the condensed milk, then salt until smooth. Return the pan back to the heat, and cook until the caramel reaches 240 degrees F. Remove from heat and pour over the shortbread. Let it set at room temperature for 2 hours.

4. For the Chocolate Topping: Heat the chocolate chips and butter in a bowl in the microwave in 30 second intervals until the chocolate is just melted, then whisk until incorporated. Spread this chocolate mixture over the caramel layer until an even, thick layer of chocolate covers the caramel. Cool in the refrigerator until you are ready to cut.

5. Cut the Twix Bars into small rectangles. When I’m giving these Twix Bars to friends, I like to wrap them in wax paper, so they look like individual candies. But you can easily just cut them and keep them in your refrigerator for easy snacking.

6. Enjoy!

source: homemade twix bars

Classic Sugar Cookies

Hello everyone! I hope y'all are having a great weekend! I got a request from my friend, Heather, for a sugar cookie recipe, so I went ahead and made some. I'm not a big fan of sugar cookies, I figure if they don't have chocolate, then it's not worth my time. Anyway, I really like these sugar cookies though, especially with some icing! Enjoy :)

Classic Sugar Cookies 

For the Cookies:

1 ¼C Sugar

2 Sticks of Butter, Unsalted

3 Egg Yolks

2t Vanilla

2 ½C AP Flour

1t Baking Soda

½t Cream of Tartar

½t Salt

Colored Sugar Crystals

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with Pam.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add in one egg at a time, and then the vanilla. Slowly add in the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Make sure the scrape down the sides and beat until incorporated.
3. Using an ice cream scoop, make cookie dough balls and then roll them into the colored sugar crystals. Do not push the cookie dough balls down, so they won’t spread too much.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies look crackled. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Then place them on a cooling rack and cool another 10 minutes.
5. Serve and enjoy!

source: sugar cookies