Cheeseburger Macaroni

Cheeseburger Macaroni
Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 (1 oz) packet taco seasoning (or homemade taco seasoning)
1 (10 oz) can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies (or petite diced tomatoes)
2 cups beef broth (or water)
1 cup elbow macaroni, uncooked

Directions:
Brown and drain ground beef. Stir in taco seasoning, Rotel, beef broth, and macaroni and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover pan. Simmer 12-14 minutes until macaroni is tender.
Now make the cheese sauce:
2 Tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking for 4-5 minutes until it becomes fragrant and starts to turn a light brown color. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Whisk until smooth and mixture starts to thicken. Remove mixture from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar cheese until melted. Add the salt and pepper to the cheese sauce. Pour the cheese sauce over the hamburger mixture. Stir gently to combine.

This is seriously good 

Pear Pomegranate Spinach Salad

I made this salad for a Christmas party we were invited to. It was really good.

Salad:
2 Packages baby spinach
2 pears sliced
1/2 cup cranberries
1 cup pomegranate arils
2/3 cup walnuts
3 oz. feta

Dressing:
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all dressing ingredients and toss with salad just before serving.

Greek Salad

This is another salad recipe I made for Christmas dinner this year. It was a huge hit!

Salad:

Cherry tomatoes sliced in half

1 cucumber thinly sliced

1 red onion thinly sliced

Romaine lettuce (as much or as little as you desire, the salad dressing recipe makes a lot)

Olives

Pepperoncinis

Feta

Dressing:

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

2 tsp. garlic minced

2 tsp.  shallots minced

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp. basil

1 T. Dijon or whole grain mustard

1 1/2 c olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Sloppy Joe

Ingredients:  *I believe this is a 1/2 recipe, but enough to make 8 hefty Sloppy Joes, I often double it and freeze the leftovers*1 lb. Hamburger 1 tsp. Garlic Salt 1/2 C. Chili Sauce 8oz Tomato Sauce 1/4 C. Brown Sugar 1 Tbsp. Mustard 1/2 tsp. Pepper Buns Instructions:Brown hamburger with added garlic salt.  Drain fat.  Add all ingredients (minus the buns…) and let simmer for 2-5 minutes.  Serve and Enjoy! Can be made ahead, or in a crock pot!

This was pretty good, I don't have a go to sloppy joe recipe so I found this on Pinterest. I liked it :)

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

I made this recipe today and it was really good. The Germans put shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas) on bread and it is delicious! I cut the sugar in half and added 1 cup wheat flour in place of some of the all-purpose flour. Here is the website I took it from: http://www.girlversusdough.com/2014/09/29/pumpkin-zucchini-bread/

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

AUTHOR: ADAPTED FROM SIX SISTERS' STUFF

PREP TIME:  10 MINS

COOK TIME:  50 MINS

TOTAL TIME:  1 HOUR

YIELDS: 2 9-BY-5-INCH LOAVES

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup rough-chopped pepitas, for topping (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 9-by-5-inch loaf pans (or spray with baking spray).
2. Place shredded zucchini in a colander. Cover with a layer of paper towels to absorb some of the liquid and set aside while you prepare the batter.
3. In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate large bowl, whisk together sugars, pumpkin, vegetable oil, vanilla and eggs until combined.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients; stir until just combined. Add zucchini and stir until just incorporated.
5. Divide batter evenly among prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle tops of loaves with pepitas, if desired. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Whole Grain Waffles with Peaches

I went on a girls' weekend last week and my friend made these waffles. We put sliced peaches and buttermilk syrup on top, and they were to die for. I fed them to Emrie for three straight meals the other day. They were so good!

Here is a link to the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whole-grain-waffles/

We used regular wheat flour and sweetened applesauce, so there were some minor differences, but they seriously are so good...especially if you have some extra peaches that you need to use up like I do!

Couscous Salad

Soon after we arrived in Germany our neighbors invited us to grill with them. Germans take their grilling very seriously. In the US there is usually only hot dogs and hamburgers at a BBQ. Here when there is a "BBQ" everyone brings their own meat to grill and salad to share. Our neighbor made this salad and I thought it was really good.

1 onion

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 cup water

1 cup couscous

2 tomatoes

2 bell peppers

3 green onions

1/2 bunch parsley

4 Tbsp oil

3 Tbsp lemon juice

salt, pepper, paprika to taste

lemon slices

Dice onion and saute in oil. Add tomato paste and water and bring to a boil. Cut tomatoes, peppers, green onions, parsley and mix with couscous. Add 4 Tbsp oil and 3 Tbsp lemon juice, salt, pepper, and paprika to taste.

On the side/on top of the couscous she served a yogurt garlic sauce. Basically just plain yogurt, minced garlic, and salt. Also, she squeezed fresh lemon on each individual serving. It was really good.