Blue Cheese and Bacon Mac n Cheese

Here's a nice change of pace for a more "grown up" mac and cheese. My boys also loved it.

8oz spiral pasta
5 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2T butter
3T grated white onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2T flour
2 cups milk
2oz. blue cheese, crumbled
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
1/4t nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
diced tomatoes (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Cook pasta according to directions. Meanwhile, melt 2T butter over medium heat in saucepan. Saute onion and garlic for 3 minutes. Add flour, whisk to combine and let cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk, breaking up any lumps. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat slightly, stirring frequently until sauce thickens. Slowly add cheeses and whisk until well melted. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

Drain pasta. Add to sauce. Add bacon, and stir to combine. Mixture will be a little soupy. This is good, as it will thicken while baking, but still be creamy and moist. Place pasta in a greased baking pan and bake for 25 minutes at 350 until top is bubbly.


I like to top with diced tomatoes. Enjoy!


Linked to the $5 Dinner Challenge

Creamy Spinach Orzo

This is one of those moments where I get to feel like I'm Sandra Lee. fWe have progressively moved to having fewer and fewer processed foods, but I do keep some things on hand for when I really need to cut the time down, but still have real nutritional value.

This side dish is sooo yummy and easy! The boys eat it up, too.

1/2 box orzo pasta
1 bag fresh spinach, chopped
1 cup of prepared alfredo sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2T lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
3T fresh grated parmesan

Bring water for pasta to a boil. Add pasta, and cook according to directions for al dente. With 4 minutes left in cooking, add spinach to pasta. Drain pasta and spinach, and return to pot. On low heat, add alfredo sauce, garlic, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Heat through, about 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with parmesan, and serve.

This recipe is linked to Our Krazy Kitchen's Simple Saturday. Check it out!

Lemon Shrimp With Angel Hair Pasta

1lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/3 cup of olive oil

2T butter

3 cloves of garlic, minced

dash of salt and pepper

juice from one large lemon

1T lemon rind

splash of white wine (optional)

½ cup chopped fresh parsley

fresh grated parmesan

1lb. angel hair pasta

Boil water to prepare pasta. In large skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil, butter, and garlic, and add shrimp to pan. Cook shrimp about 3-4 minutes until pink. Add pasta to water and cook according to instructions. Add lemon juice, lemon rind and wine (if using) to shrimp in skillet. Drain pasta, add to skillet and toss to coat. Add parsley and toss again. Serve with fresh parmesan.