Stove Top Mac and Cheese

 

I am always on the look out for a good mac and cheese recipe. Back in December I had posted my grandmother’s mac and cheese, but I do like trying different ones. A few weeks back I bought a 2 quart cast iron dutch oven as a birthday gift for myself. That got me thinking, why couldn’t I make some of that cheesey goodness in this little cast iron pot. So this was my own stove top version.

 

You will need:

some elbow noodles of course ( shells might be pretty nifty as well), milk, evaporated milk, mustard, an egg, paprika, salt and shredded cheese. I used a blend of cheddar and colby/monterray jack cheese.

In a bowl pour in 1 cup of the evaporated milk and 1/2 C. of milk.

Add in an egg…..

some mustard…..

and paprika.

Whisk it all together.

In a large bowl add the cheese.

Pour the milk mixture over the cheese, add salt to taste and mix well.

Boil noodles until halfway done. This will ensure that the noodles do not become too over cooked later.

Drain noodles and add to the bowl with the milk and cheese mixture; gently stir to mix.

Coat dutch oven with a thin layer of butter.

Pour the macaroni mixture in to the dutch oven.

Turn the heat to high just until mixture starts to bubble, then cover and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

 

Stove Top Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

8 oz. box of elbow macaroni
1 C. evaporated milk
1/2 C. milk
1 egg
1 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. paprika
2 C. of shredded cheddar and colby/monterray jack cheese blend
salt to taste
butter to grease the dutch oven

Directions:

In a bowl whisk together evaporated milk, milk, egg, mustard and paprika.

In a larger bowl add the cheese. Pour the milk mixture over the cheese, add salt to taste and mix well.

Boil noodles until halfway done. This will ensure that the noodles do not become too over cooked later. Drain noodles and add to the bowl with the milk and cheese mixture; gently stir to mix.

Coat dutch oven with a thin layer of butter. Pour the macaroni mixture in to the dutch oven. Turn the heat to high just until mixture starts to bubble, then cover and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook about 30 minutes.

Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken Hashbrown Bake

Pintrest has become a bit of an addiction for me. Last week as I was glancing at the delicious recipes there, I came across this one that looked rather interesting: Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole. Who doesn’t love anything that’s smothered in cheese, toss in some bacon and I’m drooling. Not to mention the ease of throwing it all in the slow cooker. So this is my spin on this recipe. I’m still tweaking it a bit, but this seemed to be a winner with hubby, so that’s a thumbs up in my book.

Here’s what you need:

 

skinless chicken tenders (boneless, skinless chicken breasts will work also), onion powder, garlic powder, salt, cracked pepper, shredded hash browns, milk, shredded cheese ( I used a blend of sharp cheddar, american and mozzarella plus some Colby jack) and bacon.

First off you need to crisp up some of that beautiful bacon. You can fry the strips in the pan, but when I need to cook a lot of bacon at one time, I like doing it in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cooling rack with no stick spray, then place the cooling rack on top of the baking sheet. Place the bacon on the cooling rack. I used about 7 slices. Cook for about 15 minutes or longer depending on how crispy you like your bacon.

Let it cool….

then crumble into pieces and place in a bowl; set aside
Yes, I did steal a few bites of bacon. What can I say, I’m weak when it comes to this stuff.

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces.

Place the chicken pieces into a large bowl and sprinkle with salt……

then the pepper…..

then the onion powder and garlic powder.

Toss the chicken to coat…yes I used my hands. You can use a spoon if you prefer.

Spray the bottom of the slow cooker with no stick spray. Place enough hashbrowns to cover the bottom.

 

Place 1/2 of the bacon pieces on top of the hashbrowns.

Sprinkle some of the cheese over the bacon.

Next, add all of the chicken pieces on top of the cheese.

Add more cheese…..

then the rest of that yummy bacon.

Then yep, you guessed it, another layer….of hashbrowns. My this is a lot of layers.

Sprinkle more cheese on top of the hashbrowns.

Pour the milk over the cheese.

Cover and cook on low for 4 1/2 to 5 hours.

Enjoy!

 

Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken Hashbrown Bake

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen hashbrowns
Bacon pieces
1 Ib. boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders, cut into bite size pieces
1 Tbs. onion powder or more to taste
1 Tsp. garlic powder or more to taste
salt and cracked ppepper to taste
1C. Milk
1C. shredded cheddar cheese or any other desired kind

Directions:

Crisp about 6 or more strips of bacon and tear into pieces; set aside. Place chicken pieces in a large bowl. Sprinkle with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper; toss to coat.
Spray the bottom of a slow cooker with no stick spray. Place enough hasbrowns to cover the bottom. Place 1/2 of the bacon pieces ontop of the hasbrowns, then layer about 1/3 of the cheese.

Next, add all of the chicken pieces on top of the cheese. Add another 1/3C. of the cheese, then sprinkle in the rest of the bacon. Now add another layer of the hashbrowns. Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese ontop, then pour the milk over the cheese.

Cover and cook on low for 4 1/2 to 5 hours.