Monthly Archives: September 2010

recipe: baked mac & cheese

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On Monday I thought it would be exciting to bring home some mac & cheese from the local deli for dinner. It wasn’t as exciting as I’d imagined, which is hard to believe because it’s MAC & CHEESE! It turns out that all the yellow gooey visual goodness that initially made my mouth water didn’t taste so appealing. It wasn’t real cheese! But one good thing that came out of it was the idea for my dinner creation this week.

In an effort to use what was in the pantry, we used a mixture of Conchiglioni and Trottole shells because we were out of Macaroni. The recipe called for three different types of cheeses and  cubes of processed cheese food. Still not sure what that is but we substituted it for a fourth cheese of our liking. It also asked for half-and-half but we used milk.

While the baked Mac & Cheese was cooling, Mark sauteed shrimp with olive oil and basil. It took less than 5 minutes and tasted delicious!

I put together a little salad and we had one AMAZING meal! (Not to mention great left overs for lunch today!)

Ingredients

  • vegetable oil
  • 1 package elbow macaroni (or pasta of your choice)
  • 9 tablespoons butter
  • Shredded Muenster cheese
  • Shredded Cheddar cheese
  • Shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
  • Shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • Shredded Pepper Jack cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 2 eggs, beaten (I would suggest only one)
  • salt and pepper

Directions

  1. Cook pasta as directed or until al dente.
  2. Melt 8 tablespoons butter; stir into the macaroni.
  3. In a large bowl, combine all four cheeses.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  5. Add the milk, cheese mixture, and eggs to macaroni; mix together and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a lightly greased deep 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with more of the cheese mixture and 1 tablespoon of butter.
  6. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes or until hot and bubbling around the edges; serve.

Delightful. Delectable. Simply Delish.

Bon Appétit!


keepin’ it old school

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Here is my little vintage camera collection. It began in a thrift store with my friend Myan. She convinced me that the Brownie at the top was a treasure I couldn’t pass up… and she was in deed correct! That little thing has followed me from HS to College, all around DFW, and now all the way to AZ to finally be joined by friends. My husband has an appreciate for great things like vintage cameras and has since helped me build my collection! He purchased the Polaroid SX-70 for my birthday last year and the last four from a garage sell! I also came across an awesome Etsy page that sells vintage cameras; but there is just something about finding them expectantly that makes them extra special.  We plan to one day have an entire book shelf dedicated to our cameras. For now we have these five gems, in our future we dream to have a collection such as this:

Photo via HILDA GRAHNAT

Oh what I would do to get my hands on all those! <3 One day.



http://www.etsy.com/shop/Canemah

Blockage.

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I have writers block. I think it’s a combination of being in a BLAH kind of mood and the fact that I saw a movie like Catfish and now I’m totally paranoid about who reads my blog.

I have so much to write about and I don’t know where to even begin.

Here are the multiple topics that are flying through my mind right now.

    • When I’m trying to be mad at Mark he makes me laugh. I can’t stand it that I can’t stay mad for more than 5 seconds.
    • Why are kisses on the forehead so comforting?
    • My new five fingers.
    • Our amazing weekends.
    • Phoenix Marathon.
    • Photo Strap Buddy.
    • Book Club.
    • Fine Dining – and the not so fine.
    • M does not stand for Martha. My multiple failed Herb Garden attempts.
    • Why do I even bother to blog?
    • Catfish.
    • Chicana-ism
    • Pimp Rides.

      As you can see I got weeks worth of stuff to write about and I just can’t seem to post anything. Quite the frustrating situation.

      the thwarted writer,

      me2

      recipe: ceviche

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      In an effort to become the wife I always imagined in my head I would be, I’m trying to learn how to cook. Don’t get me wrong. I can follow a recipe but I want to be one of those Mexican women that can cook for their family of 3-6 or their extended family of 50+, like BAM DONE! And it rocks! Yea, that kind of woman. (Cooking of course only being one aspect of the woman I am molding myself into, not the end all to be all; but a strong start.)

      That’s a long way off though. Right now I’m trying to focus on feeding two. Which would be slightly easy if my husband wasn’t an amazing cook that somehow can make a gourmet dinner when I insist there is no food in the kitchen. Yea, he’s one of those people.

      Through my journey to become America’s Next Master Chef, or at least to avoid serving food out of a can on a daily basis I decided to share my best results (and maybe some not so good results).

      INGREDIENTS:

      white fish
      large limes (I used these today but Mark prefer key limes)
      diced fresh tomato
      white onion, finely chopped
      chopped jalapeño pepper
      chopped cilantro
      salt to taste
      avocado (can be chopped into like I did today or cut in slices for the side) (optional)
      Tostadas (other options corn chips, crackers, ect)

      “DIRECTIONS” - I use this term loosely

      First cut the white fish into bite size squares. I went for around a 1×1 cube-ish cut. Then in a medium bowl, I  covered the fish with the lime juice.

      Add some salt and let it chill (pun intended) in the fridge for 1 hour or until fish are opaque. (If you didn’t know lime juice cooks fish. Pretty cool, huh?!).

      Once the fish is cooked mix the tomato, onion, jalapeño, and salt to taste.

      Cover the bowl and chill ceviche in the refrigerator again until ready to serve. I waited to add the cilantro til I was about to serve it so that the leaves still looked fresh.

      I served my first ceviche dish creation on a plate with two tostadas, but I’ve seen it served pretty fancy. I think I’ll serve it in a margarita glass next time. Maybe served with a little white wine! YUM! Whatever it’s served on, in the end it’s delicious!

      Things I might change: a bit more salt. More lime juice so the fish is completely covered before I put in in the fridge. More tomatoes to make the onions less strong. Overall, I’m very satisfied with my dish and I got my husband’s thumbs up! Besides what was mentioned, next time I make it I will focus more on serving it with better presentation.(And the photos will be better!)

      Any suggestions on how I could tweak this recipe or any other recipes I should try feel free to share!

      ¡Buen Provecho!
      ME2

      I never win.

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      I never win. As exciting as the path to my losses may be. In the end I never win.

      Via @SF_49ers #49ers deflect Harlety’s FG attempt, but it manages to go in for a Saints win 25-22.

      It came down to that, the last two seconds. But it was a fun trip! And who can I blame except myself for my amazing selection strategy! I totally forgot the Saints JUST won the Super Bowl! If you’ve read my previous posts about how I hate football HERE or about how this weekend’s battle with the husband ended in a tie which led us to decide to take it to OT HERE; then you know what happens now.

      I'm pretty sure that's what he was saying...

      This woman here will be riding her bike to work for the rest of the week! 6.5 miles there and 6.5 miles back! That’s a sweet 13 miles each day!!! EEK!

      And as a good friend just pointed out “…and now [I] too have been sucked in to the mighty power of the ‘F’ word.”

      CAUSE NEXT WEEK IT’S ON!
      HOUSTON TEXANS
      VS
      DALLAS COWBOYS