You can't really mess up Mac & Cheese and will likely always have the ingredients on hand!

​Macadoo has always been my Mac n' Cheese fan and over the years I've made about as many different types as their are cheeses.  I always welcome his feedback and I think we've pretty much nailed it with this version.

Mac- aroni & Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 lb box of macaroni noodles - I prefer small (but not tiny) elbow noodles
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1 Tablespoon of flour (any kind is fine)
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 8 oz of shredded cheddar.  I prefer to shred my own or use thicker shreds like Tillamook.
• 4 oz (half block) of cream cheese softened and cubed
• 1/2 cup of grated parmesan 
• 2 teaspoons of dry mustard
• Salt and Pepper to taste.

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400°
• Cook macaroni al dente (subtract 2 minutes from suggested cooking time on box) and drain reserving pasta water.
• In a heavy skillet melt butter over medium heat and let it just begin to brown.
• Sprinkle flour over butter and gently stir to combine.
• Pour in heavy cream and stir well allowing to lightly simmer before lowering heat.
• Blend in all cheeses, stirring to combine.
• Add dry mustard, salt and pepper.
• Add noodles and stir well.
• The mixture shouldn't be too thick so add in a little pasta water if it is.
• Transfer to a greased casserole and bake in oven until top is bubbly and golden.

​Love,

Lasagna
Serves 4-6 and can easily be doubled for freezing

​Ingredients

• ​1 box of lasagna noodles cooked per box instructions
• 2 lb of ground beef
• 2 jars of spaghetti sauce - I like to use one nicer brand jar like Rao's or Newman's Own and one jar of Publix brand
• 2 - 8 ox bags of shredded mozzarella cheese - I prefer a nicer shred like tillamook or kraft with creamy philadephia blend
• 4 oz (1/2 of a block) cream cheese, cubed
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 400°
• Cook lasagna noodles according to box directions in a large pot and rinse under cool water after draining.  To avoid noodles sticking together put them back in a pot of cold water once they are cooled.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook ground beef that has been seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder, to taste; drain meat.
• Return meat to cleaned skillet and add in jars of sauce and cubes of cream cheese.
• Cook meat and sauce mixture on low and stir to incorporate cream cheese.
• In a deep casserole dish spray cooking spray in bottom of dish and spread about 1/2 cup of sauce onto bottom
• Begin making layers by shaking excess water off of noodles and laying in bottom of pan, slightly overlapping edge of noodles.
• On top of noodle layer add enough meat sauce to cover noodles, It's ok to see a little of the noodle.
• Next sprinkle mozzarella cheese onto sauce mixture
• Repeat layers until you have used all of the sauce.  You may have noodles leftover, this is when you want to roll one up and dip into the leftover sauce in the pan.  YUM!
• Top final layer with remaining shredded cheese and grated parmesan cheese.
• Spray the underside of a piece of aluminum foil and cover lasagna.  This will help the foil to not stick to the cheese as much.  Gently press down on the foil so that the lasagna layers are a bit more compact and dense.
• Bake covered for 30 minutes and then uncovered until cheese is bubbly and brown.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. 

TIP:  Once cooled off this can be placed in refrigerator for several days or frozen for up to 3 months.

Love,

This isn't a recipe per-se as much as an idea.  A fun, easy way to get the crowd involved and make their own "walking" tacos.

Walking Tacos

Ingredients

• Favorite Taco Toppings
  • Ground beef with taco seasoning
  • Chopped tomatoes
  • Shredded Cheese
  • Sour Cream
  • Salsa 
• Individually bagged chips like
  • Fritos
  • Doritos 

Directions

• Set out all toppings and let everyone add to their bag of chips of choice
• Walk around - of course 😂

Love,

When I think of this recipe I think of the 80's. Of riding my bike over to Anna's and then getting into an argument likely over barbies and storming home, of playing ghosts in the graveyard and the CBS nightly news playing on TV. 

It's truly the flagship recipe from my childhood and the fragrance of it cooking in our kitchen on Lantern Lane comes right back to me when I make it for my own crew.  This has always been a favorite of Emma especially!

I have to laugh when I really break it down as a recipe because it's in no way gourmet or even remotely healthy but it's so good and so easy! At some point after I was grown and flown, Grammy gave me this recipe and for years I followed it to a "T".  As I became more confident in the kitchen I started to tweak it just a bit to suit our tastes.  However, what I have now is very similar to the original I am sure with the addition of water chestnuts.  You can't serve this without the 80's mainstay chow mein noodles, if you do a cabbage patch kid loses their adoption papers. 😂

Pepper Steak
Serves 4 and can be doubled as needed

Ingredients

• 2 cups of cooked white rice
• 2 Tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil
• 1 1/2 lb. of good cut of steak for stir fry, ie flank steak, cut into 2-3" strips (The butcher will do this for you at no cost)
• 1 large white or yellow onion sliced and halved
• 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
• 1 can of sliced water chestnuts drained
• 1 packet of brown gravy mix
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of soy sauce
• 4 roma or plum tomatoes seeded and sliced
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Crunchy chow mein noodles

Directions

• Heat oil in heavy skillet and add meat that has been seasoned with salt and pepper
• Saute meat on medium high heat until no longer pink
• Add onion and bell pepper to skillet and cook until soft
• Mix water, soy sauce and gravy mix in a small bowl
• Add to meat mixture and turn heat to low
• Stir as sauce thickens
• Add water chestnuts
• Turn off heat and add in tomatoes, gently stirring to coat,
• Serve over hot white rice and chow mein noodles

I hope cooking this will also bring back fond memories for you!

​Love,

This dish is great for a weeknight meal because you can start the chicken in the crockpot and cook on low all day.  The chicken alone is so delicious and can be used for many other recipes.  

​White Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts (frozen if using crockpot) Click here to see instant pot method.​
• 1 small bottle of zesty italian salad dressing
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Salt & Pepper
• Pasta of choice (I use spaghetti)

Directions

• Spray crockpot with cooking spray and place frozen breasts in bottom
• Pour bottle of salad dressing over chicken
  
• Cover and cook on low for up to 6 hours
  
• Remove chicken from crockpot and shread or dice
  
• Cook pasta per instructions on packaging reserving pasta water
• In a saucepan add cream cheese, soup and spices and cook on low stirring to combine
  
• Once sauce is creamy add shredded chicken and spaghetti and stir to coat noodles
• If sauce is too thick add some of reserved pasta water to thin

Tip: Serve topped with crunchy chow mein noodles.

Love,

This soup has been a part of our Christmas tradition for many years.  It's so easy to make and perfect for a Christmas Eve dinner at home because it gets your belly full to sleep and wait on Santa.

Baked Potato Soup
Serves 6 and can easily be halved.
Cook time varies from 20 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes depending on how the potatoes are prepped.  I prefer baking them but you can also microwave them.

Ingredients

• 4 large baking potatoes
• 1/2 stick of salted butter
• 1 Tablespoon of flour​
• 4 cups of whole milk
• 8 oz. bag of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups of sour cream
• Salt & Pepper to taste

​Directions

• Bake or microwave potatoes
  • ​To bake, wrap potatoes in foil and bake in 450° oven for 1 hour or until they feel soft when squeezed.
  • To microwave, pierce potatoes with a fork and wrap in plastic wrap.  Microwave for 5 minutes and then turn potatoes and microwave for another 5.  They are done if they are soft when squeezed.
• Once potatoes are cooled, peel and discard peel.  Roughly chop potatoes and set aside.
• In a heavy sauce pan or dutch oven, melt butter over medium high heat,
• Allow butter to just begin to brown before sprinkling flour over the butter.  
• Stir butter and flour mixture and add milk stirring constantly.
• Reduce heat and allow mixture to begin to thicken while stirring gently.  The flour and butter will create the thick base for the soup so be sure to stir well so you don't get lumps.
• Add in potatoes, cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper and gently stir.
• If soup is too thick add a small amount of milk.
• Taste soup and see if you need more salt at this point.

Tips

• Serve soup in a hollowed out bread bowl or roll.
• Set up a topping bar with small bowls of shredded cheese, chopped green onion, sour cream and bacon pieces.

​Love,

I don't like to take shortcuts when cooking if it means flavor or quality are affected in any way, but please believe that I will cheat when possible!  These ribs are a family favorite and not only are they incredibly easy to make, clean up is a breeze!

Oven BBQ Ribs
Serves 4 and can be increased to any amount needed
Cooktime approximately 4-5 hours

Ingredients​

• 1 slab of pork bbq ribs thawed (country ribs will work as well)
• 4-5 Tablespoons of of bbq seasoning (I use various brands but lean towards sweeter, smoky ingredients).
• 1 small bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce
• Shallow oven safe pan filled with water

Directions

• Preheat oven to 250°
• Place pan of water on bottom oven shelf
• Line a large cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray
• Liberally rub bbq seasoning on back and front of ribs and place on cookie sheet
• Lightly cover with foil
• Place Ribs on center rack of oven
• Bake for several hours until meat separates from bone
• Remove from oven and liberally brush bbq sauce onto ribs
• Return to oven uncovered and bake for another 20-30 minutes at 350°.

Tips

• Make your own bbq seasoning by blending brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and cayenne.
• Add liquid smoke or Dale's marinade to the shallow pan of water.  This water will steam the ribs while cooking so they don't dry out.
• Serve with warm buttered bread or corn muffins, hot buttered corn on the cob and salad for a simple but filling meal!

​

Love,

This delicious dish is so easy to make , but tastes like you're dining out! It is one of those meals that I tend to forget about, but when I make it it's always a hit.  And it's SO simple too!

​Creamy Sundried Tomato Tortellini
Serves 4 and takes less than 15 minutes to make

Ingredients

• 1 bag of frozen cheese tortellini (approx 16 oz)
• 1 package of ground sweet italian sausage
• 1 small jar of sundried tomatoes in oil chopped finely (drain and reserve 1 Tablespoon of oil)
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• 1 Tablespoon of flour
• 2 cups of heavy cream
• 1 cup of grated parmesan
• Pinch of red pepper flakes (to taste)

Directions

• Bring a pot of salted water to boil, once it comes to boil add frozen tortellini. Once the pasta floats, remove from heat and drain.  Be sure to reserve some of the pasta water by placing a bowl under the strainer in sink.
• While water comes to a boil; In a large skillet saute crushed garlic clove in the reserved sundried tomato oil. 
• Cook garlic until it begins to brown, and then add sausage and stir, cooking until no pink shows.  
• Sprinkle flour over the sausage mixture and stir.  
• Next pour cream into pan and stir and add in sundried tomatoes
• Sprinkle parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes over sausage mixture and combine.
• Once pasta is drained add to the pot and combine.  If the sauce is too thick, add a little of your reserved pasta water.
• Garnish each serving with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Love,

Rice doesn't always need to just be a part of another dish, it stands alone very well.  There's nothing more comforting than hot white rice with butter, salt and pepper.  I remember being very young and Grammy making me a bowl of hot buttered rice and I sat in my PJ's in front of the TV.  I thought it was just about the greatest thing ever.

Cooking rice can be so intimidating!  There are so many types of rice and it's so easy to accidentally over or under cook rice. This technique works every time for me.  I am including a stove top option as well as instant pot.   Most recipes will tell you to use a 1:2 ration for rice to water.  Since I rinse my rice I adjust for this extra moisture.

Note: I prefer using Jasmine white rice, but also like using long grain rice.

Cooked white rice
serves up to 4 and can be doubled or halved

• 2 cups of uncooked white rice 
• 3 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon of salt

Instant Pot Directions:
This is my preferred method for cooking rice. 
Place rice in a strainer or collander and rinse well.  This will remove the starch from the rice and keep it from getting too mushy.  I use a small sifting strainer for this and just let the water run over the rice for a minute.  You can also soak the rice and then rinse, but be sure to get as much water off the rice as possible.
Add rice, water and salt to the instant pot and close the lid making sure your rubber seal is intact.  Turn the vent to lock in place.  Press the rice button and then subtract 2 minutes from the cook time.  Once the instant pot has counted down, manually release the steam by placing a thick towel or oven mit over the valve and turning to open it.  Once the valve releases open the lid and stir rice.

Stove top Directions:
Place rice in a strainer or collander and rinse well.  This will remove the starch from the rice and keep it from getting too mushy.  I use a small sifting strainer for this and just let the water run over the rice for a minute.  You can also soak the rice and then rinse, but be sure to get as much water off the rice as possible.

If cooking on the stove top, bring your water and salt to boil in a pot that is 3 times as high as the water reached. Add the rice turning the heat down to medium - medium to high so that it doesn't boil over.  Once boiling, cover your pot with the lid and do not remove the lid until your rice has cooked for 15 minutes.  Turn off the heat and allow your rice to rest with the lid on for another 2-3 minutes.  If you remove the lid too soon you will lose much needed moisture so as tempting as it is, leave that lid on.  When it's time, remove the lid and fluff rice with a fork.

Love,

Savannah Red Rice is a traditional southern dish that some compare to red beans and rice.  I personally think they are VERY different but I also don't like RB&R. Savannah red rice is packed with bright smokey flavor and a touch of heat.  When I am not feeling well, this is one of the first things I crave as comfort food. This dish gets a bad rep in our home because there was a time in 2020 when I was very sick and it is literally all I ate.  Every.  Single.  Day.  Hopefully enough time has passed that this one can get some air time again.

Like most of my favorite recipes this is a version of another recipe that I liked but tweaked over the years to make it exactly what I wanted.  I first made a version from my beloved Mrs. Wilke's cookbook.  I didn't care for the addition of bacon and bell pepper so over time I got it to exactly how I like, and I have to say I think it's so much better. (gasps). My version is very similar to my Shrimp Etouffee that I also love to make.

Note: I always use Conecuh brand sausage when available because not only is it delicious, but this is a brand from Alabama that we love to support.

Savannah Red Rice
Serves 6-8 people and can easily be halved

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of cooked white rice
• 1 pack of Conecuh brand smoked sausage chopped into 1/2-1" slices.
• 1 large yellow onion diced
• 1/2 head of celery diced, leaves removed.
• 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1-2 Tablespoons of Frank's Red Hot Sauce
• 4 Tablespoons of butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 375°
• Cook rice and set aside
• In a large, heavy skillet sauté sausage, onion and celery until celery is translucent
• To your pan add cooked rice, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste and stir
• Add salt, pepper and hot sauce stirring well
• Allow to simmer for 5 minutes and add in butter.  Stir well.
• Remove from heat and place in pre-heated oven.  If your skillet isn't oven safe, transfer to a casserole dish
• Bake for 30 minutes and then remove from oven and allow to cool.

This dish keeps well in the fridge for a few days, but doesn't freeze well sadly.

​Love,