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Asparagus Mac & Cheese

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A great Homemade Mac & Cheese recipe is a must in every kitchen – IMO! And once you have a solid one, you can start to play around with what you add into it to make it more fun, fancy, or flavorful. This go around I am going to add in some asparagus and BACON! to make Asparagus Mac & Cheese a new favorite in your house.

The made-from-scratch sauce is a huge part of this meal – and it really is super simple. Making sauces from scratch is what Home Cookin’ is all about. If you can whisk – you can make this velvety sauce. And once you have the process down you can change it up with different cheeses, different seasoning and different flavors. Sometimes I add in some lemon juice to give it brighter flavor or I add in some paprika to give it a little kick.

You might be thinking – is this just a side dish? The answer is NO Asparagus Mac & Cheese is not meant to be a side dish – but it could be if you wanted. You could serve it with some baked chicken or grilled shrimp or maybe a pork tenderloin. But trust me when I say this recipe is enough to make a meal out of it. And every other week I try to do a ~mostly meatless~ option for dinner! I can’t get away with no meat at all with my houseful of carnivores, but bacon usually placates them. I usually put out a nice simple green salad (lettuce, cucumbers, cheese, tomatoes, croutons and dressing of choice).

If you like this recipe and want more like it you can purchase the Homemade on a Weeknight Cookbook in Paperback or Kindle (eBook) versions through Amazon to get over 100 more recipes developed by me!

Now Let’s Get Cookin’

Asparagus Mac & Cheese

Adding Asparagus and BACON to a delicious made from scratch cheese sauce makes this dinner a winner!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword asparagus, bacon, mac & cheese, Pasta, pasta dishes

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Servings

Ingredients

1½ lb Short Pasta rotini, shells, elbows, penne
1 lb Asparagus cut in 2-in pieces
1 lb Bacon cut in 1/2-in pieces
3 tbsp Butter
3 tbsp Flour AP or Whole Wheat
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 cup Heavy Cream
1½ cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese shredded
½ cup Parmesan Cheese shredded
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tbsp Parsley

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Instructions

Prepare all of the ingredients. Start water boiling for pasta
In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add bacon pieces. Cook until crispy and remove to a plate with a paper towel.
Add pasta to boiling water and cook as directed on the package. In the last 2 minutes of cook time add the asparagus to the boiling water. Drain in colander and rinse with cool water to arrest cooking process then return to pot.
While the past is cooking, in a separate saucepan over medium heat, add butter and garlic powder. Cook until butter is completely melted then whisk in flour and cook for 2-3 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth and cook for 3 minutes more. Whisk in heavy cream and cook 3 minutes more. Add salt and begin to add cheese by the handful, stirring regularly, until all is added. Then stir in parsley.
Pour sauce over cooked pasta and asparagus and combine well. Stir in half of cooked bacon. Serve in a pasta dish with a sprinkle of remaining bacon on top.

Estelle Forrest self-published this cookbook after a lot of playing around in the kitchen. You can purchase your own copy here:

AVAILABLE IN PRINT OR KINDLE eBOOK VERSIONS

Don’t miss new recipes from Homemade on a Weeknight – subscribe and get an email with every new post!

Make Ahead Egg Bites

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There are so many wonderful things about these Make Ahead Egg Bites. You can make lots of different kinds all at the same time. They travel very well, so you can make them the night before and eat them for breakfast on the way to school or work. You can also freeze them so they are great for making ahead for camping trips. And they are super – SUPER – easy to make!

I use this pan from Pampered Chef called the Brownie Bites Pan. It is so perfect for this recipe but also so much more. But if you don’t have this pan – don’t despair – you can use a regular cupcake/muffin pan.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400F. Start with a dozen eggs (mine are from my backyard chickens – you don’t have to use brown eggs, if you prefer white). Crack them all into a mixing bowl and whisk together. Add in 1 tsp Sea Salt and 1 tsp Black Pepper.

Step 2: Evenly divide the mixed eggs into the your Bites or Muffin pan. You want to be sure not fill each space more than half way – once you add the mix-ins it will be full.

Step 3: Pick your mix-ins. You can make the whole pan the same, or make every single bite different. I usually like to make 3 varieties (resulting in 4 each). You can really use just about anything. I try to do a cheese, a veggie and then either a meat or second veggie. For this batch I went with 1) Bacon Jalapeno Cheddar, 2) Swiss Onion Ham and 3) Mozzarella Spinach Sweet Pepper.

Step 4: Add a few pinches of each mix-in to each bite/muffin slot. Then use a fork to combine it a little.

Step 5: Place the pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. You will be able to see which slots you over filled – but they will all be tasty I promise!

Step 6: Remove to a cooling rack. If eating right away – serve it up! If saving for the next day, let cool and then put in a storage container and into the fridge. You can reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds. If you are planning to freeze them for a later date, let them cool completely then place in a freezer bag. To reheat frozen ones, you need to microwave for 1 minutes.

My kids absolutely love these – especially since they can all have their “own kind”. I love that they are getting protein and veggies in! These are great for breakfast but also make an awesome afternoon snack too.

If you like this recipe – check back on the blog feed often or maybe just subscribe so you never miss a new post!

Creamy Red Enchiladas

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Every kitchen needs a great enchilada recipe. This one is mine! Creamy Red Enchiladas are so tasty and super versatile. You can make them with any type of filling – shredded chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, or cheese. You can also get extra fancy with fillings like cream cheese with green chilies and shredded chicken or Greek yogurt with shredded beef and jalapenos.

The homemade sauce is the real star of this dish – and it’s really simple to make. Like I have said so many times – sauces from scratch are amazing and super easy! Stop reaching for the cans and jars and make your own sauces!

In our house, we rotate between enchiladas and tacos almost every week. When you make it that often you start to get creative. This recipe started as wanting to learn to make regular enchilada sauce from scratch. I always thought the stuff from a can has a “tinny” flavor to it so I didn’t want to use it often. One I had figured out how to make the regular red enchilada sauce (you can find that recipe in the cookbook too!), I started to play around with it and came up with this Creamy Red Sauce variation.

I usually pair these with a simple side of rice and beans (another recipe you can find in the cookbook!). But it also would be great with a Southwest style side salad to add some veggies to the mix. They also freeze nicely if you want to make this ahead of time (prepare as directed and let cool complete then wrap for freezing). And if you are lucky enough to have leftovers – they make excellent lunch the next day!

Creamy Red Enchiladas

If enchiladas are not already a staple on your family dinner table, you have been missing out. This recipe gives a great variation on the classic dish by adding a layer of creaminess to the homemade enchilada sauce. It is also super versatile because you can use any meat you like, or you can just fill your tortillas with cheese.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword creamy enchiladas, dinner, enchilada recipes, enchiladas

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Servings

Ingredients

1 15oz Tomato Sauce
1 qt Chicken Bone Broth
3 tbsp Avocado Oil
1 cup Sour Cream
3 Garlic Clove minced
½ White Onion minced
2 tsp Smoked Paprika
2 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Coarse Black Pepper
12-15 Tortillas (Flour or Corn) taco sized
1 lb Filling of Choice chicken, beef, pork or cheese
2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese shredded

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Instructions

Prepare all of the ingredients. Preheat Oven to 375 deg
In a saucepan over medium high heat, add oil, onion, and garlic, and cook for 3 minutes. Add the Broth, and all the seasonings. Whisk together until all the oil is incorporated and let it cook for 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and slowly whisk in the Tomato Sauce. Once a smooth sauce, let it come just to a bubble. Using a slotted spoon, remove any larger pieces of onion and garlic that did not break down. Then reduce heat to low and simmer while you prepare your enchiladas.
Fill each tortilla with desired meat and small amount of cheese (or all cheese) and line them up in a 13×9 baking dish.
Whisk in the sour cream into the red sauce. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes then pour over your pan of enchiladas. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of the sauce. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cook about 5 minutes before serving.

This recipe is from the Ethnic Adventures Section of the cookbook. You can purchase the Homemade on a Weeknight Cookbook in Paperback or Kindle (eBook) versions through Amazon to get all of the recipes from the Ethnic Adventures collection.

Don’t miss new recipes from Homemade on a Weeknight – subscribe and get an email with every new post!

Chicken Burrito Bowls (video)

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This is what I call a “cheater dinner” because all you actually have to cook up is rice. I use a rotisserie chicken from my grocer’s deli to make this super quick meal of Chicken Burrito Bowls for my family. And by saying quick I am not exaggerating at all – the whole thing takes less than 20 minutes to be ready – it takes less than a minute to build each bowl (trust me I filmed it for this video!).

You can make burrito bowls a million different ways – you can use different proteins – like the Shrimp Burrito Bowl you will find in the Homemade on a Weeknight Cookbook (available in Paperback or Kindle versions). You can use different types of salsa – like the basic one in this video, or you could do mango or pineapple salsa. Or you can use Black Beans or Pinto Beans. Also you could add cheese or sour cream. You can add lettuce or not. I mean, really, you can do a lot when it comes to burrito bowls.

The basic premise of Chicken Burrito Bowls is that it has everything a burrito has without the tortilla. This video uses a basic salsa mixed with black beans and corn. A simple rice preparation using chicken broth instead of water (it gives it so much more flavor). And rotisserie chicken mixed with a few spices to give it more flavor.

Plating is huge part of this dish. You have to start with the right bowl – I, personally, love these super classic and just white bowls from Corelle. They are the perfect size and depth for all dishes that need to be plated in something more than a plate but not quite a full bowl.

What’s great about burrito bowls is they are a great carb cutting meal and you can totally customize them to each persons likes and dislikes. You will notice in the video that I made two without avocado for myself and my oldest son because we just don’t care for it. If you love to have you dinner all in one bowl – you should check out the Soups, Salads & Bowls section of the Homemade on a Weeknight Cookbook.

What do you like to put into your burrito bowls?

Estelle Forrest self-published this cookbook after a lot of playing around in the kitchen. You can purchase your own copy here:

AVAILABLE IN PRINT OR KINDLE eBOOK VERSIONS

Don’t miss new recipes from Homemade on a Weeknight – subscribe and get an email with every new post!

Featured on Happy Now Blog

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So exciting to be one of the Host picks on the Happy Now Blog Link-up Party this week! Thank you so much Jen from JENerrally Informed for selecting my Caesar Salad Burger as you favorite recipe from the last week!

It is so exciting to get featured on other people’s blogs. Especially for something you are so proud of! I have been obsessed with burgers lately and loved this one so very much. I am actually working on a Burger Collection that I will post soon!

Here is the recipe card for the Caesar Burger in case you missed it!

Caesar Burger

Putting the classic flavors of Caesar Salad on a Bun

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword burger, dinner, hamburger, main dish

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Servings

Ingredients

For the Burger

2 lb Ground Beef
1 Egg beaten
3 Garlic Cloves minced
½ cup Parmesan Cheese shredded
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Coarse Black Pepper
6 Brioce Hamburger Buns
4 tbsp Butter
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Parsley

For the Salad

2 Romaine Hearts chopped
½ cup Parmesan Cheese Shredded
½ cup Caesar Dressing
1 tsp Coarse Black Pepper

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Instructions

Prepare all of the ingredients. Preheat Grill to 400deg. Preheat oven to 450deg
In a mixing bowl, combine ingredients for the burgers (beef, Parmesan, egg, garlic, salt and pepper). Then shape into patties roughly 3½ inches wide by ¾ inch tall.
Once the grill is heated up, put burgers on and cook for 8-10 minutes on each side. Remove from grill and let rest at least 5 minutes before building burgers.
While the burgers are grilling, place buns, face up, on a cookie sheet. Combine melted butter, garlic powder and parsley and brush on to buns. Put in oven for 8 minutes (or until golden toasted)
In a salad bowl, combine the ingredient for the salad and place in fridge until ready to build burgers.
To build the burger, simple take bottom bun, top with burger, then some of the Caesar salad and the top bun. Enjoy!

Notes

You can also pan fry the burgers if you don’t have a grill. Use a medium-high heat pan with about a tbsp of oil. Same cook time.

Citrus & Herb Whipped Cauliflower (video)

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Summer time calls for bright and light meals that can be made quickly and go well with anything on the BBQ. When I think bright and light, citrus flavors always come to mind first. And this is how I developed this Citrus & Herb Whipped Cauliflower.

I actually got the inspiration from one of our very favorite places to eat out – 10 Barrel Brewery. My husband had ordered a meal that came with Citrus Mashed Potatoes and he absolutely loved them. So I took a few bites in an effort to work out the flavor profile. Then I decided that I wanted to make it a little healthier by doing it with Cauliflower instead of potatoes and I think I totally nailed it with this one!

This side dish would go so good with this Caesar Salad Burger (full recipe)! You will get so much flavor and brightness with the zesty citrus of the cauliflower and the salty goodness of the Parmesan cheese in the burger.

The key to making great whipped cauliflower is using an immersion blender (this is the one I have). It really breaks the cauliflower down and mixes in the liquids well so that you get a smooth and creamy consistency – something you just can’t get by hand. You can also use a blender to get the same results, but you have to do it in smaller batches, which can make you lose your consistent flavor over the whole dish.

If you like this recipe and want to get more like it, you can purchase the Homemade on a Weeknight Cookbook in Paperback or Kindle (eBook) versions through Amazon.

Now let’s get cookin’!

Citrus & Herb Whipped Cauliflower

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword caulfiflower, citrus, Side Dish, side dish ideas, whipped cauliflower

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Equipment

Immersion Blender

Ingredients

2 heads Cauliflower cut into florets
3 tbsp Butter melted
1 Lemon zest & juice
1 Lime zest & juice
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp White Pepper
⅔ cup Heavy Cream
½ cup Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley chopped

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Instructions

Prepare all of the ingredients.
In a large pot, bring enough water to boil to cover cauliflower. Once at a full rolling boil, add the cauliflower, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Drain in colander, then transfer to mixing bowl.
Using an immersion blender, begin to whip the cauliflower for 2-3 minutes (until larger chunks are gone). Then add in lemon zest, lime zest, butter, salt and pepper. Whip another 2-3 minutes to combine well. Then add in lemon juice, lime juice, and heavy cream. Whip until you reach a creamy consistency. Using a serving spoon, fold in parsley.

Don’t miss new recipes from Homemade on a Weeknight – subscribe and get an email with every new post!

Weekly Meal Planner – Week 2

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A Meal Planner is a part of my weekly routine. I sit down each Sunday and create my meal plan for my family so that I have one less thing to worry about!

Each week I will be sharing one Weekly Meal Planner each Sunday to help you get a jump start on your meal planning. I also want to provide you with the blank version of the Meal Planner so that you can make your own menu using other recipes (egads!) than those from my cookbook! Maybe even incorporate some of the free recipes I provide right here on this blog

Hopefully by now you have purchased your copy of the Homemade on a Weeknight Cookbook – if you haven’t you can get it as a Paperback or an eBook on Amazon! All of the full recipes for these meals are found in the cookbook. As mentioned in the cookbook, you can easily create weekly mean plans by simply selecting a recipe from each of the five categories in the book:

Here is the free printable Blank Homemade on a Weeknight Meal Planner (pdf):

HomemadeonaWeeknight-Meal-Planner-Blank Download

Homemade on a Weeknight Blank Menu Planner

And here is this week’s Meal Plan!

HomemadeonaWeeknight-Meal-Planner-Wk2 Download

This Week’s Meal Planner

Parma Rosa

Pork Chops in Dijon Sauce

Korean Beef Bowl

Chopped Cobb Salad

Chicken Salad Sandwiches (get the full recipe here!)

Why Meal Plan?

To be honest, unless you live alone, you are probably in need to meal plans each week. Whether you use them to decide who is cooking on which nights, or just so that you can better plan out your grocery list – they are a huge time saver. And for my family it serves as a reminder of what might be going on that evening. My kiddos know that if the dish is more involving then we probably don’t have anything on the calendar for that night. Conversely, if it is one of my super quick dishes, then they better see who has a game or concert or if we are going to a movie or something.

Salsa Chicken – try it for dinner tonight!

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This cheesy chicken dish is seriously a fiesta in your mouth. The fresh and chunky salsa you put right on top of the chicken infuses so much flavor into the chicken and then topping it with a layer of mozzarella – just WOW! This dish is so tasty and pretty to boot! Salsa Chicken is going to make the top of your weekly meal plan rotation!

You can use the Salsa portion of the recipe to make a quick fresh Salsa for Taco night too. You may want to add some salt if you are going to us it on it’s own. That helps to break down the tomatoes a little which helps to mingle the flavors better. Baking it with the chicken has the same effect, that’s why you don’t need the extra salt.

Sometimes I serve this with Rice & Beans (there is a recipe that I use in the Homemade on a Weeknight Cookbook) or you could do a Southwest style salad or even just over white rice.

This dish is pretty mild in terms of spiciness – mostly because it’s for the whole family to eat. But it still packs some bold flavors. You can kick it up a few notches by not taking out the seeds like I did. You can see my whole method in the video below.

By using mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar, you knock the calorie count down as well. And adding that super food fresh avocado on the side makes it a healthy dinner choice for sure.

This recipe can be found in the Healthier Fare section of my cookbook – Homemade on a Weeknight (which is available from Amazon in either Paperback or Kindle versions). If you are looking for more recipes for your family – definitely get yourself a copy asap!

Now let’s get cookin’

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Featured on The Weekend Potluck!

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It is any food blogger/cookbook author’s dream to have one of their recipes featured on a hugely popular site. And today that happened to me!!! The Country Cook hosts the Weekend Potluck along with South Your Mouth, Sweet Little Bluebird and Served up with Love. And this week I was one of the Recipes that Caught their eye with my Turkey Club Wraps!

This is so exciting and encouraging and I am so grateful to be included! This recipes is such a family favorite in my home and it’s super versatile. They work so well for lunches too because they really travel well.

You can use the basic concept of these wraps to make a vast variety of wraps with whatever you have on hand – they don’t have to be Turkey Club Wraps every time. The cream cheese and the combo of veggies and meat are the essentials – after that you can go wild with ingredients. Some great things to try are Chicken Strips, Alfalfa Sprouts, Ham, Cucumbers, Bell Peppers, Ranch Dressing, Grilled Chicken, Avocado, Romaine Lettuce, Carrots, Steak strips…the list goes on and on. They also make a great meal to use of leftovers.

If you haven’t had a chance to see the Turkey Club Wrap Video yet, here it is!

Turkey Club Wrap

If you like this recipe and want to get more like it, you can purchase the Homemade on a Weeknight Cookbook in Paperback or Kindle (eBook) versions through Amazon.

Beer Battered Onion Rings

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Sometimes you just really need that good ol’ pub food to go with your steak or burger. And, man do we love burgers in my house! I have always loved onion rings and prefer the beer battered variety. But you can only really find panko style ones from the freezer section. So what’s a home chef to do? Figure out how to make them at home, of course!

A Few Pointers

I learned a few things in the process. You gotta make sure that your batter is liquid enough not to cake on and solid enough not to slide off – it’s a delicate balance. If you have something close to pancake batter, you will be good. You want to make sure the oil is hot enough to sizzle when you drop the ring in, but not so hot that it cooks batter all the way through before it gets to the onion. You want the onion to be just a little soft, so that all the crunch comes from the batter.

Whenever you cook with alcohol, you want to follow the rule “If you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it”. Whenever you cook with alcohol, like beer, it tends to intensify the flavor, so make sure you enjoy it. By using a beer in this batter, you get a nice light airy batter. Make sure not to over stir the batter, as you will lose the bubbles. You want it to be just mixed together, when you start battering the onions.

And you need the right tools for the job. I found that you can use either cooking chopsticks (if you know how) or these sort of skinny tongs that I ordered from Amazon. They made it so super easy to dip the ring in the batter, flip them in the oil and then remove them to the rack. Speaking of the rack – make sure it is paper towel covered, to soak up any excess oil from the pan.

We also discovered a new dipping sauce the last time I made them. We took a favorite BBQ sauce – it is a tangy variety – and mixed it with sour cream! It was a real zippy almost fry sauce and so good with these onion rings!

If you like this recipe and want to get more like it, you can purchase the Homemade on a Weeknight Cookbook in Paperback or Kindle (eBook) versions through Amazon.

Now let’s get cookin’!

Beer Battered Onion Rings

Super crispy, super easy and the perfect side to a tasty burger!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword burger, onion rings, Side Dish

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Servings

Ingredients

1 Yellow Onion cut into rings no more than ½ in thick
1½ cup Flour
2 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Baking Soda
12 oz Beer (Lager is best)
4 cups Oil

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Instructions

Prepare all of the ingredients. Add oil to large wide pan (like a large saute pan). Bring oil up to 400 deg.
Mix flour, salt, paprika and baking soda together. Coat each onion ring in the flour and set aside.
Mix beer into flour mixture. It should be the consistency of pancake batter
Once oil is hot enough, dip a floured onion ring in the beer batter and coat completely. Gently drop into oil and let cook until brown then flip and cook until brown again. Remove to a cooking rack over paper towels. Serve immediately.

Asparagus Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

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Creamy Red Enchiladas

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Instructions

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Caesar Burger

Ingredients

For the Burger

For the Salad

Instructions

Notes

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Citrus & Herb Whipped Cauliflower

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

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This Week’s Meal Planner

Why Meal Plan?

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A Few Pointers

Beer Battered Onion Rings

Ingredients

Instructions

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