And this, my friends, is why I cook....

My family has gone thru alot of changes....we have added a few children (We have become a family of 8 now!), made some friends, and lost some friends thru the years....

I like to expirement with foods, but have VERY picky people eating which makes the fun challenging....so my rule used to be "you eat what's on your plate, or else"  But I have changed that to "you at least have to TRY what I make, and if you don't like it, there are leftovers or a pb&j.

Cooking, for me, is kinda like a retreat...I like to expirement, as I said before, and I like to create.  If I find a new recipie that the kids like, it becomes one I make often.  Some examples are Hamburger and peas, short cut chicken cordon blue, pork lo mein. (stories to follow!)

One of the recipies I like to make, and has become a staple in  my house is Mac and Cheese.  When I was a kid, my mom made this AMAZING mac and cheese cassarole...but no matter how hard I would try, I could NEVER duplicate it...So I played around with my recipie, and came up with this....Now, you can take out what you don't like, but here's my sure hit.

Mac N Cheese

What you need:

• 1-32 ounce box of Elbow noodles (and really, you can use whatever kinda noodle you want, I have used wagon wheels, farfelli, and rotini)
• 3-8 oz packages of your favorite shredded cheese (usual favorites here are mozerella, white and yellow cheddar and Colby Jack)
• Milk and Butter (I never measure, just pour)
• 2 tps of minced garglic (the kind you get in the jar you keep in the fridge) or if none available, Garglic powder works (but the minced is best)
• Salt and Pepper, to taste.

What to do:

1. I boil the noodles with salt and the garglic.....
2. If adding meat, I cook/fry it up while I am waiting for the noodles.
3. Then combine the drained noodles, meat, and cheese with about a stick of butter and I pour milk over, and stir....if it seems sticky (cheese isn't melting like it should) add more milk.
4. Now, here is where I determine, time-wise what to do next.  Sometimes I serve from the pan.  Other times, I pour into a gently sprayed pan, add cheese and breadcrumbs and put in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. 

Yummy!

Variations:  Add some pepperoni or bacon with white cheddar cheese or ham or hot dogs with yellow cheddar.  Hamburger is another good mix-in, but WELL drained!

This recipie is a HUGE hit with my family and I make it for birthday parties (like the one we just had last weekend, for Cj, my youngest, I made 4 big pans of it, one with pepperoni, ham, hotdogs and one plain.)

I'm back................

So, the last year has been an upheaval!  But Alas, I am back.

MORE TO COME!

The first time....

The first time I ever made a dinner for my friends, I was 17, had my first place and only one child.  I made this HUGE spaghetti dinner.  And I learned that you should add oil and salt to the noodles as their cooking, keep your eyes on the garlic bread in the oven, and it's easier to use ground meat instead of meatballs THAT ROLL OFF THE PLATES....(I should have known better.....)

So imagine me, having my first dinner in my first apartment, crying because my noodles were clumpy, sauce watery,  the bread was burnt and the meatballs went rolling everywhere.....But every ounce of food I made was eaten  without complaint.(I LOVE MY FAMILY!)

HAHAHA.....

As a child, some of my earliest memories are of my mom always in the kitchen.  Usually she'd be shooing me from the tray of cookies she had just made.  My mom put Betty Crocker to shame.  She used to can her own fruits and veggies, make her own sauces and jelly, grind her own meat....all in all, my hero. I don't know how she did it, but we had an immaculate house and a home-cooked meal EVERY night....And when she used to make her sauce or jelly, I used to "help" and thought I was big sh!t for it! 

I guess I should explain why I call this "Ghetto Row".  I live in a small borough, and I live in the only ROW homes in this borough....sure, there are doubles but only 1 row......We joke around that we're living in the "ghetto".  It's not too bad here, though, because the neighbors keep to themselves and don't bother no one.

So now you know the "inside" joke......Another recipe to come :)

Questions and comments welcome.......

For my first dish....

As a busy Mom of 4 kids, I have learned to be frugal and learned where I can cut corners, change things up and improvise.  I am always running out of something, or forgetting something.  Most of my dinners (both for community dinners and for family dinners) are improvised.  HAHA, Improvise is my favorite word.  You will find this out. 

Family dinners are just as fun as community dinners.  The only difference is I add some more people to our every day insanity--i mean every day chaos--i mean every day life?  LOL   There are always people eating here, and it's never a dull moment.  Community Dinners started with my friend T and her son and daughter, then we added K and her dh, and 2 children.  And now, we add J, her dh and her 2 girls. 

For my first blog-recipie, I will go with something easy......as I post blogs, I will try to break it down to smaller families....I am used to cooking for an army, so please forgive me in advance. 

Connie's Burger 'N Noodles (or as she calls it "Connie's Ham-oo-meay")
You will need: 

• 1 - 3 pounds of hamburger  (this depends on your family size....if you have 4 people in your house, one pound will be good, if you have more....improvise)
• Your favorite seasonings (when I say this, I use Adobo, Seasoned Salt, minced garlic and onion, some steak seasoning....sometimes I use some crushed red pepper if I am looking for a kick.)
• One box of your favorite pasta to each pound of hamburger (i usually use elbow)
• One stick of butter per box of pasta
• 1 - 2 cans of peas

Here's what you do:

• Brown hamburger adding your favorite seasonings.  Drain and set
• aside.
• Boil noodles, and when Al Dente, drain, add butter....stir. 
• Stir in hamburger and peas.  Keep on a low heat for about 5 minutes.

As you dish out, you can add salt and pepper to taste.

Some variations.....Add some shredded cheddar cheese or parmsean cheese, a couple splashes of worcheshire sauce or A1 sauce.

AND THAT'S IT!  Quick and Simple.  Please feel free to post comments and if you try one of my recipies, let me know what you think!

Leslie