Buffalo Chicken Mac 'n Cheese

So as soon as I found the recipe, I quickly thought about Jeremy and his love for Buffalo sauce and spiciness.  This great dish is healthy too, because it is full of whole wheat pasta, rather than enriched.  I started to love Whole Wheat pasta, because of the great taste, but it wasn't until this year when I worked for the school district that I learned of this great taste.

 Ingredients
13 oz. box whole grain pasta (penne, shells or rotini)
1 lb. cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 small bell peppers, red and yellow, seeded and chopped
1 bunch chopped green onions, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup blue cheese dressing (recommended: Wishbone)
1/2 – 3/4 cup buffalo sauce (recommended: Frank’s Red Hot)
3 cups shredded cheese, divided (cheddar, mozzarella or a blend)
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Boil pasta in salted water according to package instructions. Drain and transfer to a 13 X 9 inch baking dish. Toss in cooked chicken, bell peppers, half of the green onions, and half of the shredded cheese. Mix well.

Place the garlic, cream cheese, blue cheese dressing and 1/2 cup buffalo sauce in a food processor. Puree until smooth, taste and add another 1/4 cup buffalo sauce if needed. Pour over the pasta and toss.

Mix the remaining 3/4 cup cheese and the panko together. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta.

Bake until golden, approximately 30-40 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining green onions.

The "Cake Boss"

So people didn't know that I was a cake artist, til I started posting my cakes on Facebook.  I've made a lot of cakes in my time.  I learned most of my techniques through others that are better then me and Wilton.  Here are a few of my cakes.  Enjoy.  I am also a caterer too, but that's another post.

King Ranch Chicken

Ok, this is my favorite dish ever.  I love how my mom makes it every time it's birthday, so this bring back memories.  I recommend that you boil the chicken in a pot first, then cut it up into chunks.  Don't forget the olives, my mom loads it up so there must be tons, to make extra yummy:)  My mom cooks tortillas and then cuts them up into pieces rather than use chips.  I think its easier to make that way too.     King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

1 (3 pound) chicken, boiled 1 (14.5 ounce) package tortilla chips 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 onion, chopped 3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1 can of diced olive, optional (required if you make it for me)

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C.)
2.	Layer the tortillas in a 9x13 inch casserole dish.
3.	Combine the tomatoes, chicken soup, mushroom soup and onion. Pour half of mixture over chips. Layer the chicken pieces, half of the cheese and the remaining soup mixture.
4.	Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 20 minutes. Top with the remaining cheese and return to the oven until the cheese is melted.

Favorite Chefs and Cooks

My inspiration all started with the chefs and cooking personalities that I admired on TV and their cookbooks, so here is a list of the chosen few that made it to my blog:

• "Julia Child (August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French Cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which premiered in 1963." (Wikipedia)

• Rachael Ray will always be my Hero.  I love her Green kitchen stuff and all her book.  "Ray teaches simple recipes that she says can be completed in 30 minutes or less, although critics claim that her concept does not include preparation. Ray says that her Sicilian maternal grandfather, Emmanuel Scuderi, and her Cajun ancestry serve as a strong influence on her cooking. She uses ingredients such as fresh herbs, garlic and chicken stock to boost flavors. She believes that measuring "takes away from the creative, hands-on process of cooking" and instead favors approximations such as "half a palmful". To critics of her shortcut techniques, Ray responds, "I have no formal anything. I'm completely unqualified for any job I've ever had.^" She acknowledges that she cannot bake because it requires measured ingredients, that she cannot make coffee, and that she burns bread under the broiler. On her television programs, she has uses catchphrases such as "E-V-O-O" (extra-virgin olive oil), "yum-o," "G.B." (garbage bowl), "Oh my gravy!", "entréetizer" (entrée-sized appetizer), "stoup" (cross between a soup and stew),and "choup" (thicker than a soup but thinner than a chowder). In 2007, The Oxford American College Dictionary announced the addition of the term EVOO, short for extra-virgin olive oil, which Ray had helped to popularize, and credited her with coining the phrase. 
  ^(Wikipedia)
  
  
  
  
  
  • Last but not least, Betty Crocker, who will always have a place heart.  She is not a real person, she is just an icon, which i didn't know for a long time.  "The name was first developed by the Washburn Crosby Company in 1921 as a way to give a personalized response to consumer product questions. The name Betty was selected because it was viewed as a cheery, all-American name. It was paired with the last name Crocker, in honor of William Crocker, a Washburn Crosby Company director." (Wikipedia)

My Picky eater

OK, so you are probably asking yourself, why would i date a picky eater? 

• First, I didn't know this when we started eating.
• Second, he's my "little project" and I am changing him little by little.  

I am learning to make recipes that even a picky eater will eat and not know its good for them.  This helped me when I was working for the school district and needed ideas to feed children.

Jeremy, is a runner and very skinny.  He has helped me to become more interested in learning to cook nutritional and healthy food.  I started to learn more about the "Runner Diet," which I started to cook these recipes.

The Start of Something New

I have thought about doing this many times before, I just haven't gotten myself off my Butt to do it yet, til NOW.

After watching the movie Julia Julia, I thought it would be nice to do a blog of my recipes and cakes. I thought I would do a blog of recipes that I have enjoyed making, recipes that have been given to me, or even what I want to try.  I am not looking to make my blog something famous or anything that will be a blockbuster movie someday.  I am only doing this for fun. 

My dream is to become a mother and raising my future children to enjoy all types of food.  Those of you that know me know that I love to cook, so have fun reading my blog and trying my culinary creations.  I currently have a boyfriend that is a picky eater, so some of these recipes will be towards him.

I am actively looking for a career as a Family Consumer Science teacher, so bear with me if my descriptions of my creations seems like I am selling it to you or teaching you something new, but hey I want you to try to make it.  Let me know if you want me to help you learn anything that seems too hard.  Ideas and Suggestions are welcome.