Mac and Cheese with Peppers

Excuse me while I state the obvious here: being broke sucks. As much as I love eating quesadillas for lunch all the time, they get old after awhile. So I decided to spice things up by eating, yes, mac and cheese. The old childhood classic. However, to my mother's disappointment I refused to eat it with the healthy sides of apple slices and a tuna sandwich. Instead, I decided to do my family a favor and get rid of the bell peppers that were starting to wrinkle because no one wants to eat them. I'm a saint, I know. I was feeling really tired (I got off work at 11:30 pm and had to wake up at 6:00 for a dance exam) and didn't want to put too much effort into it, and came up with this. I present to you...(dramatic pause) my mac and cheese!

This is about as simple as it gets. Follow the box instructions, saute stuff, eat. It's kind of awesome.

Ingredients

box of mac and cheese (cooked according to directions)

1 small bell pepper, whatever color, chopped

1/2 Tbs minced garlic

1 Tbs butter

Melt butter in a pot. Saute chopped pepper until they start to soften.

Add the garlic and saute for another minute. 

After prepping your mac and cheese, toss the peppers on top.

Garnish with a little bit of ground black pepper.

Enjoy!

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BBQ Roasted Chicken

So...I have a big family. When I cook, I have to cook a lot. I didn't have a whole lot of time today, so I turned to my "go-to" ingredient: chicken. After using a package of 7 drumsticks and a small whole chicken, I added a brown sugar and BBQ rub chopped some veggies, and let it cook while I was in class. It was so great. For being in a hurry and doing a total improv of what to add for flavor, it was fantastic. I've tried to reduce the amount so it serves about 4 instead of 10.

Ingredients

4 chicken drumsticks

small bag of baby carrots (or you could chop up carrot sticks, your choice)

1 medium onion, chopped

3 or 4 Tbs. butter, melted

1/2 cup breadcrumbs, ground until it's pretty much sand

4 Tbs. paprika

4 Tbs. chili powder

1 Tbs. salt

1 Tbs. pepper

1 Tbs. garlic powder

1 Tbs. onion powder

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

4 Tbs. dry BBQ rub

1/2 cup brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 350.

Step One: mix all your dry ingredients together until everything is even throughout.

Step Two: chop vegetables, melt butter, and set everything aside.

 

Step Three: brush melted butter onto both sides of drumstick, and

add a generous amount of rub.

Step Four: place your drumsticks into a well greased baking pot

(make sure your pot has a lid, and obviously is oven safe)

Step Five: Place your chicken in the oven and bake for 1 hour.

Pull out, add your vegetables, and bake for 20 more minutes.

Step Six: serve and enjoy!

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Santa Fe Quesadillas

I don't know about you, but I'm the person that pulls out cheese and tortillas and calls it good. However, today I was feeling a little bit adventurous and wanted to add something more solid to my sad daily diet of cheese and flour. I didn't have time to add shredded, slow cooker chicken since I had to run to class, so I went with a veggie quesadilla. The original recipe that I used called for chopped red bell pepper, but since I didn't have one I added cilantro instead.

Ingredients

2 flour tortillas

sliced or shredded cheddar (or pepper jack) cheese

1/4 cup whole kernel corn

1/4 cup black beans

fresh chopped cilantro

Step One: prep your corn, beans, and cilantro

On medium heat, place one tortilla in a sprayed pan. Layer your

cheese, beans, corn, and cilantro. Cover with your other

tortilla. Cook until tortilla is a golden brown, then flip. Cook

for about three more minutes then take off the heat.

Slice into quarters and serve with salsa or sour cream. Enjoy!

To view the original recipe, to go:

Allrecipes: Santa Fe Tortillas

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