Homemade Hamburger Helper

There are a million recipes for this sort of dish. I really like mine, though. =]

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 can diced, fire roasted, garlic tomatoes
16 oz elbow noodles, uncooked
2 Tbs smoked paprika
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs onion powder
Salt and pepper
8 oz block of cheddar, shredded
1 c. hot water
2 c. milk

For the roux:
1/4 c butter
2 heaping spoons of flour
cold milk

Directions:
Add a bit of olive oil to a very large hot skillet (or a large dutch oven) and toss in your onion. Saute onion until it begins to soften, add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking until the meat is fully browned. Drain.

Turn the heat on the burner to high. Return the ground beef to the skillet, add the noodles, tomatoes, seasonings (with additional salt and pepper), water, and milk. Combine and bring to a boil. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. You may need to add a bit more water. That's okay. Add it! =]

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Once melted, whisk in the flour. Slowly add milk until you have a nice sauce. You don't want it too thick, but you want it thicker than milk! Add salt and pepper to the roux.

Add the roux to the beef and noodles, add the cheddar, combine. Taste. Make sure your seasonings are to your liking!

You guys know I don't measure, but I'm trying - so these are approximates... I'll get better one day. Maybe. =]

Oven BBQ Ribs!

Okay - so I've only ever done one kind of rib and I've only ever cooked them one way. Boneless country style ribs in the crockpot. Boring, I know.

Today - I was inspired by something, I don't know what, to try my hands at ribs. Real pork ribs. Ribs that make you want to suck the bones because they're so good. And I wanted mac and cheese. Strange. These are not foods I crave. Maybe I felt that since it was a holiday and I didn't have any plans, I should be doing something awesome. haha. I did it! Meat fell off the bones and I was suckin 'em tryin to get more!

Here's what I did:

Oven BBQ Ribs
3 1/2 lbs pork back ribs
1/2 c brown sugar
1 T smoked paprika
1 T garlic powder
some cayenne pepper
some sea salt
Hickory brown sugar BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Rays)

Preheat your oven to 300. Mix the sugar and spices to make a rub. Lay a sheet of heavy duty foil on a cookie sheet. Cut the back membrane off the ribs because that's just gross. If you don't know how to do this, you can just start on one end and then peel it back with your fingers. It's gross, but necessary.

Cover the ribs completely with the rub, then lay meat side down on the foil. Lay another sheet of foil on top and fold all the edges to seal in the meat. Pop it in the oven for about 2 1/2 - 3 hrs. Take them from the oven (turn the oven onto broil once you take them out), remove the foil and lay the ribs directly on the cookie sheet and slather the BBQ sauce on the bony side and put them back in the oven, under the broiler for about 3 minutes--keep an eye on them, you want them to look "crispy" but you don't want them to burn. Take them out, turn them over, slather more BBQ sauce and give them another 3 minutes under the broiler.

Cut them into serving sizes--I did two rib bones per serving--and enjoy!

Mac and Cheese
2 boxes Kraft Deluxe mac and cheese
1 small can evaporated milk
1 stick unsalted butter
4 oz shredded smoked gouda cheese
6 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
6 oz shredded jalapeno cheese
Seasoned salt and pepper

The first thing I have to say is this... now, please, pay attention - this is VERY important. =] SHRED YOUR OWN CHEESE. DO NOT BUY THE CHEESE THAT IS ALREADY SHREDDED. Okay, now that I got that out... let's move on.

Preheat oven to 350. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add noodles from the mac and cheese and set cheese packet aside. While they cook, SHRED that cheese. =] Cook noodles until they're al dente. You want NO mush on these noodles. You want them to remain firm. Drain.

In the same pot you cooked the noodles in add stick of butter, two cheese packets, and can of milk. Heat this over medium-low heat until it's all melty. Add a little of the shredded cheeses just for fun. Oh, by the way, you can use more cheese if you like, I make it according to my audience -- todays require less "cheesy" -- I'm not sure what's wrong with them.

Okay, once it's all melty, add the noodles back to the pan. Add the spices you like - I use seasoned salt and pepper. Mix well. Pour half of the cheesy noodles into a prepared (that means sprayed with non-stick stuff) baking dish. Add a layer of all cheeses, about half of the cheese you shredded. Then top with the remaining noodles. Top with remaining cheese and put it in the oven for about 25 minutes. You want it to be all melty, scrumptious, and just starting to brown on top.

Enjoy!