Make It Monday! Chili Mac and Cheese!

So if you know me and I'd like to think that if you follow the blog you do know me... You know that I love cooking shows and shows that involve food... anyway I like Emerile lagasse and I know that a few years back he made an appearance on a particular show that was one of my guilty pleasures... on said show he made a recipe with the family called Chilli Mac and when I recently discovered that this show was on Netflix and I re-watched the entire show yes from season 1 right on through I remembered this recipe and when I heard Chilli Mac I thought wouldn't that be better as Chilli Mac and Cheese???

(PS can you name that show? 10 points if you can! haha)

And so My Chili Mac and cheese was born!

Here is the recipe... its easy....

Make your favorite Mac and cheese and also your favorite chili...

Here are my favorite recipes.

Creamy Mac and Cheese
2 TBSP Butter and flour
2 Cups Milk (at room temp)
2 Cups Cheese
1 TSP mustard
3 Cups cooked Macaroni

Start by making a rue with the butter and flour (melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the flour) cook the rue for a few minutes but don't let it brown too much. Add your milk and cook over medium heat until the mix thickens and can coat the back of a spoon. Add the mustard and then melt in 1 and 1/2 cups of the cheese (or as much as you like) once the cheese is completely melted add the macaroni and mix through.

Mild Marsh Chili
(There are no measurements for this recipe as you can make it as saucy or meaty as you like and of course you can make a batch that is as large or small as you need!)
Ground beef or chicken (turkey works well too)
Onion
Mushroom
Carrots (cooked and pureed)
Diced tomatoes
Tomato sauce
Chili powder, thyme, oregano, basil

Brown ground beef or other ground meat. Meanwhile cook carrots in a med pot, once cooked puree and set aside. Once the meat is cooked add mushrooms, onions, carrot puree and can tomatoes. Allow the mix to simmer and then add tomato sauce and spices to your taste. Simmer and serve. As with all Chili and tomato sauce the longer it simmers the better it is!

Now that you have that all done!

Layer your mac and cheese in the bottom of a pyrex dish, top with chili and then one more layer of the mac and cheese, top with cheese and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. (The above recipe for Mac and cheese will have more than you need for the Chili Mac and Cheese so I make a dish of just Mac and cheese too... just top it with more cheese and pop in the oven!)

It comes out a little spicy, very cheesy and super tasty!

My whole family loves it! And I love that there are lots of left overs for quick lunches, plus there is also lots of options for supper chili, chili mac and cheese or just mac and cheese...

Hope you enjoy! Do you ever dream up a recipe from hearing about another? Tell me about it I'd love to give it a try just leave a link in the comments!

Happy Monday!

Make It Monday! Pizza Casserole!

Your on Pinterest right.... Of course you are!

Well if your not following Momma Made It! pop over now and click the little follow button.... I'll make it worth your while!

Anyway....

If your on Pinterest you may have seen this recipe floating around over there and if you haven't here you go... your welcome! (see already worth your while!)

So I Pinned that Pin a while ago and like most other things on Pinterest I said yeah I'll go back to that and actually make it... except I DID!

And here is how it turned out!

I know right YUMMY!

Both the kids loved it and the hubby well it was Pizza in a bowl what can I say!

I did make a few adjustments to it as I used spiral pasta instead of the bow ties like the recipe says, and I didn't add the ham or the onion due to some picky eaters in our house... oh and I used the all natural peperoni you can buy at the deli (which is why the peperoni on mine is little wedges, it only comes in the lager slices so I just quartered them...)

So if you think this looks yummy stop drooling at the screen and hop on over to Cully's Kitchen and check out this awesome recipe that your family will love! (PS there will be left overs!)


Do you have a family favorite that I NEED to Pin? Leave me a link in the comments and I will be by to check it out ASAP!
Happy Monday Friends!

Make It Monday! Baked Asparagus!

Do you like asparagus?

We LOVE it! And surprisingly enough Delaney is the one who likes it most! We like it almost anyway but my sister decided to make me dinner not that long ago and she made the best asparagus I've ever had! Its super simple and super yummy too!

All you do need is asparagus, olive oil, salt and pepper and parmesan cheese.

Preheat the oven to 350 and drizzle your asparagus with olive oil, then shake a little salt, pepper and parmesan. Bake for about 5 minutes and then flip and bake for another 5 minutes and serve!

The greatest thing about this simple side is that it goes with anything! Steak, salmon (which is what we had), chicken really it goes with anything!

Do you have a simple side that is BEYOND simple and BEYOND easy!? Share away in the comments and maybe I can give your recipe a try!

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins!

This should have been yesterdays Make it Monday recipe but to be honest with you I kept putting off posting and eventually I forgot... Oops.

Either way this is one super easy recipe that you can mix up and have on the snack tray in no time! And they are certainly a crowd pleaser... as long as you don't spill the beans on the secret ingredient because for some reason when you tell people that a recipe has this ingredient they tend to turn up their nose and walk away because this ingredient has a bad rep...

People think that prunes are an old persons food, and that their only purpose is as a laxative but prunes are soooo good for you! Not only are they are low in salt and fat and taste sweet, mostly because they are just dried plumes but they are the second most cultivated fruit in the world!

No matter how you feel about them here is the recipe for my Double Chocolate Banana Muffins!

3/4 cup dried pitted prunes
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup white sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 mashed banana
1 cup ground quick cooking oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup chocolate chunks

Chop prunes and place them in a small sauce pan with the water, bring to a boil and allow to simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the prunes are plumped up, allow to cool. Meanwhile cream your butter and sugar in a large bowl, add the egg and mix well. Once your prunes are cooled puree in a food processor or blender until completely smooth, then mix with your mashed banana. In a medium bowl mix your dry ingredients until combined then add the dry mix into the butter and sugar alternately with the mashed banana and prunes. Once all three are mixed well add your chocolate chips or chocolate chunks.
Bake at 350 in mini muffin pans.
Yields 48 mini muffins that are 56 calories each!

They are super yummy and go over  well with just about everyone... little girls and grown men included!


PS: Calorie information for the muffins came from here! And the prune information is from here!

Do you always tell your family what your "secret" ingredients are? Will you give your kids a food and tell them that it was made with something else just to get them to eat it? i'd love to know if i am the only one keeping a few ingredients "secret"!

Make it Monday! Marshmallow Snowballs!

(So it's Tuesday.. I know... but in my defense I started this post yesterday but between making valentines working on "school work" and feeding my offspring I got a little distracted but on the upside TWO posts today! YAY!!! I'm trying to get my act together and if posting a day late helps well its what I gotta do!)

These snowballs are not your average snowballs... and they are certainly not those yucky pink marshmallow ones either!

In this corner of Canada snowballs or at least the edible ones are made of chocolate and coconut and then rolled in more coconut... Not so nice if you don't like coconut but if you do... YUM!

These snowballs are from a recipe from my grandmother.... they are Christmas to me.... I love them soooo much that she once made me a batch (an entire batch just for me) for my Christmas gift! I love them sooo much that I finally asked for the recipe and I make them every year... except this year. I ran out of time and never got to make them.... but I so wish I had. 

So since I had the ingredients just sitting in the cupboards I thought that I would whip up a batch and I was so glad that I did....

NOTE: I have no pictures for this post... that may or may not be because I have eaten them all...

This is a super easy recipe and has just 6 ingredients....

2 tbsp butter (maybe a little more)

1 block of bakers chocolate (or more... I use chocolate chips and I use a cup or so, this will require more butter)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2c coconut (plus enough to roll the snowballs in)

2c graham crumbs

large marshmallows (cut in half)

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler then combine with other ingredients and wrap a small portion (about a teaspoon) around the 1/2 marshmallow then roll in coconut.

Do you have a family recipe that you just can't pass up? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Make it Monday! All Dressed Brownies!

SO... I love a good brownie but I rarely ever have a package or boxed mix on hand (for some reason I always forget to buy them) and it aint easy to make them from scratch (Ive tried.... lots of times) But I know it can be done as best friend makes them... and they are to die for! so I have been in search for a great brownie recipe and I found it! 

Here it is!

This one came from the Hershey website and boy oh boy is it yummy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

1. 1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan.
   
2. 2 Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs; beat well with spoon. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in nuts, if desired. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
   
3. 3 Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Prepare CREAMY BROWNIE FROSTING; spread over brownies. Cut into squares. About 16 brownies. 

When I made mine I wanted to dress them up (as the title suggests... ) so here is what I did!

I added caramel ice cream topping

and swirled it around with a knife so it would be sweet and have the caramel flavor all through the brownies.

Then I added skor bits, and mini chocolate chips before baking.

Looks yummy just like that if you ask me!

I baked for 20 mins or so and they were perfect still a little bit of a fudge texture but cooked through.

Once baked they looked like this!

Tip: With this recipe watch them for the last few minutes and just when the brownies pull away from the pan a little take them out!

And the finished product!

Supper yummy and certainly hit the brownie spot!

Do you have a go to brownie recipe? Do you dress up your brownies like me? What do you add to yours?  I'd love to hear about it! Leave me a note in the comments!