Spicy Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese

This is my basic stovetop macaroni and cheese recipe. I have done this recipe with several types of cheese and it always comes out well.  This time I chose to use a pepper jack cheese.  

The Ingredients

8 ounces macaroni

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 (12-ounce) can fat free evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
12 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded

 Boil the pasta according to package instructions, drain it and return it to the pot.

In a small bowl mix together 1/2 of the evaporated milk, the eggs and the hot sauce

Melt the butter into the still warm macaroni

Slowly stir in the egg mixture, stirring until well combined

Add in half the cheese and stir until the cheese is completely melted

Add the remaining evaporated milk

And the remaining cheese

Stir until the cheese is completely melted and all is nice and creamy!

Recipe source: America's Test Kitchen

Georgia Mustard BBQ Sauce

Okay, vegetarians and vegans need to close their eyes for a minute because this recipe was made for the omnivore.  The recipe itself is vegetarian/vegan friendly but it begs to be served with meat.  It really does.  

I was inspired to make this recipe because a BBQ place has opened up here in town and it is supposedly a Georgia/South Carolina inspired BBQ place.  Of course I have not been there.  My husband, the vegetarian of 20 years has been to the new BBQ place, but I have not.  On the rare occasion that we go out together it's vegetarian food all around.  Maybe I need to join a softball team.  

Ingredients

1 cup prepared yellow mustard

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (use the vegan kind for teammates)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 teaspoon hot sauce

Combine the ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat.  Simmer for 15 minutes and serve warm or cold.

Recipe source:  my brain

Slowcooker Hashbrown Casserole

Anyone who has followed this blog for longer than 20 seconds knows that I LOVE Hashbrown Casserole.  I make it often in the oven and it is a huge hit in my house.  Recently I have been looking for gainful employment and have therefore been trying out slow cooker recipes in the hopes that I can at some point get a paying job (this mommy, food blogger gig pays very poorly).  I decided to try out some of my tried and true recipes to see it they will work in the slow cooker.  

The Hashbrown Casserole certainly works in the slow cooker, but I have to warn you that it is not working mom or working anyone friendly.  It cannot be left to cook all day in the slow cooker, the shredded potatoes would just turn to mush.  It turned out delicious and I actually like it better than when it's cooked in the oven, but it's not a toss it in at 8am and turn it off at 5pm slow cooker dish.  Of course this varies based on your slow cooker and yours may not be, like mine, a heating power house.  For your information I have a Rival Crock-Pot.  I think it is somewhere between 4-6 quarts, and I adore the darn thing.  I liked it so much that I bought a smaller one to exclusively use at Christmas for making mulled wine and hot cocoa. 

What surprised me was the level of crispiness that was achieved by cooking this in the slow cooker.  Screw surprised, I was down right shocked. I was so surprised that I even made the recipe more then once to make certain the results were the same. 

One more quick note: yes, I use a can of cream of mushroom soup in this recipe.  I do not routinely use canned soups, much less canned cream of anything soup, but this recipe is the exception and to me it is just not the same without that canned cream of mushroom soup. You can substitute a thick white sauce in its place if you so desire.  

 Ingredients

1 package of shredded hashbrown potatoes

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/3 cup melted unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

 Combine all the ingredients in the crock of your slow cooker.  And cook it on high for 4 hours.  

Serve warm and enjoy

Recipe source: heck if I know...my momma got it somewhere years ago

Recipe serves 8, 1-cup servings

Calories 298

Protein 10 grams

Fat 18 grams

Sodium 273

Fiber 3 grams

Potassium 399

Margarita Ice Box Pie

I have wanted for some time to make a Margarita flavored ice box pie.  I needed a salty base and I did that with the salty Pretzel Crust (see yesterday's post). Next I need the lime, that was no issue, lime juice did the trick.  The lime was sweetened up easily with condensed milk, but then there was the question of the tequila.  I mulled it over some time as to whether or not I should add tequila flavoring or actual tequila.  In the end I went with a small amount tequila.  I figured that it would not be enough to get the kids drunk and I wanted that flavor to add to the overall margarita feel of the pie.

I will be including the calories at the end of the recipe, but please sit down before you look.  No, really.  Sit down.  It's shocking, but in moderation totally doable.  I had this pie a couple of times the week of father's day, and I still lost weight.

The Ingredients


1 pretzel crust
1 14-ounce can of sweetened condense milk
1/2 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons tequila
1 8-ounce package of whipped topping, thawed but kept refrigerated
lime (for pie beautification)

The Tools
stand mixer or electric mixer
spoonula or scraper

The Cooking or Rather the Mixing and Chilling

On a slow speed combine the sweetened condensed milk and lime juice

Add the tequila.  Don't forget to taste the tequila first and after and several hours later.

Gently fold in the whipped topping.  Now, you could use homemade whipped cream in this step.  Just make about 2 cups worth.

Pour the filling into the crust.  You will notice that the filling is not lime green in color.  I could have added some food coloring to make it green, but I chose not to do so.

Place the pie in the freezer and allow it to freeze/cool for about 2 hours.  Take it out of the freezer about 15 minutes before you cut it.


Recipe source: My Brain

The recipe serves 8 even slices.  Calories are per slice

Calories: 615 (aren't you glad you sat down)

Protein: 8 grams

Fat: 24 grams

Sodium: 971 mg

Fiber: 2

Potassium: 160

Vegetarian Brunswick Stew

I have previously posted a Brunswick Stew Recipe, but I made some minor changes to that original, and in keeping with the recent The Veggie Mom is way behind on blogging theme I've got going here lately, I decided to post the updated recipe.  

Brunswick Stew is another Southern recipe which was always a favorite of mine growing up.  My grandmother and mother both made this recipe.  A traditional Brunswick stew is made with various types of meat and way back when, the recipe would actually involve the use of an entire hogs head.  Needless to say, hogs head is not used often today in ANY recipes.  The other main stay of Brunswick Stew is the use of ketchup and vinegar as a flavor element which gives the stew a taste similar to that of a Carolina BBQ sauce.  Add to this a healthy dose of hearty vegetables, like corn, lima beans and potatoes and you have a damn nice stew.  

almost needed a wide angle lens for this one

The Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

1 stalk of celery, diced

8 ounces faux chicken 

10 ounces soy crumbles

4 cups vegetable broth

1 baking potato, peeled and cubed

1/2 pound frozen lime beans

1/2 pound frozen corn (shoe peg corn if you can get it)

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup vegan Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup white vinegar

1-14.5 ounce can dice tomatoes

dash of liquid smoke

dash or two of hot sauce

The Tools

a really big pot

The Cooking/Stewing

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large stockpot until it shimmers

 Add the onion

 

Add the celery and saute

 Add the faux chicken and stir until it is well coated with the oil and vegetables. 

Add the soy crumbles and stir to combine

Add in the vegetable broth

And the potatoes

and the frozen lima beans and corn

 it looks good, but I am not done yet.

Add the ketchup and stir to incorporate

Add the vegan Worcestershire Sauce

and the vinegar

and the can of tomatoes

a dash of liquid smoke

one, two or maybe even three dashes of hot sauce

mix it all together

Bring to stew to a simmer over a low heat, place the lid half on the pot and allow the it to simmer slowly for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  

enjoy!

Serving size is 1 cup of the stew

Calories: 160

Fat Grams: 3

Fiber Grams: 4

Sodium: 516

Super Jumbo Red Velvet Cupcakes

The youngest Veggie Son just celebrated his 4th Birthday.  In celebration we held a Polar Express themed party.  We had the usual, cake, juice and pizza.  Unlike many people, I NEVER want left over cake in my house, because leftover cake soon becomes eaten cake.  So, I always buy the smallest cake needed to feed my guest and then any left over pieces are tagged for the kids.  This year, we had very little cake left and none of it made it to his actual birthday.  How sad is that I thought, no cake on ones actual birthday!  I immediately hatched a plan.  I would make him some huge cupcakes.  I have a large muffin tin which makes only 6 very large muffins.  When asked what type of muffin he would like my son instantly said: Red!  What can I say?  The boy has born and raised in California, but his taste buds are clearly Southern.  

I did some hunting through my cookbooks and online, but in the end I went with my mom's recipe for Red Velvet Cake.  Many of the recipes on line left out things I consider integral to success of this type of cake, namely cake flour and buttermilk.  Here is the thing about Red Velvet Cake, it can turn out really good OR really bad.  A bad Red Velvet Cake can range from dry to dense.  What you want, in my opinion, is a combination of moist and light, with a rich flavor.  To get this one needs to use cake flour and buttermilk.  The cake flour allows for a tender texture, and the buttermilk gives that cake that extra leavening. 

And, of course you have to top the whole thing with Cream Cheese Frosting, but EVERYTHING is better with Cream Cheese Frosting.

The Ingredients
1 cup Crisco vegetable shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 ounce red food coloring
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

The Ingredients for the Cake, that I Forgot in the First Photo
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

The Tools
stand mixer
medium sized bowl
small bowl
spooncula or scrapper spoon
muffin tin liners or parchment paper

The Baking

Preheat the oven to 350° and prepare your muffin tin. Cream the Crisco and the sugar together in a stand mixer (or with a hand held mixer or by hand) with the paddle mixer attachment, until well combined and fluffy. 

STOP the mixer and add the red food coloring. 

Slowly, very slowly begin to mix in the red food coloring.  This is were things begin to look a little like an episode of CSI.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing between additions. 

Turn off the mixer and add in the buttermilk. Then, run the mixer for about 5 minutes until the buttermilk is completely incorporated and that the batter is nice and smooth. 

While the buttermilk is mixing into the batter, combine the cocoa and the cake flour together in a medium sized bowl. 

Place the cocoa/flour mixture into a sifter

and sift it together

Your end product will be a light, airier and better combined mixture.

Gradually and slowly add the flour into the batter until it is well incorporated and the batter is smooth. 

Once the batter is done mixing and is smooth it is time to add the baking soda and vinegar.  Remove the bowl form the mixing stand and have a spooncula at the ready.  In a small bowl, combine the baking soda and vinegar.  It will bubble immediately, and the second the two items are completely combine, fold the mixture into the waiting batter.  You want those bubble to add their lightness the cake. 

Gentle spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins.  I could not find liners to fit my large muffin tin, so I used parchment paper.  Next time I will look harder for the liners.  I was not a big fan of the parchment paper.  Bake the cupcakes on 350° for 25 to 30 minutes.  If you are using smaller muffin tins, reduce your time to 20 minutes. 

 Allow the baked cupcakes to set on the counter until completely cooled before icing.  Also wait until the oven it cooled down as well. Nothing is sadder then dippy frosting. 

While the cupcakes cool, make the frosting. 

The Frosting Ingredients
8 ounces light cream cheese (at room temp)
1 stick unsalted butter (at room temp)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
16 ounces powdered sugar

 The Tools
a stand mixer
zip loc bag
icing tip of choice

The Making of the Icing!

 Thoroughly cream together the butter and cream cheese

Add in the vanilla extract one teaspoon at a time, mixing in between additions

Add the powdered sugar to the cheese mixture 1/4 or 1/2 cup full at a time.  This takes a while, but it avoids lumps.  Mix until well combined. 

Place the frosting into a zip loc bag with its tip cut off and a icing tip in place.  Use this bag to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.