Buffalo Mac & Cheese

3 cups milk
3 cups whole grain pasta
1 heaping cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 small red pepper, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken
4 tablespoons Frank's hot sauce (use more or less)
1 tablespoon butter (optional)
Blue cheese crumbles (optional)
Bring milk, pasta, and red pepper to a simmer on medium/medium low heat. Stirring often, cook pasta in milk until al dente- about 10-15 minutes. Keep the heat low because you don't want to scorch the milk or cause it foam and boil over.


In a separate bowl, combine chicken, hot sauce and butter (optional). 
Remove pan from heat, stir in cheeses and yogurt. Return to warm burner and combine. Fold in chicken mixture and green pepper. 

Top with blue cheese crumbles if you'd like. Serve immediately. 

Serves 4 generous dinner portions.

Super Easy Homemade Mac & Cheese

3 cups milk
3 cups whole grain pasta
1 heaping cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup plain yogurt
salt to taste

Bring milk and pasta to a simmer on medium/medium low heat. Stirring often, cook pasta in milk until al dente- about 10-15 minutes. Keep the heat low because you don't want to scorch the milk or cause it foam and boil over.

Remove from heat, stir in cheeses and yogurt. Return to warm burner to melt everything if necessary.

Serve immediately. Add something yummy like peas, diced chicken, peppers, etc. to give it a little something extra. (Pictured with red & green peppers)

Make it into Alfredo by omitting the cheddar and doubling the parmesan. Grind black pepper onto it before serving. I like adding steamed broccoli to it, too.

You can also turn it into this with a few extra ingredients.

Serves 3 generous dinner portions or 6 as a side dish.

Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipes almost fills up my 8 qt stock pot. The egg noodles are sturdy and hold up to freezing. Just thaw & reheat. Better than the canned stuff!

1 large softball size onion, chopped
1/2 bunch of celery, chopped- including the greens at the top!
1 lb. carrots, sliced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp (or more) parsley
1 tsp garlic (fresh or powder)
1/2 gallon of chicken stock
3 boneless chicken breasts (about 8oz.-1lb.)
Water to fill pot
Salt & Pepper to taste

Saute onions, celery, & carrots in butter over medium until they have some caramel color and the onions start to turn translucent- about 5-8 minutes.
Add parsley & garlic.

Add stock and chicken breasts. Bring to a boil. Poach chicken breasts about 20 minutes. Remove chicken from pot to a cutting board or plate. Let cool until you can handle it, then use two forks to shred chicken into bite size pieces.

Add chicken back to the stock pot. Fill the pot the rest of the way with water (or more stock if you think it needs the extra flavor).

Simmer on low while you prepare noodles.

2 cups flour
4 eggs
1 tsp salt

Using your bread machine (can be done in a big mixing bowl by hand, too), add flour, eggs, & salt to the bowl with paddle attached. Set machine to "dough" setting. Run for 10 minutes. You may need to add a little more flour or a 1/2 tsp of water at a time until the dough is a smooth, slightly sticky ball. 10 minutes total ensures that the dough is mixed and kneaded the proper amount of time. After time is up, stop machine, and rest dough for 10 more minutes.

Using pasta machine, roll sheets of dough out to thickest setting. Take each sheet, roll it up, and slice 1/2" spirals. Unroll the spirals into long noodles.

Heat soup to a boil. Add pasta to the soup, breaking noodles into smaller lengths if desired. Pasta will be finished cooking in 5 minutes.  Serve immediately or portion for freezing once slightly cooled.

Avocado Red Pepper Pasta

4 ripe avocados, halved and pit removed.
1 medium/large sweet red pepper
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
splash of milk, I used almond milk

Place garlic and red pepper into food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Scoop out avocado flesh into food processor. Add remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Add to hot, cooked pasta. I used angel hair. Makes enough sauce for 1lb pasta.

Store extra sauce in airtight container.