food isn't any good unless you have some fun!

come on in and enjoy!

Monday, August 31, 2015

Southwestern Chicken Mac and Cheese

Hello again!

I have another post inspired by the great and wonderful Fiance J, made from ingredients we had around after he got home from work one day. Let's go!!

The arsenal- the ranchero cheese turned out to be unusable for us, but the idea is to sprinkle that on top!
Cook your pasta most of the way in a pot of water. Make a beschamel and then add cheese in, stir.
Add in salsa to your cheese sauce for a southwestern flair.
The finished sauce and cheese.
Pour your sauce over your pasta, then bake!
Meanwhile, take whatever chicken your have on hand (we had some rotisserie that we shredded).
And don't forget to fry up a few onions and hashbrowns/matchstick potatoes.
And then put the browned chicken, onions, and potatoes on top once it's done!
Your finished product! Yumm!

Southwestern Chicken Mac and Cheese
-This is more of a process or idea than a recipe, so go with what you have and what you like!
-Make a beschamel, starting with equal parts flour and butter. Add milk, then cheese, to the consistency that you like it.
-Meanwhile, boil your pasta until just barely under done, so it can cook a tiny bit more in the oven.
-Add salsa to your cheese sauce, to your taste.
-Pour your sauce over your pasta in a pan that fits it, then bake at 350 F until browned.
-While cooking, brown up some chicken, onions, and hashbrowns to put on top. You can also put the chicken in the sauce if you do not want it crisp!
Have fun with this, experiment- it's hard to go wrong. Enjoy!

(thanks J!)
Savor it!
love, rue

Monday, August 24, 2015

Individual Pavlova

Hey everyone!

I have to share the credit for this one with my Fiance J again- I had the idea, and then he was the one who executed it- and the one who chose to make individual ones instead of a large layered one- they were perfect and delish both ways we made them!


All the parts to assemble- meringues in individual size, whipped cream, sliced peaches and nectarines, and a very nice balsamic vinegar for drizzling...
And here is the assembled peach-nectarine-balsamic pavlova- amazing and so simple!!
Later J and I had the idea to caramelize some apples and make a pavlova with that and one of the leftover meringues- it was amazing, so really use your imagination here!


Pavlova isn't all too complicated and J went off of this recipe here :)
-Whipped cream and fresh (or cooked) fruit for topping- your choice and use your imagination on this- so many options!



Savor it!
love, rue