Macaroni Heaven

Survival Tip #2: Make and Eat Good Food

I really enjoy cooking, but since I have started working full time AND going to Master's classes two nights a week, it have become more difficult to do so. I keep telling myself I just need to (fill in the blank in just about anything) in order to make time for cooking, and then life happens. So unfortunately for my kitchen appliances, Vander has a lot of cereal and frozen foods for dinner during the week. Thankfully V is so understanding, supportive and encouraging that he never makes me feel guilty.

Lately Vander has been encouraging me to use Saturdays as an opportunity to make the meals I want to make, even if it means we have dinner at 8pm... like tonight. I wasn't planning on having a late dinner, but I got home from shopping with Emily and ended up taking a 3 hour nap! I finally woke up because I was starving, otherwise I don't think I would have woken up until tomorrow! So, I got up at 5:45 (pray that I can fall asleep tonight!), and went to the store to buy ingredients for Fancy Macaroni, by Ree, the Pioneer Woman. Let me tell you, she had me at sauteed onions and bacon.

Yum. Goodness right there. The recipe is so super incredibly full of deliciousness, it was well worth the wait! It is super rich so I think next time I will leave out the 1/2 cup of half & half, and instead of sauteing the onions in a stick of butter I will just use some chicken stock. Vander and I ate about 1/4 of the baking dish, and then decided we would throw up if we ate another bite.

Here it is cooking. I'm drooling thinking about it (and my stomach is pleading not to fill it anymore). So super yummy, it smells like fondue when it is all done... gruyere and fontina cheeses...

Okay, I'm back from reminiscing about how good it was. What are your favorite recipes? You know, those ones that are worth the time and energy to create? This one can be found at: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/12/fancy-macaroni/ Try it when you have a chance, and can stand to gain a few pounds. :)