Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Fall Veggies

Since it officially got all cold and fall-like this weekend, some comfort food was required! But, since I had eaten a bunch of crappy food (too much pizza), I wanted to make sure some veggies got in there so that I didn't have to feel too guilty. 


Baked Mac and Cheese with Fall Veggies
1/2 box whole wheat elbow macaroni
4 tblsp butter, divided
2 tblsp AP flour
1 cup veggie broth
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 cup grated cheese blend (I used colby, cheddar, and provolone)
1 small head broccoli, blanched and chopped into bite size chunks
1 small head cheddar cauliflower, blanched and chopped into bite size chunks
1/2 butternut squash, roasted and pureed
1 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
Cook macaroni in salted water a minute less than called for on the packaging. In the meantime, melt 2 tblsp butter in saucepan. Add flour and whisk to combine. Cook for a minute. Whisk in broth and milk. Cook over medium hear until sauce thickens. Whisk in mustard and salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted and smooth. Combine macaroni, cheese sauce, and veggies in a casserole dish. Melt remaining butter in microwave and toss with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over macaroni. Cook 20-30 minutes in 350 degree oven until topping is crunchy.

Honey Chicken

This is based on a Rachel Ray recipe, but I found it, as usual, to be too light on vegetables and too heavy on other ingredients. I served this over barley because that's what the kiddo wanted and when your three year old asks for barley, you get it to them!   

Honey Chicken

1 tblsp vegetable oil

1/2 package chicken breast, cut into bite size chunks

2 tblsp corn starch, divided
1 white onion, sliced

4 small/medium carrots, sliced

1 large handful green beans

1 tblsp diced fresh ginger

3 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced

3 tblsp honey

crushed red pepper

1 cup chicken broth

salt and pepper
Heat vegetable oil in wok over high heat. Toss chicken with 1 tblsp cornstarch. Cook chicken over high heat until lightly browned. Add salt and pepper. Add onions and carrots. Cook for two minutes. Add green beans, ginger, and garlic. Cook for a minute until fragrant. Dissolve remaining cornstarch in broth. Add honey, red pepper to taste, and chicken broth. Cook until sauce is thickened and serve over starch of your choosing.

Turkey Breast

Despite the fact that a kitchen mishap led to me removing the skin from the turkey when I should have left it on, this recipe worked out perfectly well. It even scored the "Kevin's best" award! If you don't have a mishap, you should separate the skin from the meat and then smear the butter mixture under the skin. I served this with mixed mashed potatoes, green beans, and gravy. Mmmm... Gravy...


Roasted Turkey Breast
2 turkey breasts (approximately 4 lbs)
1/2 red onion, cut into large chunks
6 tblsp butter, divided
2 cloves garlic
large handful fresh herbs (I used chives, thyme, oregano, and parsley)
salt and pepper
1 tblsp honey
Preheat oven to 450. Place turkey breasts in a lightly oiled roasting pan. In a small food processor, combine onion, 5 tblsp butter, garlic, herbs, and salt and pepper. Spread the butter mixture on the turkey breasts. Place turkey in oven and immediately reduce heat to 400. Cook for 30 minutes. Melt 1 tblsp butter in a small dish and stir in honey. Baste turkey with half of the butter/honey mixture. Cook for an additional 15 minutes. Baste again. Return to oven and cook until turkey reaches 170.

Mixed Mashed Potatoes

Okay, this is too simple to bother posting, but since it had never occurred to me to mix potato types in my mashed potatoes, I thought it might not have occurred to you either.


Mixed Mashed Potatoes
1 large sweet potato
4 small/medium red potatoes
4 small/medium white potatoes
2 tblsp butter
1/4 cup whole milk (or more depending on desired creaminess)
Peel potatoes and cut them into 2" cubes. You might want to keep the sweet potatoes a bit larger since they cook faster than the others. Cover potatoes with cold salted water and boil until fork tender. Drain and mash with butter and milk.

Ginger Peach Crisp

I bought a half bushel of peaches this weekend at the farmer's market. It was a moment of panic that peach season was ending and really, that half bushel doesn't look that big until it's sitting in your kitchen waiting for you. Anyway, a bunch hit the freezer, a few got set aside for snacking, a couple turned into bellinis, and the rest became dessert. This recipe was inspired by one in the Dishing Up Maryland cookbook, which you should totally check out.


Ginger Peach Crisp
8 medium/large peaches, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup sugar (or more to taste)
3 tblsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp minced or grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg, divided
1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup AP flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, melted*
Mix peaches, sugar, cornstarch, almond extract, ginger, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg in a large bowl. Pour into an 8x8 baking dish. In a clean bowl, thoroughly mix remaining ingredients (don't forget the remaining 1/4 tsp nutmeg). Sprinkle over the peaches. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Let cool before serving.
*Most recipes call for you to use cold, cubed butter and to mix it in with your fingers until the mixture is pea sized crumbles, but I just watched an episode of ATK where they made a crumble and used melted butter for the topping. I thought this was genius since I lose patience with the whole pea sized crumble situation. I tried it and the topping was delicious and crispy, just like I like it. I'll be using melted butter from now on! :)

Peach Sauce

Trader Joe's used to sell (maybe still does) this amazing peach sauce and I developed quite a bit of an addiction to it. I weaned myself from it years ago, but then a couple weeks ago, I picked up some seconds peaches at the farmers' market for the freezer. Then I screwed up blanching them. Just when everything was going to crap, I remembered that TJ's peach sauce. Delicious all by itself, over ice cream, with yogurt, etc.


Peach Sauce
3 lbs seconds peaches cut into chunks
1 tblsp sugar (or more if you want)
1 tblsp lemon juice
Put everything in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens, at least an hour. Transfer to a glass container and store in fridge. 

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

I had a couple of rolls left over from making steak sandwiches the other night, so I made these to use them up. Very simple, but the sandwiches ended up tasting even better than I expected. Kevin says, "If Atwaters served that, I would order it every time." There was also a lot of rambling about it being a vegetarian substitute for cheese steak subs or Novakians (perish the thought). He says the toasted roll made the sammie, so you shouldn't skip that step.


Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches
1 long skinny eggplant, cut in half and sliced in 1/4" slices lengthwise
1 summer squash, cut in half and sliced in 1/4" slices lengthwise
2 medium carrots, sliced in 1/4" slices lengthwise
2 portabella mushrooms
olive oil
salt, pepper, garlic powder, crushed red pepper
1 green pepper
2 sub rolls
1 cup grated mixed cheese (I used mozzarella, parmesan, and cheddar)
pickled onions
Place sliced veggies in a bowl together and mix with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper to taste. Let sit for at least an hour. Clean mushrooms and coat in oil, salt, and pepper and let sit for a half hour. Heat your grill to high. Place the green pepper on the grill and turn until blackened. Remove from grill and let cool. (Theoretically, you should be able to peel it like a roasted pepper, but that didn't work, so I just ran with it and ate the burned up skin.) Slice it and set it aside. Place all other veggies on grill and cook to your taste. Meanwhile, brush olive oil on the inside of the sub rolls. Place them face down on the grill and toast for a couple of minutes. Flip them over and top with cheese. Cook until melted. Cut mushrooms into slices so they fit on the rolls. Top with all other veggies and pickled onions.