Well I told y’all when we were on vacay that we picked up a few pounds of fresh Gulf shrimp right? Shrimp is such a luxury for us to have on hand. Somehow it is less painful to shell out the money on vacation for several pounds of big beautiful fresh Gulf shrimp than it is to go to the store and fork it over. Not sure if one is actually more cost effective than the other, but it seems so much easier the other way. Now, that being said, the recipe I am sharing today is so flipping amazing that I will go to the Brookshires or Kroger and buy some shrimp so I can make it. It certainly won’t hold me back!! This was the freshest, tastiest seafood pasta recipe I have tried in a long time. It was yummilicous! (That’s a hybrid word I am trying…cross between yummy and delicious…try it out) I found the original recipe at http://damndelicious.net/2014/01/15/spicy-parmesan-shrimp-pasta/, but I made a few changes to it to make it Cajun style. In all seriousness, this was one fantastic pasta dish and I will make it over and over. I think you will LOVE it.~AMB
Find the rest of this recipe on my new site…Spicy Cajun Shrimp Pasta | Cajun Mama Cooks
http://cajunmamacooks.com/2014/08/04/spicy-cajun-shrimp-pasta/
Category Archives: pasta dishes
Million dollar spaghetti and at the center of it all
So when I was growing up, spaghetti was an event. Spaghetti and meatballs that is. My mom’s spaghetti and meatballs. Took all day to cook and it was worth the wait. It almost always was a meal on a weekend and we would have leftovers during the week. That meal to this day is very special and still very much an event. I do enjoy cooking up a pot of spaghetti and meatballs from time to time, but my family loves and I mean LOVES spaghetti. And as much as I love them, I do not have time to make a pot of spaghetti and meatballs as often as they would like it. So I often turn to spaghetti and meat sauce. My oldest prefers meatballs (mix of pork and ground chuck mom, STAT) but he will endure meat sauce if he has to.
Of course, as much as I adore tradition, I am always looking for good variations on our favorite meals. I like to shake it up sometimes, keep it fresh, and make some noise (ha! Like I have to do that…these cookoo loos over here make enough noise for 3 households) but you get what I am saying. I like to stay out of the dinner time rut. So when I came across this recipe on Pinterest for million dollar spaghetti a while back http://ashleykaitlin.blogspot.com/2011/01/million-dollar-spaghetti.html?m=1, I knew I had to try it.
Well this week has been, um, interesting to say the least. It started off that way and it continues to be so. For different reasons. Swimming pool calamities, sick kids, sick hubby and it’s only Thursday, so I figured let’s just blow it out and doing something crazy! Let’s make million dollar spaghetti!!! Or it went something like that. I have said it before and I will say it again, when things are stressful on the home front and I have an inkling of that feeling that I just want to bury my head under the covers and cry, I shift into crazy homemaker mode. I know that few things are in my control, but what I cook and how I feel in my home, is all me. So I cook something traditional and comforting or I try something new. I try a cleaning tip and do some laundry. I guess my home is my center and I find comfort there. I guess it’s the Narcille and Beulah Mae coming out in me and every other Cajun mama I come from.
the two sick dudes laid up, everyone else around them (getting infected I can only imagine)…but that’s my chaos and my heart and soul
This million dollar spaghetti was a wonderful alternative to our regular spaghetti and meat sauce. Big Daddy said he could do with less creamy stuff, but the kids LOVED it. Even my BHB (picky man) ate it with gusto. It’s kind of like my lazy girl’s lasagna https://cajunmamacookinblog.com/2013/12/13/lazy-girls-lasagna/, only with angel hair pasta. It really was very easy and delicious. I recommend you give it a go the next time you are feeling stressed to the limit and not quite certain you do this whole being a grown thing another day. It may not change the world, it may not make things 100% better, but it will surely change your outlook. You can look around the table at your family enjoying a meal that you made and think, ” I cannot do it all, but I can make a meal my family enjoys” and “I can bring my family together.” And let’s not forget, that is kind of the point of this whole cooking for these people we live with anyway. Enjoy!!~AMB
Million dollar spaghetti
Stuff you need~
8 ounces angel hair pasta, cooked al dente
2 lb. container Cottage cheese (that’s the taller one)
1/4 cup sour cream
8 ounces cream cheese
1 small jar spaghetti sauce (I am a Ragu girl)
1 pound ground chuck
1 stick of butter (I used about 3/4 of the stick)
2 cups shredded mild cheddar
What to do with the stuff~
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook your pasta according to package directions. Brown ground beef until no longer pink. Drain well.
Stir spaghetti sauce into the drained ground beef. Heat until warmed throughout.
In a mixing bowl, mix together the softened cream cheese, sour cream, and cottage cheese. (I used my standing mixer to do this, as she suggested)
Put half of the butter (sliced into pats) at the bottom of a 9 x 13 dish. Layer half of the noodles on top of this. Now layer all of the creamy mixture on top of this.
Next, layer the rest of the noodles on top of the creamy mixture. Lay the rest of the butter pats on top of the noodles.
Now spread the spaghetti sauce and meat all over the top.
Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.
Finally, sprinkle the cheddar all over the top of the whole shebang.
Cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is all bubbly and irresistible looking.
noodles on top of creamy mixture
more butter pats on top of the noodles
my handsome boy helping me cook and telling me all about his latest google research. He amazes me.
layers and layers of yummm
Thai noodle salad
I am not sure if I have shared with my blog readers the depth of my obsession with Thai food. I love it. Like obsessed with it. If I could marry Thai food I would. But then I would eat it and be sad and alone again. So I will stick with Big Daddy. My love of Thai started with the Thai chicken pizza at Schlotzsky’s. Oh so delicious. When I was pregnant with Ben, I craved those. And then many years later, one of my dear friends, Betsy (yes we have discussed her before) introduced me to a local place called Dahn’s noodle house. It is one of those hole in the wall places that might be easy to overlook. I had seen it and wondered about, but one day Betsy’s husband went to eat there and brought her back some. And later that week we had this conversation when she told me about it…”yes that kind of shady looking place past the liquor store. Yes the one we always wonder about. Yes it is awesome. Matt said it was packed for lunch on Saturday.” So she and I hit up Dahn’s noodle house the next and it was as they say…on. Oh so on. Pad Thai. Peanut chicken. Spicy lemongrass chicken. Yes, yes, and yesss. “I need a t-25 sir, and make it snappy!!!” Mommy likes. Mommy loves. It was love at first bite. We went again and again. We brought friends. “Yes come with us. Yes that kind of shady looking place past the liquor store. Yes the food is awesome.” It is like a little secret in Shreveport that is not so secret anymore. It is usually packed and I went in there the other day to pick up some pad Thai because I had to have some and the waiters were wearing fancy vests. They used to just wear jeans or what have you. That is a true indication that the secret is out. It is a great restaurant in Shreveport. When Betsy and I used to go on a weekly, I mean monthly, basis there was a hammock off to the side where their baby would nap. It was the cutest thing and just so quaint. Certainly a conversation starter. Lol.
So back to the business hand, Thai noodle salad. The original recipe is called Thai chicken pasta salad but y’all. I just could not put the chicken in it. I wanted straight noodles. Just cool, creamy noodle perfection with a hint of crunch coming from the veggies. And some siracha sauce to give it a kick. Mmmm. Oh yeah, Cajun mama likey her Thai noodles, however odd that may sound. I should be an ambassador. I promote all cultures on my blog. I love foods from all ethnicities and if I can cook it, I will. The ambassador thing was a joke ok. Just in case anyone thinks I am going all Gwyneth Paltrow over here, making stupid statements that have no basis in reality. Anyway, apparently I pinned this recipe a while back and I was scrolling the other day and thought “oh my yes. I need to make that stuff.”
The link to that is here…http://www.bhg.com/blogs/delish-dish/2014/03/26/thai-chicken-pasta-salad-recipe/. And so make it I did. And it was good. Cold, creamy, peanutty, with just enough crunch. Yes. I did not add the chicken. Check out the original post if you want to do that. I am telling you how I did it. It was Dahn’s noodle garden perfect. If you are Thai loving fool like me, it would be a safe bet to say you will enjoy this recipe. ~AMB
Thai noodle salad
Stuff you need~
2-3 ounces packages Ramen noodles
3/4 peanut butter
3/4 cup lite coconut milk
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (the fresher the better)
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper OR red pepper flakes (this is another obsession Betsy started for me)
2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
1 small seedless cucumber, peeled and finely diced*
6 green onions, finely sliced
*if you cannot find seedless, just seed it. Slice horizontally once you have peeled it. Take a spoon and scape all the seeds out. It’s pretty easy.
What to do with the stuff~
Bring 4 cups or so of water to a boil in a medium size pot. Break the dry ramen noodles up and toss them into the boiling water. Discard the seasoning packets or save for another use. After you add the broken up noodles, remove the pot from the heat. Just let the noodles sit there.
Now, in a large bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, coconut milk, lime juice, sugar and the seasonings. Now add the carrot , green onion and cucumber to the peanut butter sauce. Stir to coat.
Drain your noodles, rinse well with cold water. Add the drained noodles to the sauce and stir gently. Spoon into some bowls. Sprinkle with some extra crushed red pepper flakes if you want. Take liberty with the Siracha sauce. I love that stuff. Almost as much as I love this noodle salad.
even the bottle just makes me glad to be alive
oh for the love of Thai!
Keep calm and make macaroni salad
So I like to fancy myself a Southern girl at heart. Everything looks better with a monogram on it, I love my hydrangeas, and Gone with the Wind is a wonderful movie. None of that may truly make me Southern (though I am by birth and I am proud of it!) but there is such a thing as being Southern at heart. Which I imagine if you follow my blog or Facebook page, you are Southern at heart simply because the majority of recipes I serve up on here are good ole fashioned Southern delights and you probably like to eat some good food!!)
Well, the lovely recipe I have for y’all today is a true Southern dish. Macaroni salad! Oh yes. But friends, not your grandmama’s macaroni salad. No siree Bob. This is macaroni salad for today’s sophisticated Southern palates. It is sweet, creamy and has a little kick. I have always wanted to like macaroni salad. Something about it just draws me in. It is just so…Southern….sitting there in the grocery store deli case alongside the fried chicken (we love the fried chicken at our local Brookshires…it’s fab). It is simply perfect at a potluck and is just always a great summertime side dish. I have to admit I have bought some macaroni salad from our local grocery store. Now, it was not horrible but it just always left me wanting…more. That I can recall, macaroni salad is not a dish my family made often, if ever at all, so I really have no way to gauge what really good macaroni salad is. But I knew that there had to be a great recipe for it somewhere. I have tried several recipes for it, but again, they just left me wanting more. Well friends, I do believe I have found…more. I googled best macaroni salad and first result was a macaroni salad recipe from none other than the lovely Pioneer Woman…y’all know it’s good. Here is a link to that post http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/06/the-best-macaroni-salad-ever/. Of course, it was crucial to me that I share it with my peeps, my homies, my friends on my blog. So that is what I am doing today. I hope you will give it a go. Keep calm and make good macaroni salad. Ha ha!!! I need a Tshirt that says that! ~AMB
that’s all I’m saying lol!
Be all end all Macaroni Salad (my name for it…)
serves a bunch of folks
4 cups of macaroni noodles, cooked al dente
1/2 cup diced sweet and spicy pickles *
4 roasted red bell peppers (the jarred kind)
Black olives, chopped fine**
3 green onions, sliced (green parts)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (Duke’s…always, at least in my kitchen)
1 tablespoon Red wine vinegar
3 teaspoons sugar
1/4 Milk
Plenty of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
Pickle juice (secret ingredient!)
aside.
*(you can buy some or make my recipe for them https://cajunmamacookinblog.com/2013/10/23/cajun-mamas-candied-pickles/) I bought some from target because I was trying to make this last night but I will be making a fresh batch of those babies soon!)
** (to save time, I bought a small can of the chopped black olives and it worked great! Excellent time saver!)
What to do with the stuff
Boil your macaroni noodles. Drain them in a colander and then run cold water over them. You want them cool when you add the rest of this stuff.
Chop the roasted bell peppers, green onion, olives (if you didn’t buy the already chopped ones, show off! :)), and pickles. Set aside.
To a medium size bowl, add your mayo. Whisk in the red wine vinegar, sugar and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Add a little black pepper for good measure. Now add a little milk and whisk. Ok now, add a healthy splash of pickle juice to this mixture. Mmmmm. Whisk it good. When a problem comes along, you must whisk it. Oh sorry I got lost in my 80’s music.
Now, add your cold macaroni noodles to a large bowl. Now stir in 3/4 of that sweet and tangy mayo mixture. Give it a nice stir to coat those darling noodles with that sauce. Mmmmm. You can add the rest later if you desire.
Now stir in the chopped olives, red peppers, green onions, and pickles. Give it a good stir. Now splash in a little more pickle juice if you are so inclined (and I was) and stir gently until well combined. Make adjustments according to your taste. Now, naturally this is better if you let it sit in fridge covered overnight but feel free to have some almost immediately. It’s all good. Literally…all so good!! We served this with some magnificent grilled chicken breasts (that recipe will be coming up soon) and grilled corn on the cob. Oh and baked beans. Because my kids and BD are southern too and they likes them some baked beans. It was yum-my!!!!! Enjoy!!!
ready for that macaroni salad
I found these Wickles at Target. Quite tasty!
Rainbow Pasta Salad and lots of the good stuff know, I learned from my friends
So I have told ya’ll about my very good friend Betsy before, right? I will give ya’ll a little more back story here because it is relevant to the recipe…well, mostly. Ha ha! Ya’ll know I love to tell a good story, right? Anyway, I met Betsy back in 2005 when my oldest started MDO at First Baptist here in Shreveport. Her oldest, Maggie, was in class with Ben. I had 2 kiddos, aged almost 2 and 6 months old. We had just moved from Keithville and I was still convinced I could absolutely be the perfect mom and all the other delusions we new mommies by into. It’s true, girls. Betsy is what you would call, shy, when you first meet her. Friendly, but a little aloof and seems perfect beyond words. It is a little intimidating. We would make a little small talk, but she worked in the MDO and was always on her way to her own class. Lo and behold, round about April, I was pregnant with #3 and she was pregnant with #2, now known as Aubrey and Annie. We would meet in passing and exchange hellos. Come fall, my Kayla was old enough and I put her in MDO with Ben and Betsy was her teacher. We were both hugely pregnant and would talk about due dates and Kayla’s progress, which coincidentally, was not good. You know how daycares and MDO’s always say “she will stop crying as soon as you leave and be fine. We will call you if there is a problem.” Kayla was one of those rare babies that did not stop crying. She in fact, sat in Betsy’s barely there lap and would sob inconsolably. So, I would come and get her early everyday. Keep in mind, I am due any day with baby #3 and my 18 month old was a mama’s girl. I was experiencing mommy guilt, self doubt, mommy fear at it’s most primal…whatever you want to call it. Aubrey came along in October and then Annie at the end of November. I eventually took Ben and Kayla out of MDO because Aubrey kept getting so sick and finally got a stomach bug at 5 months old and I said enough. I am not going to lie or sugarcoat it. Having 3 kids, 3 and under and a husband who worked or hunted all the time was to say the least overwhelming. I guess I had a little postpartum depression now that I look back on it. Baby number 3 was a blessing and also a knockdown punch I was not expecting. She cried all the time if she was not being held and I was just at my wits end. So, fast forward to a year and half down the road, I was expecting baby #4 and Ben would be starting kindergarten in the fall. I decided to try MDO again. So I went back to the only place I really knew, First Baptist. Little did I know how glad I would be that I made that decision. I found out Betsy was also expecting a baby boy and was due in June. I was expecting a baby boy in July. Well…as luck (or I say, God’s plan) would have it, that summer, right before I had Lucas, I saw Betsy in the Target parking lot. I have goose bumps as I write this as I can see just how meant to be it was. I admired her newborn baby boy, Jack Henry and made small talk. Well, cut to the fall, and the girls started MDO. Aubrey and Annie were in the same class and every day Betsy was not working at MDO, I would see her in Target. We would laugh and joke about “ha ha see you in Target every time! How funny!” We exchanged phone numbers, but I was still adjusting to motherhood with 4 kiddos and did not see much of a future in our friendship. I had not made friends very easily since moving to Shreveport and I did not have high expectations. Well, somehow, we managed to carve out a nice little friendship and we banded together with some other moms and formed a nice posse that included about 6 moms and in excess of 25 kids. Yeah, we were a motley crew at best. Betsy and I spent lots of time together with the kids and without. I ended up being her teaching partner for a year before they moved. I loved those Tuesdays and Thursdays and I frankly loved spending time with my friend. This pasta salad recipe is only one of the many things I treasure from our time together. For someone who says she doesn’t cook, she sure does have some flipping awesome recipes. Ya’ll know the rest of the story…they moved to South Louisiana so her hubby could join a practice and the rest of their story could unfold. I miss her everyday and I know she misses me, but life has moved on for both of us and we have made our way. She is still one of my good friends and our kiddos still love each other, even if we don’t see each other often. And a few of those friendships still remain strong and that is a gift that keeps on giving. (I am talking to you Lexie B) You see, some things, like our friendship, are just meant to be. God kept putting us in one another’s path until we realized…hey, I like this girl!!! She likes Target as much as I do and she gets me. She just gets me. Thank God for friends who get us, right? Those crazy years were made much more bearable because of Bets. In many ways, she taught me how to be a mom. She taught me how to pack lunches for my kids…no really, she is a mastermind at packing lunches kiddos love. She taught me how to make really delicious brownies. She taught me you can never go to Chick fil A too often and how to do really good arts and crafts. She taught me how to get over myself and roll with it with a little grace and not worry so much. She taught me to laugh at myself. And she taught me to trust in friendship again and that I was lovable just as I was. Hot mess and all. She is the yen to my yang. This rainbow pasta salad is a perfect example. For years I had wondered, how in the heck do the restaurants make such deliciousness? Well, in walks Betsy to show me. So delicious and yet so easy. Too good to be true. And yet…totally true. Just like our friendship. Love ya Bets. ~AMB
friendship is indeed a gift
A good friend gives your cozy coupe a push when you need it.
Rainbow Pasta Salad
Stuff you need~
1 package of rotini pasta, cooked al dente and then rinsed with cold water
5 cups of chopped vegetables (you can use anything but I use cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, purple onion)
1/2 – 1 cup of cheddar cheese and/or Mozzarella cheese cubes
1/2 cup Salad Supreme seasoning
8 ounces or 1 cup of Italian dressing
What to do with the stuff~
Put your cooked, drained and cooled pasta in a big bowl. Toss in your chopped veggies and cubes of cheese. Stir in the seasoning blend and the Italian dressing. Add more if you think it needs it. Toss well so that the seasoning and dressing coats every last noodle. You will be so happy and full of joy when you take a bite of this yumminess. It will make you smile and want to give some to your friend. Do it. She might just love you for life!!
Shout to my girl Bets for this and so many other wonderful things she introduced me to!!!
*For this batch I added in some penne pasta because I needed to stretch it a little further to feed a large group. I added a little more salad dressing and seasoning accordingly.
The secret ingredient
So full of color and flavor…you will love it and so will your friends
Lazy Girl’s Lasagna
This lasagna recipe…oh this lasagna recipe…there are few words I can use to describe how much I LOVE this lasagna recipe. Cajun mama cooking Italian food, you say? What?! Ok, well I admit you will probably never go to Italy and find a piece of this lasagna on your plate. Authentic Italian this is not, but after one bite, you will not care. Growing up, when lasagna was on the menu, it was a happy day in the Mayeux household. You knew right away walking through the door that we were having lasagna for supper. One whiff of the delicious aroma and my mouth immediately watered. Oh the wonderful smells of coming home, right? It had been a while since I had made this lasagna. I have had so many recipes to try out and it just sort of fell by the wayside. Never again. As Big Daddy is fond of saying, “this has been missing from my life!!!!” (he says this any time it has been a while since we have had something he really likes…lol!) I made a pan of this lasagna for the office staff at my kids’ school the other day for their Christmas gift. That’s right, I gave the gift of lasagna. They all loved it! While I was at it, I made a second pan for my husband and his coworkers. It was lunch time when I brought them their pan, so I had a piece myself. Oh. my. heavenly stars. You know how food tastes so much better when you are starving? This lasagna was so good already and I was so hungry, I just about blew my own mind. So. flipping. good I tell you!! I decided to name it lazy girl’s lasagna because it comes together super quick, with minimal ingredients, and while you are at it, you can easily make another pan for a friend.
You are welcome!!!
Lazy Girl’s Lasagna
Ingredients
1 1/2 pound ground chuck
1 jar Ragu spaghetti sauce
1/2 box oven ready lasagna noodles (6 noodles per lasagna)
1 large container of cottage cheese
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 cup Italian 5 cheese blend (I used the kind with the Philadelphia cream cheese in it for both)
Kraft Parmesan cheese (yes the kind in the shaker)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 x 13 dish by spraying with cooking spray
Brown ground chuck in a large skillet until no longer pink and drain. Stir in jar of Ragu into the cooked ground chuck. Bring it to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer. Let the meat sauce simmer for about 10 minutes. Lay 3 of the lasagna noodles on the bottom of the prepared dish. Spoon half of meat sauce evenly over the noodles. Spoon half of the cottage cheese over the meat sauce. Sprinkle one cup of the Mozzarella and 1/2 cup of the five cheese blend over the cottage cheese. Generously sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over all of this. Repeat the layer, starting with 3 noodles and ending with Parmesan. Pop into oven for about 45 minutes-1 hour or until cheese is slightly browned and all bubbly on top. Let it cool a bit and then cut into squares. Eat it up!!
Momou’s mac and cheese
Momou with my precious first born…the woman loves her grands and great grands…
If you have been following Cajun Mama Cooks for a while on facebook or have known me any amount of time, you know about the entity that is Momou’s Mac and Cheese. My kids knew about this stuff as soon as they could eat solid food. My babies all love it and ask for it on a monthly if not weekly basis. This is the epitome of comfort food. Nothing else comes close. If you know me at all, you know all about Momou. Momou is my dad’s mom. Her name is Narcille and I am not sure there is anyone on this Earth whom I adore as much as her. I share a birth month with her. Our birthdays are 5 days apart and I love my birthday, but I love that we share that even more. She is one fine lady and I love her so much. My husband loves her so much. My kids love her so much. Everyone who knows Narcille, or Nar, or Nice as my grandfather called her, loves her. I again am beyond blessed to be able to call that woman my grandmother. And can she cook. Boy can she ever!! And loved to do it. She made this macaroni and cheese for almost every occasion and just regular old Sunday dinner. You knew when she had the pyrex dish out and she had some of those luxury noodles boiling, you were about to be in for a treat. When I first got married, Momou, my Nana, Aunt Lee and my mom came to my house and they taught me how to cook Momou’s mac and cheese. That is one of my fondest memories as a grown up. I cherish that night always and on cold days when I feel uprooted and out of place, that memory gives me comfort like a warm blanket. This mac and cheese has spanned generations and now has been made famous in my own kids’ minds. They know the story behind it and that it belongs to Momou. They have not been a part of many of dinners at Momou’s because since they have been born, she has slowed down some and now lives in a nursing home. But they know. I love that when I cook this macaroni and cheese, they talk about their Momou and what they love about her. It shows me that even if they have not eaten this dish at her house, per say, they associate this wonderful dish with the wonderful woman who has passed it down to us. That is what matters most to me. I have been reluctant to share this recipe because it is very special to my family. But, after soul searching, I know that Momou would be so glad for me to share it. She is above all things, a giving, loving person who wants to make others happy. So I will share. This is truly love in a 9 x 13 dish. It is a perfect partner for a pork or beef roast and rice and gravy, an excellent side for turkey and dressing, and a delicious accompaniment to chicken fricassee. I have never made it for anyone who did not love this stuff and ask if I would be serving it the next time they came to dinner. I have had several people ask for this recipe and if you are one of them…here you go!! Now, the noodles…as far as I am concerned, these are the only noodles to make Momou’s mac and cheese with. You can of course make it with any noodle, but I refuse. I don’t care to change this recipe up one bit. It is perfect as it is. Just like Momou. You don’t mess with something this wonderful. Well, I don’t. I have the most luck finding these noodles at our local target. They are Luxury brand long macaroni noodles. I have found them at some Wal-Marts. When I do find them, I buy at least 5 packages of them at a time. Just a suggestion. Because you should always be ready to whip up some Momou’s mac and cheese.
This a package of those noodles..if you find them…buy several packages. Trust me.
Love in a 9 x 13 dish I tell you…
Momou’s Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
1 16 oz. box of Velveeta
1 stick of butter
1 can of Pet Milk or evaporated milk
1 package Luxury long macaroni noodles
1/2 cup of sugar
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Get your 9 x 13 dish out. No need to grease it.
Bring about 8 cups of salted water to a boil in a large stock pot or pasta pot. Add your long macaroni noodles to the boiling water. I break my noodles in half before adding them to the boiling water because it makes it easier for my kids to handle it, but it does cut down on the slurpability (is that a word?) that you get when the noodle is long. Ah decisions. Boil the noodles until they are tender. These noodles take a little longer to boil because they are so long and thick. If you prefer your pasta al dente, then by all means, pull them sooner. Drain your pasta. Now, just leave it long enough to drain because I have found (because Aunt Lee and Momou taught me) that this is easier if the noodles are still warm. That helps everything to combine and melts the cheese and butter. Ok, pour your boiled noodles into your 9 x 13 dish.
Now, you are going to cut your stick of butter into “pats” (that’s how Momou would say it…cut the butter into pats, my Doo :)) Take a stirring spoon and don’t stir, but sort of push the noodles around to let the butter circulate and make friends with the noodles. Ha ha! Ok, now, Cher, you are going to add chunks of Velveeta to the noodles and butter. Do the same thing. Don’t stir, but push the noodles around gently and let the Velveeta chunks come to the party. Introduce them to the noodles and butter. Next, you are going to sprinkle some sugar ALLLLL over the noodles. Gently push that around to let the sugar get up in there. Now you will open your PET milk by poking a big hole on each side. I suppose you can open the whole can with a can opener, but we have never done that. It makes it easier to pour it slowly over the noodles. I use one of those bottle opener thingies. It has a point edge on one side and I poke it into the can. Do ya’ll know what I am talking about? I don’t know the technical term, so excuse my lack of formality. Though at this point, I hope most of ya’ll are aware that formalities are not my thang. 🙂 Ok, slowly pour the PET milk over the noodles. I use the whole can. Gently push that around and let the noodles and all the other ingredients spend some time together. Now…take a tasting spoon and get a taste of the milk. If it tastes sweet, but not too sweet with a hint of butter and cheese, it is perfect. Just add sugar to your taste. It is supposed to be sweet. That’s what makes it special!
Cover the pan with foil and put it in your preheated oven. Cook for about 30 minutes and then check it. Remove foil and using a spoon, gently stir the noodles. You want there to be some “juice” left. Be careful not to let the noodles dry out because they will also dry up some once you take the dish out of the oven. Usually about 30 minutes does it for me. All of the cheese should be melted, but if not, giving it a good stir will help with that. The milk mixture should be thicker than it was and clinging to the noodles. If it is still runny, put the foil back on and bake it for another 5 or 10 minutes.
Now, I really hope I have done this recipe justice. If you have questions or need something clarified, please ask questions. Don’t be afraid. As I have been typing, my 5 year old aka the bull in a china shop has been asking to make goo repeatedly and I have been distracted. So, let’s be honest, I make mistakes. I hope you will give this truly wonderful mac and cheese recipe a try. Just please call it Momou’s mac and cheese and when someone says “who is Momou?” you can tell them all about her. She is one special lady! I have given ya’ll 3 very special recipes for you to make for Thanksgiving or whenever you choose. Since my kiddos are off for Thanksgiving and I have some cooking and baking to do, I am going to sign off for the next few days. I want to spend some time with my family and friends. I really hope you all savor every moment of your Thanksgiving celebrations to the fullest. See you all next week with a fresh batch of delicious recipes! Enjoy!! ~AMB
Can of PET milk…regular ole evaporated milk…but where I am from, all evaporated
milk is referred to as PET milk. I love that.
Getting into the spirit of things at the Polar Express
Gobble till you wobble…cutest little turkey I know
Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends!!!
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