Noodles, bacon, cheese….what’s not to love?

This freezes well, kidls love it, so do husbands and hormonal women…Perfect for a cold day, a bad day, a busy day…or just because.  Vary the cheese for flavor changes, use ham instead of bacon…Use a different type of pasta if you want. Yum.

This is my entry for Presto Pasta.   For more great pasta dishes head over to Presto Pasta Nights

Noodles, Bacon, and Cheese

• 2 lb egg noodles, cooked and drained
• 1/2 lb or more of bacon, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup of cheddar cubed or grated
• 1 cup of Swiss, Gruyere, Monterey Jack,  Jalapeno jack, Gouda, Havarti…or a mix cubed or grated
• 2 cups of milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup flour

Saute the bacon and onion until the bacon is crisp and the onion is tender.  Mix with the noodles in a greased casserole.  Mix the cheeses together.  Mix in 3/4 cup of the cheese.

Make a white sauce.   Mix the flour and milk in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave, stirring often, until mixture thickens.  Stir in the butter and cheese.  Microwave until melted and smooth, continuing to stir often.

Check seasoning and add salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the noodles and mix well.  You can serve immediately or top with bread crumbs and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Serves 6 to 8.

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Pulled pork is quite different from barbeque.  While you can certainly have pork barbeque you just can’t have pulled beef, or pulled chicken!

Back in the day, pulled pork was the staple at most southern get togethers.  There would be mountains of pulled pork, buckets of cole slaw, oceans of sweet tea, and of course, the only official dessert to serve with a pulled pork sandwich, Pig Pickin’ Cake.  Yep. A yellow cake with mandarin orange, pineapple, pudding, and traditionally cool whip.  I do mine different and I am hoping to get my recipe posted soon.

The beauty of pulled pork is that you can easily do it in a slow cooker and it just gets better as leftovers.  When you are done with the sandwiches use the leftovers in tortillas, omelets, baked potatoes, mac and cheese or over rice.

I am giving you a recipe for 16. My family will EASILY go through this in one meal if I leave the room for a moment.  You can freeze it in portions for a quick meal.
While the tenderloin is traditional I have used it with other types of pork…Also, the Dr. Pepper can be substituted with equal amounts of:

• coffee
• tea ( try a black tea with ginger)
• coca cola
• gingerale
• beer
• root beer

Pulled Pork

4 lbs pork tenderloin, roast, or boneless ribs.
2 (12 fluid ounce) cans  Dr. Pepper

36 ozs of your favorite barbecue sauce, homemade or commercial.
16 Sandwich rolls

Put the pork and the Dr. Pepper in the slow cooker for 7-10 hours.  Pork will shred easily with a fork when it is done.  Serve with the barbecue sauce on the sandwich rolls.  For a really authentic presentation top the pork with cole slaw when serving the sandwiches.

Image:
MaryeAudet

Technorati Tags: pulled pork recipes,southern recipes,crockpot meals,slow cooker recipes,easy,OAMC,Once a month cooking,freezer meals,family dinners,busy nights

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When I was growing up in Eastern Pennsylvania we always called this chicken pot pie. Later, after moving south, I was informed that it is chicken and noodles. Ah well, whatever. It is chicken, it is pasta, it is comfort food, and it is wonderful. Best of all you can use it for your once a month cooking.

Really, does it get better than that without chocolate in it? I don’t think so. The creamy sauce, tender chicken, and savory vegetables make this perfect for a blustery day. Add a salad, bran muffins, and maybe apple pie .

You can vary the vegetables according to what you have on hand. Mushrooms, peas, celery, carrots, and even spinach works well here. Again, while I prefer a homemade cream sauce, for freezing the canned soups just work better for me.

This is also my entry for Presto Pasta Night. A little early, but I seem to be better at being early than on time.

Chicken & Noodles

1 lb farafelle, cooked al dente

1 lb chicken, more if you like.

2 onions, chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

1 cup of frozen peas

1/2 c mushrooms, sliced

2 bay leaves

2 cloves garlic

2 cans of cream of chicken soup, or one can of cream of chicken and one can of cream of mushroom

1/2 c buttermilk (full fat is best)

Put chicken in a pot with water to cover. Add the vegetables, bay leaves, and garlic, and simmer until chicken and vegetables are tender. Allow to cool. Remove bay leaf.

Remove chicken from bone (if using whole chicken) or chop boneless chicken in bite sized pieces. Add with vegetables to farafelle (bow tie pasta). Mix well. Add soups, buttermilk, and enough of the cooking water to get a thick sauce. Check for seasoning.

You can cover and freeze at this point.

To serve: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until bubbly and heated through.

Everything on this page (c) 2008 Marye Audet for Baking Delights, http://bakingdelights.com. Any other use is stealing.

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Shepherd’s Pie is one of Marc’s favorites from my once a month cooking repertoire and it is really easy to make. It is one of those comfort foods, I think, at least in my family.

The thing is, that there are a lot of steps to it so I don’t make it as much as I should. I “scaled” this recipe down to serve eight because I realize that most of you have smaller families than I do. In fact, there are countries with smaller populations that this household…well, at least towns in Arkansas. I have driven through some of them. In fact, we used to camp at a park in a place called Cove Lake, Arkansas, and we would joke about moving to some of the nearby towns and doubling the population.

I pick up vintage casserole dishes at thrift shops and freeze my OAMC meals in them because I like the convenience of just thawing, and tossing in the oven without transferring from freezer bags to dishes. The generally cost about $2-3 and I don’t worry if they get chipped or broken. If you don’t have a ton of casserole dishes, line your dish with aluminum foil before you add the ingredients. Be sure the foil hangs over the sides of the dish. Freeze, and then remove the casserole. Wrap the remaining foil around it and place in a freezer bag. When you are ready to thaw and bake it just take it out of the bag and place it back in the casserole dish.

The mashed potatoes on this Shepherd’s Pie recipe are different than what you might normally use but these freeze, and thaw, perfectly.

This casserole, also known as Cottage Pie, is perfect for the busy cook. In fact Shepherd’s pie is actually supposed to be made with lamb, while cottage pie is made with beef. Make it with any ground meat for an easy, frugal, filling, and delicious dinner.

Serve it with a salad, freezer rolls, and cookies for a quick meal.

Potato Mixture

• 6 large potatoes, cubed. I like to mash them with the peels on. You can peel if you want.
• 3 cloves garlic peeled
• 1 1/2 c sour cream
• 1 c cream or half and half
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1/4 c chopped chives
• 1/2 c chopped onion
• salt and pepper to taste

Meat Mixture

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 c finely chopped onion
• 1/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 carrots, sliced and cooked
• 1 lb of green beans, cooked
• 1/2 lb mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef, ground lamb, ground pork, or a mixture of all three.
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1/2 c half and half
• 1 c shredded cheddar for sprinkling over the top

Put the potatoes, onion, and garlic in a pan and nearly cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender. Drain.

Transfer to a large bowl. Add cream, sour cream, salt, pepper, butter, and chives. Mash with a hand masher until it is a texture that you like. I like to leave it more like “smashed”potatoes than perfectly smooth mashed potatoes. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add mushrooms and onion. Cook until onion is transparent. Add ground meat and cook until well browned, seasoning to taste. Pour off excess fat.
Add soups and half and half. Mix well.

Spread the ground beef in an even layer on the bottom of a casserole dish. Next, spread a layer of green beans. Now spread with a layer of carrots. Top with the mashed potato mixture and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese. Let cool to room temperature and freeze.

To bake: Thaw in refrigerator overnight and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. Allow to stand for a few minutes before serving.

I don’t normally like to use canned soups but for freezer cooking they seem to hold up the best.

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