Pass the Pasta Please -- Freshly made, NOT from a box!

My husband bought me this wonderful pasta machine a few years ago and I’ve been meaning to make fresh pasta for some time now.

And since he informed me he was making a pot of home-made pasta sauce, I thought no way am I going to have that touch “dried-from-a-box” pasta.

Anyway, I’ve seen fresh pasta being done on Food Network.  How hard could it be?

Well, it turns it’s really not that hard!  With a little help from this video from Chef Tomm (Thanks Chef Tomm!), I was able to get the technique down my first time out! 

Using my Kindle, I watched the video a couple of times, paused as needed wrote down the recipe because I did not realize I could download Chef Tomm's recipe (silly me) and then I got to work.

The first thing I noticed was the original recipe sounded like a lot, so I cut it in half and I still had a lot left over.

Also, I learned that "flour is your friend".  Use it.  Otherwise you'll have a sticky mess in your pasta machine and if you don't put flour on your pasta sheets before you set them out to rest, they will stick together and to your counter.  Ask me how I know...

 See my little pasta nests resting on parchment paper?  Aren't they lovely? I think so.

So how did it turn out?  Awesome pasta and awesome sauce!!

A  happy husband!

My first foray into freshly made pasta was a great experience.  A success through and through!

Janet J.

The 52 week savings challenge is about to begin! Join me won’t you?

Is there something you want to buy at the end of 2015?  A Hawaiian vacation perhaps?

This photo of Hawaii is courtesy of TripAdvisor

How about a new sewing machine (me, me, me!)?

Or do you just want to kick-start your retirement savings already?  

Why not do it the “52 week savings challenge” way?

This is something that’s been making the rounds on social and news media and you can even find printouts of little charts (or savings schedules) that you can tape to a piggy-bank or jam jar – any place you want to stash your $$’s.

It works like this.  Week 1 – put in $1.  Week 2 – put in $2.  Week 3 – put in $3… and so on.  At the end of 52 weeks and with an increasing weekly savings schedule, for instance week 52 you add in $52, you’ll have saved a total of $1,378.  Not too shabby.

But hey, what if during the last month of the year it’s just too hard to save up to $50 a week?  Hmmm…. That could be difficult what with Christmas and everything.

Why not try doing the same thing, but backwards?  Basically, with a decreasing cash outflow amount?  We could start off with $52 at week 1.  Put in $51 for week 2, and so on and so forth – DECREASING our weekly savings amount as we go.  In December we would only have to cough up $14 for the piggy-bank. At the end of our year, we’ll still have saved $1,378.  Hey I like that!!

But wait a minute!  I’m a little OCD.  I don’t like uneven things.  Get me?  Not many people do…  There’s a solution for this.  If I just put in $26.50 every week, rain or shine, January through December like clock-work, then I’ll have saved the same amount: $1,378. 

Whoa!  Even cash savings amounts. 

I can automate that. 

I can just set up a weekly auto transfer from my checking account to a savings account such as this CapitalOne 360 savings account.  I won’t even have to think about it!  I’ll earn interest AND I won’t be tempted to spend it.

I think this is going to work for me, most definitely!

But wait, I’m really thinking now. . . 

What if I did this every year until retirement?  Say I have 30 working years left.  What if at the end of every year I put my money into a retirement or other investment account?  What would my balance look like then?  Can I figure that out say if I earned 5%, 7%, or 10% over the course of 30 years?  Of course I can!

Hmmm....now that’s not bad for just a measly $26.50 a week. That's about the price of two lunches.

So, are you in?

I’ve even provided a little Excel Spreadsheet that outlines a schedule for increasing saving outflows, decreasing saving outflows, or even saving outflows.  You can even play around with the numbers to see what this chart will look like if you save different weekly amounts for 2 years, 10 years, 35 years or more.

I CAN get that sewing machine. Huzzah!

Janet J.

Desperately Seeking the Ultimate Mac & Cheese!

 Ahh....Mac & Cheese, good Mac & Cheese is hard to find.

It's one of those American dishes that you see on everyone’s personal menus. However, there's a lot of sub-par Mac & Cheese out there and there are those that are just too fancy for their own good!

I’ve been making Mac & Cheese since I was in junior high.  You see, my mom and dad did not like Mac & Cheese, so I took on the role of Mac & Cheese chef for me and my brother. Of course like most, I started out with the boxed version that you could get three for a dollar on sale. It was very orange and easy to make. It appealed to my Jr. High taste-buds.   

However, as an adult.  I found that I wanted – no, I needed to make a good home-made mac & cheese that did not look like  1) something not born in nature and 2) taste like plastic. Thus began my search for the ultimate Mac & Cheese.

I started out searching through my mom’s cookbooks and found a basic recipe, which called for a  white sauce used as a base – interesting!  Then there’s a whole world of choices for cheese, noodles, and add-ins.

 My first trials were OK, but they were not creamy enough or cheesy enough for me!

As I experimented I think I’ve come up with something that satisfies not only my childhood wishes for a creamy and cheesy dish but also balances my adult need for veggies and a few more nuanced flavors (not too many because after all it is Mac & Cheese!).

So I now share with you my favorite Mac & Cheese recipe.  The ingredients are easily found in your pantry and refrigerator and it passes the “husband” test.  I do hope you enjoy! 

 Mac & Cheese with Broccoli and Ham 

Yield: 4 - 6 servings, depending on who’s eating!

8 oz. macaroni or other tubular or medium shell pasta.  This is about 1 ¾ cups*

3 TBSP butter

1/4 cup flour (spoon flour lightly into measuring cup, do not dip and pack it in)

1/3 cup finely diced onion or shallot

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

2 ½ cups of milk (2% or whole milk), warm it a bit don’t use cold out of fridge

3 cups grated medium cheese (I like a mix of cheddar and Gruyere), do not use more ‘cause weird things will happen to the cheese sauce

1 10oz box of Green Giant Steamers Broccoli with Cheese Sauce (just defrosted in microwave - not cooked.)

1 cup chopped fresh broccoli (opt)

1 cup diced ham (opt)

1/4 cup finely crumbled garlic croutons or flavored bread crumbs

Directions:

Cook macaroni as directed on package minus 2 minutes.  Drain and top with a pat of butter so it doesn’t stick.  In same water cook chopped fresh broccoli for 2-3 minutes.  Remove and set asside.

·        Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

·        On medium heat melt butter and add onions.  Cook until onions are translucent about 3-4 minutes. Add flour and all spices into butter and onions mixture and cook for about three minutes.

     

      Still on medium heat, add in milk to the flour butter mixture and stir/whisk constantly for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and thickens a bit.  Add in Green Giant broccoli and cheese sauce, stir until all incorporated. 

Remove from heat and add shredded cheese, cooked broccoli and ham bits. Stir pasta into sauce and pour into a buttered 1 ½ quart casserole dish.   Sprinkle the top with bread crumbs and bake for 25-30 minutes

*I encourage you to weigh your pasta if you have a kitchen scale.  8 oz.’s seems to be just right for the amount of sauce in this recipe.  Any more than that and the dish does turns out dry and not creamy.  Pasta really soaks up the sauce!

 

Enjoy!

Janet J.