{"id":83605,"date":"2018-12-20T13:00:29","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T17:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=83605"},"modified":"2018-12-20T12:03:04","modified_gmt":"2018-12-20T16:03:04","slug":"thursday-are-for-cooking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=83605","title":{"rendered":"Thursday Are For Cooking…."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Leftovers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s casseroles this time. The holidays are coming up and you will have leftovers galore, including ham and chicken and turkey and that can be either sliced or diced or just plain nibbled on.<\/p>\n

The first, because I love bacon, is bacon mac and cheese. You will need the following:<\/p>\n

2 cups of cooked short pasta. Penne is good for this. Those ridges hold lots of sauce.<\/p>\n

1 garlic clove, minced (smashed flat with a spoon)<\/p>\n

2 tablespoons of butter<\/p>\n

\u00bc teaspoon of black pepper<\/p>\n

2 cups of milk<\/p>\n

3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese<\/p>\n

\u00bd cup (or more) or crisp, crumbled, crunchy bacon \u2013 I have found LOTS of bacon is good for this, as it is mixed in with the pasta as well as sprinkled on top.<\/p>\n

Cook the pasta according to the package directions until it is al dente. Put it in a 2 qt baking pan (line with foil for easy clean-up).<\/p>\n

To make the roux base for the cheese sauce, over a low flame melt the butter in a saucepan, saut\u00e9 the garlic in it until softened, add flour and pepper, stirring all the while, until the roux is smooth. Then slowly add the milk and stir until it thickens, then add 2 cups of shredded cheese and keep stirring until the cheese is all melted and blended in.<\/p>\n

Add half of the bacon and stir into the cheese sauce. Then shut off the heat.<\/p>\n

Pour the cheese sauce with bacon over the pasta and give it a mix with your spoon.<\/p>\n

Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

Uncover the casserole, sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese and bacon on the top of the casserole, and bake at 350F for another 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with side dishes, of course.<\/p>\n

This next recipe, Shepherd\u2019s Pie comes from Spend With Pennies. Since I love shepherd\u2019s pie, I\u2019m including it here. It\u2019s an easy recipe and it originally comes from Ireland. Filling, tasty and quick to fix.\u00a0 https:\/\/www.spendwithpennies.com\/shepherds-pie-recipe\/<\/a><\/p>\n

1\u00a0pound\u00a0ground lamb\u00a0or beef<\/p>\n

1\u00a0medium onion\u00a0diced<\/p>\n

2\u00a0cloves\u00a0garlic\u00a0minced<\/p>\n

10\u00a0oz\u00a0frozen peas and carrots defrosted<\/p>\n

10.5\u00a0oz\u00a0can corn\u00a0drained<\/p>\n

10\u00a0oz\u00a0can tomato soup\u00a0or mushroom soup<\/p>\n

1\u00a0teaspoon\u00a0Worcestershire sauce<\/p>\n

\u00bd\u00a0teaspoon\u00a0salt<\/p>\n

\u00bc\u00a0teaspoon\u00a0basil<\/p>\n

1\/8\u00a0teaspoon\u00a0black pepper<\/p>\n

3\u00a0cups\u00a0prepared mashed potatoes (boxed instant stuff is okay)<\/p>\n

1\u00a0cup\u00a0cheddar cheese\u00a0shredded (optional)<\/p>\n

Heat the oven to 400F.<\/p>\n

Cook lamb or beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until no pink remains. Drain any fat and let it cool.<\/p>\n

Stir in soup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, basil and pepper. Spread into the bottom of a 2 qt casserole dish. Sprinkle with peas, carrots and corn.<\/p>\n

Spoon mashed potatoes over the filling, and top with cheese if<\/em> you want that included. .<\/p>\n

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbly. This will give you 4 to 6 servings, with side dishes. You can also substitute diced tomatoes canned in sauce for the tomato soup.<\/p>\n

And finally, since no one ever thinks of dessert as a casserole candidate, this one is easy to prepare. You will need:<\/p>\n

1 clean plate covered with foil for easy clean-up<\/p>\n

1 square chocolate cake cut into three layers<\/p>\n

Chocolate mousse or chocolate pudding (box mix is okay)<\/p>\n

Swiss Miss dark chocolate instant cocoa<\/p>\n

Whipped cream<\/p>\n

Mini chocolate chips<\/p>\n

Ice cream \u2013 chocolate, vanilla or mint chocolate chip<\/p>\n

This is how you put this mess together:
\nPut one layer of chocolate cake in the baking pan<\/p>\n

Spread chocolate mousse or pudding over it in a \u00bd inch layer<\/p>\n

Sprinkle lightly with the Swiss Miss dark chocolate cocoa<\/p>\n

Add a layer of whipped cream<\/p>\n

Sprinkle whipped cream with mini chocolate chips<\/p>\n

Repeat the above for the next layer.<\/p>\n

Top with the last layer of chocolate cake<\/p>\n

Refrigerate until after dinner, add a layer of whipped cream to the top and sprinkle with more Swiss Miss dark chocolate,\u00a0then serve with chocolate, vanilla or mint chocolate chip ice cream and a hot beverage.<\/p>\n

That was easy, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, and enjoy the gifts we sometimes take for granted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s casseroles this time. The holidays are coming up and you will have leftovers galore, including … Thursday Are For Cooking….<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":653,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-holidays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83605\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}