Cooking For the Week

Baked Oatmeal, Black Beans, Cowboy Caviar, Orange Chicken (copycat Panda Express), Baked Macaroni & Cheese are today's recipes. With the majority of our meals being made by just one or two people, making large meals don't always work for us as we get tired and bored eating leftovers for many days. Making freezer meals or dishes that can be cut in half when making can help take the boredom out of the week meal plan.

Baked Oatmeal - This recipe is from Camp Amigo in Michigan. I don't know who developed this recipe, but I tweaked it for my needs. I typed the original recipe below but added my changes to the side.
1 Cup Vegetable Oil (I used 1 cup homemade applesauce)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (Organic Cane Sugar from Azure Standard)
4 Eggs
6 Cups quick cooking oats (I use gluten from Azure Standard)
4 teaspoons baking powder (Rumford)
1 teaspoon salt (Redmond's Realsalt)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Cups milk (or milk kefir)
Optional: 2 cups peeled (or unpeeled) and chopped apples
1 cup raisins

Mix oil, sugar and eggs with electric mixer until yellow and glossy. Add remaining ingredients and beat on medium speed until blended. Blend in optional ingredients.

Pour into a greased 9 X 13 pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Cut into serving pieces.
Serve warm with brown sugar, milk, chopped dates or raisins.

Black Beans
1 can black beans
1/2 onion diced
1 jalapeno diced
1/2 cup dice fresh tomatoes
Salt to taste (or other seasonings of your choosing)
Saute onions and jalapeno in 2 tablespoons of oil in skillet. When soft, add tomatoes and blackbeans. Cook through until warm, season with salt and your favorite spices.

Cowboy Caviar original recipe from ‪@AcreHomestead‬ I cut this recipe in half as I can't eat that much in 2-4 days by myself when Marlin is not home. This recipe is pretty simple to cut in half and is absolutely delicious. https://www.scratchpantry.com/recipes...

Orange Chicken Panda Express Copycat
https://pin.it/6U3Pfxl

Aunt Kim's Baked Macaroni & Cheese
16 ounce elbow macaroni, cooked (Tinkyada)
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
6-8 Tablespoons butter (I use 8)
1/3 cup flour (I used gluten free)
3 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I use a combination of cheddar, sharp cheddar, Monterrey Jack, Queso)
2 cups Gruyere shredded cheese (I use 1 cup Gruyere & 1 cup Gouda)
Salt and pepper to taste

Topping:
1 1/2 cups panko crumbs (or 1 sleeve of Ritz Crackers crushed)
4 Tablespoons butter melted
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shredded (green can works good too)
1/4 teaspoon smoke paprika (regular is fine too)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 4 quart baking dish
Combine all cheeses, (except for parmesan) in a bowl
Cook pasta 1 minute less than al dente, according to package directions. Drain and drizzle with the olive oil and mix. This will keep it from sticking together.
Melt 8 T of butter in large dutch oven.
Whisk flour over medium heat and continue to whisk until bubbly and golden color
Gradually whisk in milk and cream until smooth for about 2 minutes until bubbly. add salt and pepper
Whisk in 4 cups of the mixed shredded cheeses leaving the last 2 cups for layering.
Stir in the cooled pasta into the pan with the cheese sauce.
Pour half of the macaroni into the casserole dish.
Top with the remaining 2 cups of shredded cheese
Pour the rest of the macaroni on top of shredded cheese

Mix the topping and sprinkle over the macaroni
Bake 30 minutes until bubbly and golden brown.

My goal is to reach 1000 subscribers by the end of the year. Thank you so much for liking and subscribing.

I am not affiliated with any of these products. I am only sharing what I use during my videos.

Norpro Steam Juicer - Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-619-Sta...

All American Canner
https://www.allamericancanner.com/All...

Pampered Chef
https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/ambi...

www.whetstonewoodenware.com

Redmond’s Real Salt
https://redmond.life/collections/

Azure Standard
https://www.azurestandard.com/?a_aid=...

Cutco
https://www.mycutcorep.com/JanetWiggins/

https://kimberlyschrock.epicure.com/ This is a Canadian based company that offers great options for those that cannot have gluten. #epicure

Thank you so much for watching!!

Laugh as much as you breathe and as always, BE BLESSED ❤️

Kim & Marlin

Ligonier, Indiana

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