Spooky lunch... i.e what we ate for Halloween

Macaroni and Ghosts

I made some of that Amy's white cheddar and shells pasta, then took a hard boiled egg that had been peeled and nicked the bottom off with a knife.  Next I put the egg in the pasta cut side down, and used a toothpick to paint on a ghost face with some black food colouring gel (I used Wilton's)   I have seen various colouring on food with toothpicks in the past, and this seemed like a good way to add something special to Halloween lunch.  As a plus, the black gel started to leak a little green colour around the edges and looked extra cool.  

In case you are wondering, the black flecks are pepper... I got enthused and almost ate my portion of lunch before taking the picture.  As a side note, you may want to give the egg a minute to dry before handing it to a starving toddler who thinks it is also cute, as my son had 'eye' prints on his fingers, haha.

Kraft Dinner of the week: Mac and Cheese Pizza

Macaroni & Cheese Pizza

Yes, you did read that right, now take a deep breath and release, then look at the picture from 1 Fine Cookie showing her take on this odd combination food.

Tell me you do not want to eat that.  I feel my waist expand just looking at it.  It is almost at 'deep-fried mars bar' level... which means it is probably delicious too.  Obviously you should check out the link and see how she adds truffle oil to the pizza and is claiming to have one of the best pizza dough recipes. This pizza could be a creativity gold mine if you are willing to experiment with toppings.

Kraft Dinner of the Week: Festive confetti KD

Festive Confetti KD

1 box of Kraft Dinner or like wise mac and cheese box, preferably white cheddar flavour

1/2 cup of drained pimentos, or substitute chopped roasted red peppers if you wish

1/2 cup of chopped spinach (or a few 'cubes' if you have the frozen pre-cubed variety)

1-2 tablespoons of plain cream cheese


Directions:

Prepare KD as package indicates, adding spinach during the last few minutes of cooking.  Return to pot and to the burner it was just cooked on, and add the cream cheese, stirring until blended.  Add in the pimentos and enjoy.  The added creaminess from the cream cheese should trump the spinach for most finicky kids.  Just tell them that the big guy in the red suit eats this for lunch too... cookies can't possibly be his only solid food...

Kraft Dinner of the Week: R.I.P KD

In the spirit of Halloween, I created my own little KD.  It didn't photograph well, but it tasted good and got the basic look idea I was going for, so I am sharing it with you, so you can have one more idea to add to your Halloween lunches for your child, or you, if you are whimsical about this holiday (like me)

R.I.P KD

Ingredients:

Kraft Dinner, or similar macaroni, in white cheddar flavor

1 cup of chopped spinach (can be frozen spinach cubes too)

A few drops of green food coloring 

1/2 cup of grated mozzarella, or white cheddar, or a few slices of processed mozzarella

3 hard boiled eggs (or as many as you see fit depending on your serving sizes, I do two generous ones, you might not want that!)

Directions:

Prepare KD, adding spinach to the last 3-4 minutes (no matter what your cooking method is, I boil)  Mix as directed and add extra cheese and food coloring if desired.  Put into the bowls.  Peel your hard boiled eggs and cut in half long ways.  Place three halves of eggs into the top of KD to make gleaming white tombstones.  You could experiment with food pens, colorings or tinted mayo piped onto the eggs to make crosses and R.I.P's, which I did, but if you do that, make sure you cool the eggs first, which I did not, and the heat from the eggs melted off my mayo so it wasn't so pretty by the time I found my camera.  If you have etable flowers or are handy with an apple peeler you could design or add some flowers for your graves. Eggs can be substituted by sliced hot dogs or maybe even cheese strings if you like, get creative ;)

KD of the week: 14K Mac 'n Cheese

14K Mac 'n Cheese

1 package of Kraft Dinner or similar macaroni and cheese

1 jar or pureed carrot baby food, or puree your own carrots to taste

2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

Directions:  Prepare macaroni and cheese, stir in pureed carrots, top with Parmesan to serve.  I opted for jarred carrot because it is quick and easy, always available and won't over-power your dish with a carrot-y taste.  Good for children, if they hate veggies, they would barely notice, and you could make it with whole wheat KD or that Smart KD, for extra healthy stuff. 

As always with KD, the more cheese the better, so feel free to add a slice, or some grated to it and mix over low heat till blended for a more cheesy experience. 

KD of the week: Macaroni Bake

KD of the Week:  Macaroni Bake

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground beef (or for me I would substitute either veggie meat, TVP or ground chicken)

1/2 cup  chopped onion 

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce 

1/3 cup  KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided 

1/4 tsp. Ground cinnamon 

1/8 tsp.  Ground nutmeg 

1 pkg. (14 oz.) KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner 

2 Tbsp.  Butter or margarine 

2 Tbsp. Flour 

1-1/2 cups  Milk 

2 Eggs, lightly beaten 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brown meat or heat veggie substitution for meat; drain. Add onion; cook and stir until tender. Stir in tomato sauce, half of the Parmesan cheese and spices; simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

Prepare Kraft Dinner as directed on package. Spread mixture onto bottom of 9-inch square baking dish; top with prepared KD. 

Melt butter in medium saucepan on low heat. Blend in flour. Gradually add milk; cook on low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir small amount of hot mixture into eggs. Return to remaining hot mixture in saucepan; mix well. Pour over KD; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. 

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Original recipe found here:

elbow macaroni

 

 

KD of the week: Fiesta KD

  

For those of you who are waiting for me to do something other than the KD of the week, never fear, I am working on a few things, but this time I want to try them first instead of putting more stuff on my 'wish list' in this scrapbook-type page I have here.  There is nothing wrong with my wish list, its just that sometimes you can tell when something will taste good, and other times when its better for me to be the guinea pig... and then if it is horrible I will still tell you all about it!  

 For the time being though, here is this week's Kraft Dinner recipe.

Fiesta KD

This recipe is very similar to Mexican KD, but has it's own merit to stand alone as a recipe.

1 pkg. (14 oz.) KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner (or any kind of KD like substance)

1 lb.  lean ground beef (or substitute with TVP, veggie meat, ground chicken, or even omit entirely)

1 large Green pepper, chopped 

 

1 pkg.  (10 oz.) frozen corn, thawed 

 

1 cup Thick and Chunky style Salsa 

 

(optional)  1/2 cup of chopped sun-dried tomatoes

 (optional)  a shot or two of hot sauce or a can of chopped jalapenos for spicy lovers

 Directions: 

Prepare in large saucepan as directed on package, cooking Macaroni for just 8 min. 

Meanwhile, brown meat(or prepare substitute) with green pepper in skillet; drain

Combine meat(or substitute) mixture, corn and salsa to prepared KD; mix well. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.

Add chopped fresh cilantro to this dish just before serving.

Kraft Dinner of the Week: KD Taco Bake

KD Taco Bake

Ingredients:

1 pkg. KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner (or any KD or KD substitute)

 

1 lb.  Ground beef or beef substitute (like veggie ground round or TVP)

1 pkg. (1-1/4 oz.) Taco Seasoning Mix 

 

3/4 cup Sour Cream 

 

1-1/2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided 

 

1 cup  Thick 'N Chunky Salsa 

 

 

Directions:

  Heat the oven to 400°F. Prepare Dinner as directed on package. While Macaroni is cooking, cook meat (or meat substitute.) with taco seasoning as directed on package.

 Stir sour cream into prepared Dinner; spoon 1/2 into 8-inch square baking dish. Top with layers of meat mixture, 1 cup cheese and remaining Dinner mixture; cover with foil.

Bake it for 15 min.; top with salsa and remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, 5 min. or until cheese is melted.


Original recipe found here:

KD of the week: Mac and Cheese Lasagna

Mac and Cheese Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (7-1/4 oz.) Kraft Dinner 

1-1/2 cups  Spaghetti sauce 

1/2 lb. lean ground beef  (or substitute 1 cup chopped leftover cooked chicken or 1/2 pkg. of veggie ground round)

1 cup  Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese 

2 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

HEAT oven to 350°F.
PREPARE Dinner, using the Light Prep directions on package. Meanwhile, brown meat in skillet; drain.
SPOON half the Dinner into lightly greased 8-inch square baking dish; top with layers of half each sauce, meat and shredded cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
BAKE 20 min. or until heated through.

Original recipe found at link below:

Kraft Dinner of the Week: mac & cheese stuffed poblanos

Mac and Cheese Stuffed Poblanos

Ingredients:

2 pkg. (7-1/4 oz. each) KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Dinner 

 

3   OSCAR MAYER Wieners, chopped 

 

1-1/2 cups KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese, divided 

 

8   Poblano chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded 

 

1/2 tsp. Paprika

Directions:

HEAT oven to 350º F.

PREPARE Dinners as directed on package. Stir in wieners and 1 cup cheese.

FILL chiles with Dinner mixture; place, filled-sides up, in single layer in shallow baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Top with remaining cheese and paprika.

BAKE 15 min. or until cheese is melted and peppers are heated through.

How to Roast, Peel and Seed Poblano Peppers

 

Heat broiler. Place peppers on rack of broiler pan. Broil until skins are charred or covered with black blisters, turning occasionally. Place hot peppers in resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Let stand 10 min. Remove peppers from bag. Place peppers under cold running water and remove peels, being careful not to break the skins. To remove the seeds, make vertical cut in each pepper. Remove small cluster of seeds attached to the base.

 

This recipe was found at the link below without any alterations, this time.

Kraft Dinner of the Week: Apple-Glazed Chicken KD

 Apple-Glazed Chicken KD

 

I know.  Apple?  Hey, give anything a try once, you never know what is good out there in the big, wide world.  I once made chicken burgers for my baby and covered them in carrot baby food while I baked it (I felt he needed more veggies that day, and that is what I had on hand)  and that actually turned out amazing, so now my world view on 'what goes with what' is askew.  Anyways, back to the Mac and Cheese stuffs.

Ingredients 

2 boxes of kraft dinner
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2-4 cloves garlic (depending on how much you love garlic, and you could chop some onion too, my husband hates onion though, so to each their own...)
1/4 cup apple juice 
2 -3 cups broccoli florets and/or cauliflower, cooked
1/2 tsp. dill weed
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare Kraft Dinner and set aside.  Chop chicken in bite size pieces and cook in some olive oil or oil of choice until fully cooked.  Remove chicken from the pan and add more butter or oil if needed in pan and keep the pan hot. Chop the garlic into chunks and coat with  your salt, pepper and dill, then saute in the hot oil for a few minutes.  Pour apple juice in the garlic-oil concoction and return the chicken to pan.  Cover and simmer for a few minutes, then mix in the prepared Kraft Dinner.  Lastly add the cooked broccoli and/or cauliflower, and mix a bit together.

This recipe was adapted from the 'Super Kraft Dinner Recipe' I found here.

Kraft Dinner of the Week: Souped up KD

Souped up Kraft Dinner

Sorry for the delay in KD recipes,  with the husband getting over illness, baby with pinkeye and myself catching said illness the husband is getting over, I am afraid that my thoughts have been towards soup instead of KD.  This, however, makes this KD recipe more appropriate than ever being about soup and all.

PREPARE 1 package Kraft Dinner as usual, replacing the milk with 1 can (10oz/284mL) tomato soup, and 1 soup can of water.
HEAT.

That wasn't so painful.  Found that 'recipe' at Kraft Canada.

KD of the week: Lentil Mac and Cheese Bake

Lentil Mac and Cheese Bake

Ingredients

• 2 pkg. Kraft macaroni and cheese
• 1  can of lentils
• 1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen mixed vegetables, any variety, as red bell pepper, broccoli, mushrooms or any vegetables you enjoy
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 3/4 c. milk
• Shredded cheese
• 1/4 cup of bread crumbs or coating mix (like shake and bake or something, you could also use panko)

Preparation

• Bring water to boil, add macaroni.  With 5 minutes left on the clock add frozen vegetables. (3 minutes for any fresh or canned veggies) Cook until tender, drain. Add lentils, butter, cheese mix, milk and additional shredded cheese. Mix well. Place in casserole dish and top with more shredded cheese and bread crumbs. Bake 30 minutes in 350 degree oven or until browned and bubbly, depending on your oven.

KD of the week: Cheesy Chicken Cacciatore

Cheesy Chicken Cacciatore

1 tsp. oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts - chopped
1 small onion - chopped
1 Tbsp. Oregano
1 can (19 fl oz) Aylmer Chili Style Tomatoes
1 can of water (empty can from tomatoes)
1 box of KD (any variety)
1 cup shredded cheese or a couple slices of cheese from the fridge.

-Heat oil in large skillet. Add chicken and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until no longer pink.

-Add oregano, tomatoes, water and pasta from KD. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and do so until pasta is tender.

-Stir in cheese sauce and extra cheese and remain cooking until heated through.

(note:  I love to add extra cheese to almost all of my KD... my husband is not always fond of that though, so to each their own)

*adapted from a recipe found here (I found it through a web search... not from being a member lol)
http://forums.plentyoffish.com/3547572datingPostpage2.aspx

KD of the week: Shipwrecked KD

 Shipwrecked KD

Ingredients:
3/4 lb. (340 g) extra lean ground beef  (or if you don't eat beef like me, use a package of Yves ground round)
1 pkg.  (225 g) KRAFT DINNER Macaroni and Cheese
1 can (19 fl oz/540mL) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 cup  frozen green peas
1 cup skim milk (that is what they call for... I say 2% is in the fridge already...)
1/2 cup  KRAFT Part Skim Mozzarella Shredded Cheese (... and I don't like to 'skinny' my cheese either...)

Directions:

BROWN meat in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat; drain. reserving meat in skillet.
STIR in Macaroni, Cheese Sauce, tomatoes, peas and milk. Bring to boil; cover. Simmer on medium-low 12 min. or until macaroni is tender, stirring occasionally.
TOP with mozzarella. Let stand, covered, 5 min. or until melted.

Original recipe... found in many places, but this link has a person who is very passionate about their KD, I find that commendable.
Say Radio - Gourmet Kraft Dinner Recipes

KD of the week: Mac and Cheese Pizza

Mac and Cheese Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 (7 ounce) box macaroni and cheese mix, prepared according to package directions
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 (4 ounce) can mushrooms
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• any other favorite toppings you have, my man likes pineapple and chicken on his pizza

Directions

1. Mix prepared macaroni and cheese with eggs and put into a greased 9-inch x 13-inch pan.

2. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

3. Top with the tomato sauce, basil and oregano.

4. Then add the rest of the ingredients.

   This recipe would probably go well into packed lunches and seems pretty kid-friendly too.  Pizza is a fairly universal food and even in mac form should please most people.
   I had seen the basic idea for this recipe in many places long ago, but this recipe has been adapted from the one I found here:
   http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Pizza-with-Macaroni-Crust-64329

KD of the week: Chili Chicken mac & cheese

Chili Chicken Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (200 g) Kraft Dinner Whole Wheat Macaroni and Cheese

3/4 lb. (340 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp. chili powder

1/4 cup shredded Cracker Barrel Old Cheddar Cheese Light

1/4 cup salsa

PREPARE Dinner as directed on package, using the Sensible Solution directions. Meanwhile, toss chicken with chili powder in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray; cook and stir on medium heat 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through.
ADD prepared Dinner to chicken; mix lightly.
SERVE topped with remaining ingredients.

recipe found at: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/chili-chicken-mac-cheese-112602.aspx

Kraft Dinner of the week

Tuna Casserole

For me, I usually just kludge my tuna casserole together in a pinch, either adding a can of tuna and some peas to the last minutes of the boiling water, or the last 3 minutes of the microwave method, but if you want to try something a little more formal, here is a kraft dinner tuna casserole recipe.

Ingredients:

1 pkg (227 g) Kraft Dinner Macaroni and Cheese

1 (10 oz/284 mL) can cream of mushroom soup

1 can drained tuna

 1 cup frozen peas

1 Tbsp. Miracle Whip Dressing

Directions:
PREPARE pasta as directed on package.

STIR in soup, tuna, peas and salad dressing. Spoon into a baking dish.

BAKE at 350°F (180°C) for 15 minutes.

recipe found at: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/kraft-dinner-tuna-casserole-85472.aspx