Lightened-Up Mac and Cheese

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – April 25, 2011

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Lightened-Up Mac and Cheese recipe originally published by Food Network Magazine – April 2012.

I make a mean macaroni and cheese.  Unfortunately, my mac and cheese has about a pound of cheese, milk and bacon in it.  I swear I could gain 30 pounds and/or have a heart attack just looking at it. 

When my husband got serious about fitness, we had to say a sad goodbye to our beloved mac and cheese recipe.  I tried once to make it hoping we could eat a spoonful here and a spoonful there keeping our daily diet in check.  Yet, every time I’d open the refrigerator door, the cheesy-deliciousness would be staring at me.  Then I thought I could cut the recipe in half, but what was the purpose of that?  Nope, I wasn’t going to take the chance of overindulging.

I’ve tried a couple of lightened versions.  They were tasty, but I always wanted something more.  Then I came upon this recipe in my latest issue and I decided to give it a try.

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Lightened-Up Mac and Cheese

Notice how creamy and cheesy it looks?  And yes, it tastes as rich as it looks without all of the fat.

Nacho Cheese Beef Bake

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – September 6, 2011

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Nacho Cheese Beef Bake recipe originally published in Taste of Home – August 2011.

I’m always looking for a delicious casserole recipe and I love Mexican food, so this recipe seemed like the perfect match.  I also liked the convenience factor.  Most everything was canned (and I could buy healthier versions than specified) and what wasn’t, I could buy per-sliced or shredded… except for the chips, but crushing chips isn’t all that difficult.

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Nacho Cheese Beef Bake

I didn’t pile everything on top of the casserole like they did in the picture because I wanted the picture to show the casserole underneath.  

As you can tell, I did a horrible job at showing the casserole.  I cook.  I'm definitely not a photographer.

From what I can tell, my casserole looks slightly “soupier” which I’m not sure if I like or not.  Still, my food looks delicious and I was ready to eat it as soon as the picture was taken.

Mexican Chicken Casserole

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – May 5, 2011

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Recipe originally published by Cooking Light via e-mail on May 3, 2011.

So we continue with the trend of cooking a lot of the same things with another one of my favorites – Mexican chicken casseroles.  I know what attracted me to this dish other than my love of Mexican food.  It is supposed to be a “healthier” version of a creamy chicken casserole.  The ingredient listing had all the right things and the picture looked fantastic, so why not?

© You Want Me to Cook?
Mexican Chicken Casserole

Okay, it looks tasty, but it isn’t what the recipe’s picture looked like.  I can’t figure out why it is so orange looking.  Okay, I can (enchilada sauce), but I used the same amount as specified in the recipe and the same type of cheese.

 

Chicken Tamale Casserole

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – April 17, 2011

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Recipe originally published by myRecipes.com via e-mail on April 8, 2011.

My husband and I went out to eat one night and he ordered tamales.  Now, I’ve traveled around the country and world, but I’ve never eaten a tamale.  Ever.  Even writing this, it makes me kind of sad.  Well he ate it right away and I didn’t get to try it, so I was left wondering until…

I started searching for tamale recipes and you know what?  They’re not easy to make.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to invest a lot of time in something I won’t want to eat.  When I came across this recipe, I decided to give it a shot.  The writer of the recipe said that she came up with the dish to “satisfy my cravings for the tamales I had at Mexican restaurants when I was growing up in Houston.” I figured someone from Texas would know a good tamale. 

Now, I’m not a fan of cornbread, but my husband is, so I decided to give it a try.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Chicken Tamale Casserole

The piece of casserole looks saucy, cheesy and I just want to eat it.  I took that as a very good sign.  It smelled pretty good too, but the cornbread was the most dominant thing in it, and I’m not a fan.

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – March 18, 2011

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Recipe originally published by Kraft Food & Family – Fall 2008

Much like I became addicted to mushrooms after a lifetime of disliking them, I have suddenly felt the urge to eat as many tomatoes as I possibly can.  I don’t know if some switch got flipped in my brain that said, “Hey, you need to eat tomatoes now” but I can’t seem to get enough of them.  Of course, I still don’t like them on sandwiches, but I figure if I live to be 80, maybe then I’ll want them on my turkey and cheese.

Several things attracted me to this dish.  If I’m being totally honest with myself, one of the main reasons was the ease of the recipe.  While I enjoy cooking, there are days I just want to be able to throw something in a dish and cook it without a lot of preparation and fuss.  This dish definitely fit those criteria.  Next, I do enjoy bruschetta and was excited to try a variation on the appetizer.  Finally, I occasionally enjoy stuffing but never have a good reason to make it other than around Thanksgiving.  This gave me a perfectly good reason to buy it.

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Bruschetta Chicken Bake

I caught this picture at the perfect moment when the heat was coming off of it.  The chicken looks juicy and tender and the topping looks crisp and inviting.  It didn’t have a very savory smell… you know the kind that makes you want to start scooping it into your mouth without utensils

Skirt Steak with Mustard Sauce and Puffed Cheddar-Rice Casserole

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – March 17, 2011

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Skirt Steak recipe originally published by All You – February 2011

Puffed Cheddar-Rice Casserole originally published by All You – February 2011

When I was still motivated enough to try to cook an entrée AND a side, I matched these two delightful recipes together.  I was driven by the yummy skirt steak recipe.  It was quick recipe and the picture in the recipe looked delicious.  However, I didn’t want to do a salad & potato… it seemed like a cheat.  I do that on a regular basis anyway.

I kept flipping through the magazine and found the puffed cheddar-rice casserole and it looked appetizing and was different.  Who doesn’t like cheese and I had never really attempted a soufflé type of dish.  The two seemed like they would pair together nicely and a meal was born.

Before I get into the recipe, I thought I’d talk a little about your neighborhood butcher.  I went through school with the grandson of the local butcher in the tiny town I grew up in.  The nicest guy you’d ever meet, and unfortunately he recently passed away which was a loss to the town (RIP Mr. Welch).  If you don’t see what you’re looking for in the meat case, don’t be afraid to ask him/her if they have any in the back or if they can cut you what you are looking for.  Just be nice about it… they are busy and usually covered in raw meat juice.  If they can’t cut it for you, they will be more than happy to let you know what cut of meat can be substituted for your dish – which is what happened in this particular case.

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Skirt Steak with Mustard Sauce and Puffed Cheddar-Rice Casserole

I was so happy with the way my steak turned out.  It looked juicy which is usually an issue for me.  I ALWAYS seem to dry out my steak.  Also, the sauce smelled great and I’ll admit to “accidentally” sticking my finger in it to try it before I took the picture.

The rice casserole, well it didn’t look as appetizing as I hoped.  It seemed a little dry when I was taking it out of the dish.  I thought it was going to be a little more oozy-cheesy and fluffy.  I still was optimistic about the taste though.

Reunion Casserole with Asiago Tater Tots

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – March 11, 2011

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Reunion Casserole recipe originally published by Simple and Delicious – December/January 2011

Asiago Tater Tots recipe originally published by Every Day with Rachael Ray – February 2011

At some point, I realized that I need to make more meals instead of single dishes.  Part of the issue is that I have a couple of stand-by side dishes that I always go back to.  Not that they are bad, just unimaginative.  The other is that I’m making a lot of casseroles.  Casseroles have everything in one dish which is sort of the appeal.

Then I came upon this recipe for the Asiago Tater Tots.  I love a good tot (who doesn’t), but it isn’t like you can make a meal out of them.  Well I actually had a boyfriend who would make entire bags of them and eat them out of a bowl with an oversized spoon… but he was an idiot, so that doesn’t count.

So I had to find a recipe that would work with the tots.  I could have gone the hamburger/hot dog route but when I read this recipe, it reminded me of a fancy sloppy joe, with pasta for the carbs instead of bread.  I knew it would be a hit.

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Reunion Casserole with Asiago Tater Tots

Visually, I’m disappointed with the meal.  It is so brown.  Separately, I can’t complain.  The casserole looks hearty and yummy.  It could have a little more color, but it still smelled fantastic.  The tater tots turned out even better than I thought they ever would.  Golden brown and crisp, I couldn’t wait to eat them.

Overnight Brunch Egg Bake

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – March 13, 2011

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Recipe originally published by Pillsbury – Tuesday, March 18, 2008.

One of the things I really liked about this recipe from the beginning is its honesty.  It tells you right in the title “you have to let this set overnight.”  So don’t blame Pillsbury if you wake up on Christmas morning expecting to whip this little ditty out as the centerpiece of your Christmas breakfast.

The recipe itself is a basic egg casserole with all the yummy ingredients in it – onions, red peppers, mushrooms, and LOTS OF CHEESE!!!  But that wasn’t the only thing that attracted me to it.

See, I’m not a morning person.

In fact, I’m not an early afternoon person.

I hit my stride about 7:00PM.

Still, I have a husband who gets up semi-early (someone has to walk the dogs - hehehehe) and eats breakfast every morning.  I do enjoy preparing his meals, and I know he likes it a lot too, so I like to make him breakfast at least on the weekends, but I HATE getting up early enough to actually get it done before noon.  This recipe allowed me to assemble a meal when I’ve got my most energy, wake up, stumble down to the stove, put the casserole in the oven, take a nap on the couch with an alarm set and voila!  Breakfast is ready!

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Overnight Brunch Egg Bake

This recipe lists the things you can garnish the casserole with.  I chose not to garnish it, mostly because it was just my husband and I.  Looking at the picture… Cripes I should have garnished.  I also had a small issue with the ordering of the layers.  The cheese on top is my mistake.

Overall, it just looks… solid.  Not necessarily appetizing.

Cajun Shrimp Lasagna Roll-Ups

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – March 3, 2011

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Recipe originally published in Simple & Delicious, December/January 2011.

I love lasagna.  I love Cajun food.  I love shrimp & cheese.  This recipe could have quite possibly been written with me in mind.

That being said, I hate having to make rolls.  They never turn out as pretty as they are supposed to be.  Also, it usually is ridiculously messy.  Add to that, REGULAR lasagna is time consuming to make because you have to cook the noodles, make the sauce, make the filling and assemble.  However, the attraction to the cheesy, Cajun, shrimp with lasagna noodles blinded me to all of this and I excitedly started this recipe.

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Cajun Shrimp Lasagna Roll-Ups

Look at this picture and tell me you don’t think it looks delicious.  I’ve been flipping back and forth between my picture and the published picture and I gotta tell ya… it looks pretty close.

Hot Chicken and Chips Retro

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? on February 4, 2011

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Recipe originally published in Cooking Light’s weekly e-zine on Friday, January 30, 2009.

I am a sucker for all things retro, so the title caught my eye.  The premise of this recipe is a tart chicken casserole with a crunchy topping.  I was sold.  Cooking Light also took the time to “thin it out” a little, so I didn’t have to deal with all the pesky fat and calories that usually comes with a recipe like this.

My finished product: © You Want Me to Cook?Hot Chicken & Chips Retro

Picture published with recipe: © Cooking Light

Unfortunately, Cooking Light didn’t take a picture of their dish as a serving (although their picture does look awfully pretty).  However, comparing the two, my chips are golden and you can see the lovely green and red of the vegetables poking through.  So I passed the visual test, now I had to worry about taste.

Italian Hot Dish

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – February 3, 2011

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Recipe originally published in Taste of Home’s daily e-zine on Thursday, August 7, 2008.

With my imminent return to the working world, I’m stockpiling up on casserole dishes.  I want things I can assemble and store in the fridge and then toss in the oven when I get home from work.  Even better, my husband can toss them in the oven.  I love lasagna, but it can be a lot of work, so I always look for similar casserole dishes that I can throw together easily.

My finished product: © You Want Me to Cook?

Picture published with recipe: © Taste of Home

It’s a pile of food, so it’s hard to say if it looks the same or not.  My casserole did brown nicely and looked fantastic on the plate.  This dish’s aroma filled the house and I couldn’t stop smiling, or for that matter digging into the casserole dish every time I passed it.

Southwestern Turkey-Tater Casserole

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – January 5, 2010

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Recipe originally published in Pillsbury, December 2010.

Not too long ago, I blogged about Tater-Topped Casserole, or as a friend asked me to re-name it, “See Ya Later, Tater Casserole.”  It was a fun recipe that wasn’t necessarily the healthiest, so when a turkey version of the dish, with a Southwestern twist, came up, I couldn’t wait to try it.

My finished product: © You Want Me to Cook?

Picture published with recipe: © Pillsbury

I know… I know… I have French fries on top of my casserole.  Well that was because of a slight misplacement of my tater tots.  I resorted to what I had, which was seasoned fries.  But I’ll elaborate on that more in a bit.  Other than that, my casserole turned out almost exact to theirs and it was delicious.

Tater-Topped Casserole

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – February 1, 2009

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Recipe originally published in Kraft Food & Family, Fall 2008.

The first time I made this, I was looking for something to take to a Super Bowl party.  Everyone always brings dips or cookies and I wanted to bring something that could be eaten for dinner and something the kids would like.  There were several reasons it appealed to me.  First, who doesn’t love tater tots?!?  Not only would the kids love it, but the kid inside each adult would love it too.  Second, I could assemble it at home and then cook it at the party.  Last, it wasn’t that expensive to make.

My finished product: © You Want Me to Cook?

Picture published with recipe: © Kraft Foods

In this particular case, my photography skills didn’t reflect my culinary skills.  I had a spoonful out on the plate so you could see the ingredients, but was too far back to see the detail of the casserole.  And yes, I also missed the detail of the casserole from the pan because I turned it away from the camera.  So you’ll have to take my word for it – it turned out almost exactly like the picture did.

Tastes Like Thanksgiving Casserole

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – November 30, 2010

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Recipe originally published in Taste of Home, November 2007.

I found this recipe and filed it in the “to make” pile.  You know, when I have left over turkey (most likely from a holiday).  One day, after being tired of having to play every meal, I told my husband to go through the pile and pick out something to eat.  I wasn’t very nice about it.  He selects this.  *sigh…

Now one of the main issues with this dish is where you’re going to get the turkey.  Of course, you’re not going to cook a whole turkey, although I guess that is an option.  The other obvious choice is to make a turkey breast, but that is not the best option either.  They are large and kind of expensive to buy and make for a casserole.  After rooting around the poultry section, I found some turkey tenderloins.  I bought two and decided to go with it.

My finished product: © You Want Me to Cook?

Picture published with recipe: © Taste of Home

Okay, I’ll admit it.  I used more cheese than I was supposed to.  I guess I can’t really hide it since mine looks so cheesy.  So I guess I won’t be too angry that they clearly put peas in their casserole.  If those aren’t peas, their stuffing looks a little green.

Breakfast Upside Down Cake

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – December 25, 2010

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Recipe originally published by AllRecipes on March 27, 2007.

I’ve made it my mission to start eating breakfast more often.  I could list a million reasons why I don’t eat it, but here’s the main two:

• I am not hungry in the morning
• Breakfast food doesn’t interest me

Now, it is possible that reason #2 actually drives reason #1; therefore, I have been looking for interesting and yummy breakfast dishes that make me say “hey, I think I’m hungry for breakfast!”  This had it all, potatoes, bacon, eggs with cheese, onion and red bell pepper.  I decided to make this for breakfast on Christmas day.  It was a great choice.

My finished product:

Picture published with recipe: © AllRecipes.com

One of the things about allrecipes is that almost all of the photos are user photos.  That means there is no control over the picture quality or how the dish was prepared.  I followed the recipe as was written.  This is the closest picture I could find in all the photos uploaded to allrecipes.com.  It looks like the chef included sausage in their casserole and omitted the red peppers.  Some of the others looked similar to mine, although they used a round pan (more on that later).  I absolutely think mine looks much more appealing.

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – October 14, 2010

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Recipe originally published in The Daily Dish e-zine.

Now I have to get this out of the way:  I’m not from Texas.  I’ve never eaten “authentic” King Ranch Chicken.  I’m sure King Ranch Chicken is just like Philly Cheesesteaks & Chicago Style Pizza – there’s a million ways to make it, what is in it varies from person-to-person, and everyone thinks their version is the right one.

What I’m getting at is this – I have no intentions of arguing with anyone about this not being “real” King Ranch Chicken Casserole.  It looked yummy and I decided to make it.  It wasn’t until I started to write this blog post and decided to read through some of the comments that I saw the “this isn’t the way you make King Ranch Chicken” and “this is an abomination to anyone from Texas” posts.

Now that the unpleasantness is out of the way, let’s get back to the recipe.  Chicken is a staple in my kitchen so when I stumble on a chicken casserole, I’m all in.  What intrigued me about this recipe is the subtlety of the southwestern flavors.  What I did was I used some of the suggestions from all of the variations that were listed below the original recipe to create a final product.  Part lightened King Ranch Chicken and Quick-and-Easy King Ranch Chicken. 

My finished product:

Picture published with recipe: © MyRecipes.com

Pretty close, but I do have a complaint.  First, it looks like they left their corn tortilla chips whole instead of crushing them.  Second, WHAT THE HECK ARE THEY DOING IN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!  Again, a photo is taken of a recipe that clearly doesn’t use the same ingredients.  If they followed the initial recipe, they should have used corn tortillas cut into ½” strips.  I guess I shouldn’t complain since I chose to use the corn tortilla chip option, but that’s not the point.  Wait, what is my point?  Oh, never mind.

Enchilada Lasagna

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – November 2010

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Recipe originally published in Taste of Home, June/July 2010.

Here’s a small list of some of the things I love:

• Casseroles
• Mexican Food
• Lasagna

This dish is all three.  With the ease of a casserole (it definitely beats rolling enchiladas), it replaces the calorie and carb-busting pasta with flour tortillas, and has a great Mexican flavor.  The recipe gives you room to make it a little spicier if you need it and you can always serve it with your favorite Chipotle hot sauce.

My finished product:

Picture published with recipe: © Taste of Home

I always get irritated when my dish doesn’t come close to matching the published one.  Now I give myself a little room here since cutting a perfect slice of casserole (with a base layer of sauce) is kind of a tricky business.  That aside, Taste of Home’s lasagna looks thicker and yummier.  Upon closer inspection, I did notice that some of the ingredients are different.  For example, those are clearly red onions, which were not in the ingredient listing.  Also, the directions finish off the top with the cheese, but there are chopped (not stewed tomatoes) on top of theirs.  This leads me to conclude that perhaps the recipe wasn't entirely accurate.

It doesn’t really matter because my enchilada lasagna was really tasty, but I don’t like the tricks of some of the magazines/websites out there.

Curried Chicken Shepherd’s Pie

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – October 2010

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Recipe originally published in Taste of Home, June/July 2010.

Shepherd’s pie is one of those dishes my husband reminisces about.  He is usually talking about some crappy cafeteria food from high school or college, but he loved it anyway.  After we moved in together, I had a confession to make – I never had shepherd’s pie, EVER.  My mother never made it, I never ate it from the school cafeteria, and I didn’t go away to college.  His reaction was one of horror, so I made it my mission to find a recipe and make one for us both to enjoy.  I tried a couple different ones, which weren’t bad, but not good enough to get me excited about it.  Then, I stumbled upon this version which is has a curry base.  Absolutely scrumptious!!!

My Finished product

Picture published with recipe: (c) Taste of Home

Now I know what you’re thinking.  Mine looks like a pile of mush… and it has totally different vegetables in it, but more on that later.  It really tastes better than it looks.