Spruced Up Boxed Mac and Cheese

A couple of days ago I was hungry and too tired to go to the store.  After scavenging the freezer, fridge and pantry I realized that I could make fake Hamburger Helper and it would be so much better!

Ingredients: 1 box of Mac and Cheese (I went with organic white cheddar from Fresh & Easy), goat cheese*, 1/3 lb of hamburger*, 1 carton of sliced mushrooms, butter, milk, and some Parmesan cheese.

 

In one pan crumbled and brown the hamburger & mushrooms.  Make sure you pour off any fat as you go.  Meanwhile boil the pasta in the box according to the package.  Reserve some of the pasta water when draining.

Measure out about 1/3 cup of milk, 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of goat cheese. 

Toss this with the pasta and the powdered cheese packet.  Add in a little pasta water if it seems a bit too thick.  Add in the browned hamburger and mushrooms.  Toss together.  Sprinkle with Parmesan. 

 *Feel free to substitute the cream cheese or ricotta for the goat cheese.  This would work just as well with ground chicken, pork or turkey.

Mushroom Barley Soup

Ingredients
For the Beef Stock:
7 cups of water
2 lbs of beef shank cut into pieces
3 3 ribs of celery cut into large chunks
1 whole bunch of parsley
6 cloves of garlic lightly crushed
1 large onion cut into quarters
4 large carrots cut into chunks
1 can of tomato paste
salt & pepper to taste

Sear the beef shank pieces in olive oil in the stock pan.  Then add in the water and the rest of the ingredients.  Simmer over low heat for about 4 hours.  Add more water as it reduces.

Strain the stock and discard the vegetables.

For the Soup:
2/3 Cup of pearl barley
1 lb of sliced mushrooms
1 cup of finely diced carrots
1 cup of finely diced onion
1 cup of finely diced celery
3 cloves of finely minced garlic (feel free to omit this)
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil
Spice Blend: 1 teaspoon each of garlic granules, onion granules and aleppo pepper

In a large soup pot heat a tablespoon of olive oil and add in the diced vegetables & mushrooms.  Cook until the onions are soft and translucent.  Sprinkle in your spice blend.   Ladle in the stock.  Add the pearl barley and the tomato paste.  Simmer on low until the barley is tender.  I let mine cook about an hour so all the flavors would come together.

I made my soup very brothy, but you can put in less stock if you like a thicker soup.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients: 
About 12-10 button mushrooms
2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon of garlic paste
4 butter crackers crushed or a palm full of fine bread crumbs
1/2 a tablespoon of melted butter or olive oil
Spices: Aleppo pepper, onion granules, savory and a pinch of black pepper

Clean the mushrooms and take out the stems.   Finely chop up the stems and mix in a bowl with the other ingredients.  Fill the mushroom caps with the filling and place in casserole dish.  Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes.  The tops should be nicely browned when done.

Because I'm a glutton for butter I also drizzled a little melted butter across the tops before putting them in the oven.

I served these with a nice big T-bone.

3 Layer Lasagna

Ingredients: 2 cups sliced button mushrooms, 2 large Portabellas, 1 lbs ground beef or hot Italian sausage, 1 small tub each of low-fat cottage cheese & ricotta, 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan, lasagna noodles ( I use no bake),  2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese, white sauce*, marinara sauce & spices.

Spices that I used: garlic granules, garlic paste*, salt & pepper, sun-dried tomato blend & savory.  *I like to add some garlic paste to my white sauce for a more intense flavor when making baked pasta dishes.

Saute the mushrooms until nice and brown.  They will release a lot of liquid.  Remove the mushrooms using a slotted spoon from the pan and reserve for later.  You can save the mushroom liquid for later to incorporate into a veggie based broth if your feeling adventurous. 

Brown the meat in the same pan as the mushrooms.  I added some garlic granules and some salt & pepper to my beef as I browned it for added flavor.

Mix the cheeses together in a medium bowl with some sun-dried tomato spice blend or whatever you like.

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a rectangular baking dish with non stick spray.  Add a few spoonful's of marinara sauce into the bottom of the baking dish so the noodles don't stick.

Now get ready to build the lasagna. 
First Layer: Noodles, white sauce, mushrooms, & some more white sauce.

Second Layer: Noodles, cheese mixture & some more white sauce.
 Third Layer: Noodles, ground beef, some more white sauce, noodles and some marinara sauce.
Top the whole thing off with lots of shredded Mozzarella.

Bake for about 45 minutes until nice and bubbly.  Let it set up for about 20 minutes before serving.