King Ranch Macaroni and Cheese

April 27, 2014: The first meal I ever made Andy was my King Ranch Chicken. I was SO crazy nervous about having him over for dinner that I thought it'd be best to make something that I knew well. I had no doubt that the iconic star of my blog and one of my top hits on Pinterest would make a fabulous first meal to serve this cute new boy I liked.

Andy and me on the bench at Cabana #3 where he proposed a few months before this picture

         

Well, I flopped. I was so nervous that I forgot to drain everything- the peppers, the tomatoes, I just dumped in the whole can and kept on going. It turned out more like King Ranch soup. Womp, womp- I was embarassed, and Andy probably thought he was stuck with take out for the rest of this, what was sure to be short relationship. Good thing I was wrong about a lot of things that night. Andy, being the sweet guy that he is, smiled, scarfed it up, and even asked for seconds. It wasn't until months later that I had the conversation with him about the soupy meal, and he admitted that it wasn't the best thing I'd ever made. Well, phew, luckily I was also wrong about my flop being a relationship deal-breaker, because here we are, almost four years later and getting married in a few months!

Andy and me at our surprise engagement party right after he proposed on October 26, 2013

                                     

I found this recipe on Pinterest for a big ol' King Ranch casserole-type meal, but it was based in mac n cheese instead of tortillas. It was like your side and a main course all in one. I made the King Ranch Macaroni and Cheese about two years after I'd made my King Ranch soup, and it was definitely more of a hit than my first King Ranch experience with Andy. Lucky for me, I have a pretty sweet fiance who would probably grin and bear just about anything I put on a plate in front of him. At least now he isn't embarassed to tell me when something is "not the best thing" I've ever made, but let's be honest- I think he's just thankful to be marrying a gal who knows her way around the kitchen!

Andy and me at Martin House Brewing Company

                                       

If you like King Ranch Casserole, you're sure to like the mac n cheese version of it. It makes enough to feed a small army, and it freezes and reheats very well. 

King Ranch Macaroni & Cheese

Pinterest.com
Servings: 20; Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 6

King Ranch Macaroni and Cheese

• 13 oz whole wheat elbow macaroni
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes & green chiles (like Rotel)
• 8 oz Velveeta or other packaged pasteurized cheese product, cubed
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts- cooked & cubed
• 1 (10 3/4 oz) can reduced fat cream of chicken condensed soup
• 1/2 c fat free sour cream
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 c fat free cheddar cheese

King Ranch Macaroni and Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Prepare pasta according to package instructions
3. In a large, deep saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat
4. Add onion & bell pepper, sauté 5 mins or until tender
5. Add tomatoes & green chiles and Velveeta- stir until cheese melts
6. Add chicken, cream of chicken, sour cream, chili powder, and ground cumin- mix until well blended
7. Add cooked pasta- mix until all is well blended
8. Spoon mixture into a non-stick cooking spray coated 11x7 baking dish
9. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese on top
10. Bake at 350 for 25-30 mins

Keep on cookin!

-Katherine

Chicken Enchilada Casserole with Red Sauce

July 1, 2012: (Weird that this was written a year ago- so much has changed since this!!) It's official- my status at work changed from "PRN" (as needed) to full-time! Considering I was already working an average of 36.6 hours per week anyway, not much has changed scheduling wise.  However, changing into full-time status does mean that I now get to receive benefits such as PTO (paid time off), health insurance, and a retirement plan.  Since I turned 26 on June 10, 2012, my health insurance under my dad's job at the District Attorney's Office terminated on June 30, 2012, so the timing couldn't be any better!

Wendy, me, Melissa, Holly, & Dr. Murphy representing
Cook Children's Psychiatry at the American Heart Association's Heart Walk 2012

Working full-time has been more tough than I planned, since I'm also balancing an over active social life right now with 9 of my girlfriends getting married in the span of 5 months. However, having benefits, paid time off (PTO), and an ensured 36 hours of pay each week are all well-worth it. I've also been taking on a lot of mini-projects at work, as well. For example, I was asked to be the Psychiatry Team Leader for the American Heart Association's 2012 Heart Walk. A few emails later and psychiatry was teamed up with Psychology and the Tarrant County DA's office in our fundraising efforts.  We raised around $2,000, and I am so proud of our fund-raising efforts!  The day of the Heart Walk, it was pretty chilly, even for September in Texas, but we walked and talked for the whole three miles.A huge shout-out and thank you to our team, and especially those who came out to walk that morning!

Jason, Holly, me, & Andy at the American Heart Association's Heart Walk 2012

I've started attending the monthly Mental Health Connection meetings with both our Director and Nurse Educator to learn about other mental health resources available to families in our area. I also have been representing our department both with and without our Nurse Educator at the hospital's monthly Patient Education Council meetings. I have taken on the role of Parent Education Coordinator at our Partial Hospitalization Program and have worked with a team to successfully revamp the parent education program at PHP. We have brought in guest speakers on safety, playing and relaxing with your children, and water safety. Attendance and satisfaction have both appeared to increase!

Our Cook Children's Team for the American Heart Association's Heart Walk 2012

SO, my plate has been very VERY full lately! The day I officially changed status from PRN to full-time, I made Andy and myself a little fiesta celebration dinner of Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce. I order chicken enchiladas a lot at restaurants, usually with green sauce, so I thought it'd be a fun one to try out. They were very spicy but were better than many restaurant enchiladas dishes that I've tried!

Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce
Pinterest.com
Servings: 8; Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 3

Filling:

• 9 tortillas
• 1 1/2 c chicken breast meat, cooked & shredded
• 1 c onion, chopped
• 1 c bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 c non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 c low-fat  4 Cheese Mexican cheese

Sauce:

•  3/4 c salsa
• 1/4 c non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 c low or non-fat shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with non-stick spray
3. Sautee onions & bell peppers in a small skillet using cooking spray until onion are lightly brown
4. Mix sauteed veggies with non-fat Greek yogurt, chicken, and cheese
5. Spread 1/4 c chicken mixture in middle of each tortilla & roll into a small burrito
6. Place seam down into baking dish
7. Mix salsa and Greek yogurt in a small bowl & spread evenly onto top of tortillas
8. Sprinkle with cheese
9. Cover with foil, bake at 350 for 15-20 min

Keep on cookin'!
-Katherine

Roasted Butternut Squash

Andy hates going to the grocery store with me. He typically just gives me his list of usual items- G2, Special K Breakfast Bars, water, Nesquick chocolate milk, and eggs- and off I go. Sometimes he varies it up and wants the Planters Heart Healthy nut mix. What can I say, he's a creature of habit.  One Sunday I convinced him to go to the grocery store with me, which took much coercion. I drug his moping self to Kroger (I didn't even make him go to Wal-Mart, he should be thankful!) where we started in the fruit/veggie department.
I told him a few things to grab- bananas, Cutie clementines, and a butternut squash. Now, I'll admit, I asked him to get the squash because I didn't know what a butternut squash looked like. He didn't either, but he pointed the the squash section. I picked up "1 squash" as my recipe below called for, but it lacked the "large" component. Or was it large? I didn't know... I hadn't seen a picture of one, so I wasn't really sure which type of squash was which. We threw it in the basket and moved on to the drink aisle.

I should've had this image at the grocery store!

When we got home, I was confused as to why the squash in the recipe's picture was orange, and this squash was a greenish yellow. Finally, I Googled "butternut squash" and, come to find out, both Andy and I were way off with what we bought. Yes, we bought a squash, but it wasn't the huge gourd that I was going to need to make Roasted Butternut Squash. I went back to the store the next day and found a squash that looked much more like my Google image, and whipped up this side. For more info on the tons of different kinds of squashes, click here.

I don't remember ever having squash before- remember, I didn't each vegetables as a child, but this was awesomely delicious. It was light enough for a side, but hefty enough to be filling. It was nutty and fresh, and all kinds of yum. We made it again when I made Parmesan Crusted Chicken, and it really seems to be a side that pairs well with anything.

Roasted Butternut Squash
Servings: 4; Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 2



Butternut Squash

• 1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced to 1-inch *Read how to prepare a butternut squash here.
• Pam Olive oil spray
• 1 tbsp chopped thyme (I usually use ground thyme)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

1. Heat oven to 400
2. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil spray
3. Spread squash out on sheet
4. Lightly coat squash in olive oil spray
5. Sprinkle with thyme, salt, and pepper- tossing to coat
6. Roast until tender, turning once during cooking
7. Roast 30-40min

Keep on cookin'!

-Katherine  

Jalapeno Popper Rolls

Andy, me, Jennifer, & Chris, TCU tailgating 2012

Andy is in four (count them, FOUR- quatro, quatre) NFL fantasy football leagues.  I could barely even manage to remember to make my picks in my college pick 'em last year, so how he manages four teams each fall, I will never know.  One is a work group of friends, one is his dad's buddies, one is college friends, and one is a group of his KA buddies from Midwestern State University.  This year, the KA boys' draft was at our friends, Clay and Michelle's, house.  I wanted to make something easy and bite sized for the draft party, so I turned to my Pinterest boards to see what I could find.


Andy & Me, TCU tailgating 2012

Andy loves to make Grilled Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers, but they are messy and were going to be hard to transport to Keller for the party.  Instead, I found a recipe for Jalapeno Popper Rolls, which are basically a self-contained, less messy, less gooey cousin of Grilled Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers.  I made them the morning of the draft party, cooked them for 10 minutes at my house, then reheated them at 350 again for 10 minutes once we got to Clay & Michelle's.  All of the attendees brought something different- from alfredo meatballs to Taco Bell tacos, and from McDonald's chicken nuggets to Fuzzy's chips & queso. 

Andy, me, Sara, & Philip: TCU tailgating 2012

The popper rolls were a hit, so I also made them the next weekend.  The next weekend was the first TCU tailgate of the season, and Jalapeno Popper Rolls turned out to be super fast and easy when I prepared them in advance.  Basically I made them and baked them on a Friday, sealed them in a baggie and refridgerated them overnight, and was able to pop them in the oven on Saturday before heading to the tailgate to crisp them up.  I tripled the recipe for the TCU tailgate, and they were gone in about an hour... so it's safe to say they were a hit with NCAA fans as well as the NFL fans.


Andy & me, TCU tailgates 2012

The tailgate was crazy-busy but a ton of fun.  In addition to my Jalapeno Popper Rolls, I took guacamole and Julio's chips.  Chris' mom brought the first Cinnamon Roll Cookie Bars that I'd ever tried, and I immediately fell in love with their rich, thick, sweetness- recipe to come soon when DeeDee sends it to me!  TCU made quite an entrance into the Big 12 with a 56-0 win over Grambling State, but I'm pretty sure it was the beer-drinking, snack-munching tailgaters that were the biggest winners that night.

Andy & me, TCU tailgating 2012

Jalapeno Popper Rolls
www.hellohue.com, healthified by Kate Strickland
Servings: 16; Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 1

• 1 can reduced-fat Pillsbury crescent roll dough
• 2 tbsp fat-free cream cheese
• 2 jalapenos, chopped and de-seeded
• 3 strips center-cut bacon, baked and crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Roll out your dough. It's perforated in triangles, but cut each triangle in half using a pizza cutter to make more "bite-sized" poppers.

     3.  Place a dollop of cream cheese on the wide end of the triangle shape

     4.  Sprinkle bacon and jalapenos atop the cream cheese

     5.  Roll the crescent rolls from wide end to skinny end

     6.  Pinch together the two ends so the stuffing doesn't ooze out

7.  Bake 15 mins

Keep on cookin'!
-Katherine