Mexican Pork Cheese Pasta

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Mexican pork cheese pasta was inspired by mac and cheese and traditional Mexican/Spanish spices. I also included pork in this recipe to add protein. This pasta dish is on the spicy side, but it’s not burn your mouth spicy, though it did give me a bit of a runny nose. This dish goes great with some bread on the side and dipped in the remaining cheese sauce. This dish is delicious and makes a lot of food for very little. This recipe made 8 Adult sized servings.

Mexican Pork Cheese Pasta Recipe Card Download

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What You Will Need

1/2 lb Ground Pork
1/2 Onion, Minced
1 Clove Garlic, Minced
4 Cups Broth
1 Can Stewed Tomatoes
16 Oz Rotini Pasta
1/2 Cup Milk
3 Tbsp Chili Powder
2 Tbsp Ground Cumin
2 Tbsp Ground Cayenne Pepper
8 Oz Sharp Cheese, Grated
Dutch Oven

Directions

1. Heat a dutch oven over medium high heat. Add pork and oil if needed, and cook until fully cooked. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft. Add tomatoes and broth, then bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Add pasta and cook for 7-9 minutes until cooked.

2. Once pasta is cooked, add milk, chili powder, cumin, and cayenne. Stir. Heat until milk begins to simmer. Remove from heat, add all the shredded cheese, stir until fully melted. Plate and serve.

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January 20, 2021 0

Christmas Dinner 2020

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. I really enjoy getting gifts for others, and I enjoy Christmas dinner. Ham is one of my favorite foods and so I always make a ham for Christmas and Easter. My Easter dinner also looks identical to my Christmas dinner. Since it’s been a weird year, I will be celebrating Christmas with my husband’s nuclear family, and won’t be able to make my standard dinner on Christmas afternoon. So, I decided to make my Christmas dinner last night!

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I always make the same things for holidays. For Christmas I always make a cooked ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, a canned veggie, crescent rolls, and the star of the meal is always deviled eggs. Many of these foods are standard. I enjoy my ham with a brown sugar glaze and some pineapple on top (even if it does nothing for the flavor). Mashed potatoes are standard, and my gravy I made from this year’s turkey stock, and just added 3 Tbsp corn starch to thicken. Sweet potato casserole is just opening a can and a bag of marshmallows at this point. And finally, the original part of the meal is deviled eggs. I find eggs to go so good with ham, and deviled eggs are a tasty treat anyway! Mayo, mustard, and egg make a tasty appetizer and side! To cook this dinner, it only took 1.5 hours. My ham was cooked, so I just had to reheat. I then peeled and diced the potatoes, and started them boiling 40 minutes before the ham was done. I heated the gravy on the stove and once thick, would pull it off the heat when it’d boil, and I also started boiling a can of sliced carrots about 20 minutes from serving. I placed my crescents on a baking sheet and started them 14 minutes from completion, and I baked the sweet potato casserole with 7 minutes left. With about 5 minutes left I strained the potatoes and finished them with just enough time for everything else to finish.

I hope this give you some ideas and instruction for your Christmas dinner! Merry Christmas!

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To see recipes for what I make, you can click a link below!

Click here to see my recipe for Cooked Ham!

Click here to see my recipe for Mashed Potatoes and Gravy!

Click here to see my recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole and Honey Roasted Beets!

Click here to see my recipe for Deviled Eggs!

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December 21, 2020 1

Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

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Mashed potatoes and gravy are a must in our house for any and every holiday! I’ve made chunky mashed potatoes and creamy, I’ve made watery mashed potatoes, and I’ve made airy mashed potatoes. I always use white or yellow potatoes. I find them easier to work with and the aren’t nearly as starchy as russets. Next, how chunky or smooth your potatoes are is based on how long you let them cook. If they cook until they are fully tender, you are more likely to get smooth mashed potatoes, if you strain them early, you will get a chunky mashed potatoes that will take longer to come together with a mixer. You want to avoid adding too much liquid of they will be runny, and if you want them airy, you can bake them for 10-15 minutes in a casserole dish. If you bake them too much longer, they will turn very starchy and heavy. Less cooking time for airy mashed is better.

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As for gravy, I used the last of the turkey stock I had made last year. If you don’t have a turkey stock, you can make some the day of, by boiling the neck submerged in water for about 4 hours, but you can always use a chicken stock. You’ll want to season as you desire, salt, maybe some butter, sage, rosemary, or thyme. You also want to start by mixing the corn starch with a small amount of broth before adding it to the gravy. Corn starch doesn’t create clumps as much as flour, but it can still happen, so it’s good practice. This recipe makes 8 adult sized servings of mashed potatoes and gravy.

Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes and Gravy Recipe Card Download

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What You Will Need

7 lbs White Potatoes, Peeled and Cubed
1/2 Cup Butter (1 Stick)
1-2 Cups Milk (As Desired)
Large Dutch Oven
Mixing Bowl
2 Cups Turkey Stock/Chicken Broth
1/2 Cup Turkey Drippings
1/2 Cup Corn Starch
Small Saucepan

Directions

1. Place your cubed potatoes into the dutch oven. Rinse several times, then cover potatoes with 1-2 inches of water. Place over medium heat, cook for 30 minutes or until a potato falls apart when stabbed with a fork.

2. Strain your potatoes, then transfer to a mixing bowl. Add butter and slowly add milk and begin smashing potatoes with a mixer or a hand masher. Taste and add salt as desired.

3. Add broth to a small sauce pan, reserving 1/2 cup. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Mix corn starch with reserved broth. Once fully combined, add to heated broth. Bring to a boil and serve once thick.

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December 2, 2020 2

One-Pan Shrimp and Spinach Pasta

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One-pan meals are easy to make and greats a great tasting dish. This one-pan meal is no exception. The chicken broth is absolutely delicious in this dish, then the milk and parmesan add a bit of creaminess to the sauce. The spinach also has it’s own flavor though it imparts a bit to the broth, then the shrimp don’t get much time to add to the over all flavor, but they do add a unique flavor, so not every bit is the same. I made some alterations to the recipe since I made it. I added too much broth at the beginning, so my dish was very runny, almost a sou;p. I also altered the order of adding the ingredients in the beginning. I added the pasta first, but I should have started with the spinach first, because I wanted the spinach to boil for at least 15 minutes total, but the pasta only needed about 14 minutes. This dish was absolutely delicious! It made 4 large adult sized portions.

One-Pan Shrimp and Spinach Pasta Recipe Card Download

What You Will Need

2-3 Cups Washed Spinach
4 Cups Chicken Broth
2 Cups Rotini
1 1/2 Cup Cooked Shrimp
2/3 Cup Milk
Large Saucepan

Directions

1. Begin by placing your broth in your pan and heating it over medium high heat until it boils. Add your spinach, let cook for 2-3 minutes, and then add your pasta. Let boil for another 13-15 minutes until your pasta is finished cooking.

2. Reduce your heat to medium, remove pan from heat and add your milk. After about a minute return your pan to heat, let cook until almost boiling. Add your shrimp, and stir into pasta. Turn off heat and remove from burner. Plate your pasta, then top with some shredded Parmesan before serving.

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November 24, 2020 0

Thanksgiving 2020

For 2020, we’ll be trying to have as normal of a Thanksgiving as possible. This year will be my second year cooking dinner, and I have many new foods planned for this meal. Last year, was the standard three: turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, then we also had some crescents and 2 different veggies. This year, I am planning a sweet potato casserole, glazed and roasted beets, crescents again, and frozen green beans from this summer’s garden. This year I also made a pumpkin pie that we’ll be having with our dinner. Once the day is over, Friday, I’ll also be boiling the bones to make stock again this year. This year’s stock will be frozen like before, however this stock will likely be used almost strictly entirely for gravy.