Beans are healthy too, right?

ALLLLLRIGHTY I've got a delicious and unhealthy recipe for you today. And yes, I do remember that like two posts ago I said that I was going to be healthier. But this is an exception. There are beans (a lot of beans) in this, and beans have protein. so....HA! These baked beans are now healthy!I actually have two baked bean recipes, this one is from pioneer woman and is the more complicated one of the two. It's probably better for like parties and family gatherings. The other one I have (which I will post at some point) is more like a quick thing to throw together as a side. Anyway, here's how you do it!

8 slices of bacon

1 med onion, cut into a small dice

1/2 med green pepper, cut into a small dice (optional)

3 large cans of baked beans (with pork please)

3/4 cup bbq sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup distilled or cider vinegar

2 tsp dry mustard or 2 tbsp dijon

Preheat the oven to 325F. Then crack open a thing of bacon and get frying! Fry the pieces of bacon until almost crispy.

They're gonna cook in the oven, so you don't want them to be completely cooked. Take the bacon out and put it on a plate with paper towels. Then add the onions and peppers if you use them.

And now I would like to tell you what usually happens when I make this at home. Around this point, my brother comes into the kitchen and the conversation goes like this:

Stephen: Hey.

Natalie: Hey.

Stephen: Whatcha makin?

Natalie: Baked beans.

Stephen: WHY ARE YOU OBSESSED WITH BAKED BEANS?! Wait....what...what are you...ARE YOU PUTTING THE ONIONS IN THE BACON FAT?!

Natalie: yes I am!

Stephen: OH MY GOD! WHY?!

Natalie: Are you going to eat it?

Stephen:...YES...

Natalie: Then shut up and pretend you didn't see it.

Then he leaves and I assume forgets about it, because he ends up eating them anyway.

Anyhoo! Next step! Cook the onions and peppers for about 5 minutes until they're tender. Then dump the beans and all the other ingredients into the pot and bring it to a simmer.

Pour the beans into a greased casserole dish and put the bacon on top. Bake them for about 2 hours, or until they don't look liquidy anymore.

I only baked these for about an hour because I had quartered the recipe. So if you aren't using the whole recipe, just check on it every now and then and see how it's doing.

We had these baked beans with (semi) bbq chicken. It was raining, so I couldn't actually grill the chicken. So instead, I just fried it up in a pan with some bbq sauce! yummy.

And that's how you make delicious baked beans!

XOXO

Natalie

FINALS RRARRRR

Hi everybody! Sorry I didn't put up a post yesterday. I'm afraid that posts might be pretty rare for these next two weeks. I have finals coming up and so these next couple weeks will be pretty hectic. This week is "review week" which means that they will teach us all new material and then call it review. AWWWWESOME. So yea, I'm goin to be doing a lot of studying and sleeping. But I will be putting up posts soon!

XOXO

Natalie

MAC AND CHEEEEESE

Ok so I'm proud of myself for two reasons and I'm going to share them with all of you.

1. IIIIII wrote a two page paper in half an hour. And it was probably the most concise paper that I have ever written. My point is clear, my thesis is awesome, and I even threw in a few large words suitable for a fem paper.

(perpetuated...oppression...interpretation of gender roles. hell yea.)

2. I have made a resolution to be healthier and last night I found a way to make pasta healthy. The random jar of ragu I grabbed off of the safeway shelf apparently has a full serving of veggies in half a cup of sauce. And I used like a cup of sauce! Anddddd I threw in some carrots. go me.I'm also going to try going to the gym, which I never do. But we'll see how that works out. WILLPOWER! I must find it.

Today I would like to introduce you to my new favorite macaroni and cheese recipe. I found it on pioneer woman's blog (of course), it's not fast and easy, but oh. my. god. is it worth it. SO DELICIOUS. This recipe is also the reason for my new healthy kick. Have to offset the effects of the mac and cheese somehow. Anyway, it's really really good. Dan was my photographer and he went photo craaaaaazy. So there are a lot of awesome photos today! Alright people, lets get ready to rummmmmmble!

4 cups macaroni (thats about a pound of noodles)

8 tbsp butter

2 medium onions, sliced thinly

10 slices of bacon

1 tbsp bacon grease (from the cooked bacon)

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

1/2 cup half and half

2 whole egg yolks, beaten

salt and pepper, to taste

1 1/2 cups cheese, grated (you can choose, I went with 3/4 cup cheddar and 3/4 cup mozzarella)

4 oz cream cheese (or another smooth cheese of your choosing)

First preheat the oven to 350F and set the water for the pasta boiling. You want to cook the pasta for about hald of the time your supposed to. We want it very aldente. When the pasta's done, just drain it and set aside.

In one pan, cook the bacon to slightly less than crispy. When they're done, set them aside onto a paper towel lined plate, then chop them up roughly.

In another pan, melt 4 tbsp butter. Yes I know it's a lot, but this is mac and cheese. Throw caution to the wind people! Melt that butter! Anyway, once the butter is melted, add the onions and let them cook on med-low heat until they are soft and golden, then take them off the heat.

In a pot, you're going to make a roux. A roux is a way to thicken sauce, and is usually the bane of my existence because it is made with flour. But in my kitchen, I'm the boss. And this is gluten free flour time! So anyway, the point is, we want a thick cheese sauce and the best way to do that is with a roux. Melt 4 tbsp butter and then add the flour. Whisk it up really fast so that it all combines together. Keep whisking, but let it cook for about a minute to really thicken up. Then add the milk and half and half and let that cook for about 3-5 minutes. Stir it every now and then, but you don't need to stir constantly this time.

When it thickens up, turn the heat to low and add salt and pepper.

Here's another cool cooking trick: tempering eggs. We're going to add eggs to the sauce, but if you just throw them in there, they'll basically instantly scramble. And that would make crappy mac and cheese! So we're going to temper them by slowly stirring in a bit of the hot sauce. So take your beaten egg yolks and slowly pour in about 1/4 cup of the sauce, whisking as you go. When the egg and sauce are combined, you can pour the egg mixture into the pot with the rest of the sauce. Whisk it all up and let it cook for another minute.

Add the grated cheese and mix it into the sauce so that it melts and gets all delicious.

When the shredded cheese is melted add the cream cheese. I didn't use all 4 oz, I think I used about 2. So I would say add about 2, try it, see if you like it, and add more if needed. Next add about 3/4 of the bacon and

onions. Don't add all of it, because you want to put some on top of the mac and cheese.

Now pour the macaroni into the pan and get all the noodles cheesy and delicious.

Then pour it into a baking dish and top with the rest of the onions and bacon. Bake it for 15-20 minutes, then pig out. you know you want to.

XOXO

Natalie