ohhhhh I've cooked!! yipeee!!! 

Here are last week's cooking adventures through the Pioneer Woman's Cookbook…

 

  

Sooooo…After Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes last Tuesday, I made Homemade MacnCheese on Wednesday! It was soooo awesome!! Here are some pics of the process…

{ingredients}

{right before baking…after whisking my arm off…} 

I have to admit out loud here that it took me two tries to do the roux…(the cheese sauce). I forgot to add the milk and then burned the butter…and I had this block in my brain that "I can't do roux!!!" LOL!! But luckily for me, I had four very hungry children to keep me moving forward!! I started over and this time, no burning!! AND even though it didn't seem to thicken, it eventually did…and it did gorgeously!! yummmmm!!!

Isn't that wonderful??

Cora wondered if the Pioneer Woman cooked for her ranch hands, too? These recipes tend to produce a LOT of food!! :) 

 

close-up…yum!!!!

btw, here's my favorite quote from Ree in her Mac and Cheese recipe:

"I love you, macaroni and cheese. Thank you for coming into my life."
 

Sooooo..on Thursday, I was asked…pleaded with, by my son to make the Marmalade Muffins. He had been walking past the cookbook all week with that page open and those gorgeous pics of these fantastic muffins calling out to him. He said, "MOM, pLEASE!! please make these muffins!! PLEASE!!!"

 

 

 

Here's where my fave quote comes in handy with this recipe:

"If you don't have a microplane zester, please rush out to the nearest cooking supply store and purchase one. Thank you."

Well, I didn't have one, but my son wasn't going to wait for me to run out to my nearest Williams Sonoma (which is rather close!!). So I used my mini zester…didn't really work, but the regular grater did!

 

thank goodness these yielded a LOT of muffins…

they were gone in 24 hours!!

and the culprit??

he liked them…he even asked me today to make them again…

SUCCESS!!    
 

And then in the evening, I attempted a NEW feat for me…

Boiling a WHOLE chicken!! yup…it was amazing!! (fast and tasty, too!!)

Chicken Spaghetti!! 

My mom stood with me for the two hours it took me to make this fun meal…

and she grabbed the camera and started shooting…

i took the camera back!! teeheee!!!

Look!! bell peppers!! another first!! (ohh so yummmy!)

yup..she grabbed it back again!! :) 

this is just some fun proof it was me cooking!! 

Then…last night I made the Hot Artichoke dip to go with our hamburgers that Mr Gorgeous grilled…omy…i was sooo stuffed and happy!! 🙂

Next I'm gonna have to cook out of a diet cookbook!! yikes!!!

I kinda messed up one step, but it wasn't detrimental to the taste! (thank goodness!!)

I can't wait to have some more of this tonight!!! yipeeee!!!

Fresh picked strawberries from our dear neighbors!

Mr Gorgeous trying his first blue corn chip with the dip…

He likes it!! He really likes it!! :) 

Well, here's what we have on the docket for this week…

Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich on Wednesday, Pot Roast on Friday, and probably something sweet  like the chocolate sheet cake and those fantastic Creamy Mashed Potatoes to add to Easter Dinner!! :)              

Enjoy a NEW cooking adventure!! Because for me, this is definitely an adventure!! 🙂