I made this ridiculously easy Cherry Jam using a recipe I found over at Dessert For Two!  There’s only 2 ingredients & if I can make it, anyone can!

If I had to eat one food for the rest of my entire life, macaroni & cheese would be it.  I’m not a macaroni snob, either.  I love boxed mac and fancy prepared mac the same.

Mac & cheese was my go-to work lunch for years.  I would splurge on the hot mac from the deli.  When I wasn’t hungry but still wanted to eat a little something, I always got the microwave mac.  I even bought the frozen meal mac & cheese.  When I felt fancy, I bought the frozen meal with broccoli!

The recipe I’m sharing today is more on the fancy side, but totally easy to make!

Like all good things in my life, this recipe happened by accident.  I was originally going to prepare a red sauce ziti one night when my husband got the butter out.  He usually likes to butter the noodles before he adds sauce, but I had another idea:  why don’t we just add cheese to the buttered noodles & make a mac+cheese?

Lots of cheese & spices later, we had the most fantastic mac & cheese!

I’ve briefly mentioned before that my dad is a “kitchen sink” cook.  Leave him alone in a kitchen (or around a grill!) & the spices come out.  Everything but the kitchen sink is added to his recipes & they’re never lacking in flavor.  I still remember the time when he was left alone with the grill at my cousin’s graduation open house.  The burgers were never more flavorful!  The thing is though, it’s never a bad spice taste; it’s an interesting mixture of flavors that actually is delicious!  Even though my dad does some weird spice combinations, I’ve never tasted a bad meal from him!

While I tend to cook on the bland side, sometimes I take after my dad & kick it up a notch.  It doesn’t help that my spice rack is right above my stovetop either, which provides easy access to the spices!  For this mac & cheese, I utilized my go-to spices:  garlic powder, onion salt & pepper.  My favorite thing is adding pepper to any mac & cheese.  While I kept it mild on the actual mac, I ended up adding a ton to my individual bowl.  As I noted in the recipe, add the spices to your individual taste.  It also saves me because I never actually measure anything!  I just start adding things until I like the way it tastes!

Mac + Cheese

by Tiff @ www.onthecreekblog.com April-27-2017

A super easy stovetop macaroni & cheese!

Ingredients

• 16oz Macaroni Noodles
• 8oz Shredded Cheese (I used Colby Jack & Mild Cheddar)
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 1/2 cup Milk
• Pepper (to taste)
• Garlic Powder (to taste)
• Onion Powder (to taste)

Instructions

- Make noodles according to package directions, drain
- Place noodles back into pot, add butter & stir to combine
- Add milk.  (You may need to add more or less depending on your desired consistency.)
- Add cheese & mix well.
- Add your spices according to your taste.  If spices aren’t your thing, just skip!

 

 

(Click here to skip to the recipe!)

 

 

This recipe is one of those secrets that I wanted to keep to myself.

I recently read a story online about a woman who was famous for her cookies.  It escalated to the point where she ended up selling them because they were that good. It turns out that they were a frozen dough she purchased from the grocery store!  Now, these cookies aren’t quite that bad, but I do feel guilty that they’re so good because they are so easy to make!  For only having 3 ingredients, they pack a lot of flavor.  They’re one of those things that I could keep to myself and be the best cookie baker ever. Since I’m terrible at keeping secrets, here they are on the blog today!

These cookies are the best cookies I’ve made in my entire life.  I also have very limited kitchen experience, so my index of successful recipes is low…so there’s that.  But if you need a quick and easy recipe that looks like chef material then I’ve got your back.

I used this incredibly simple recipe. The first time I made them, I followed the recipe exactly and made peanut butter cookies.  I even did the little fork crisscross thing and they looked and tasted fantastic.  I then had the idea of making them into Peanut Butter Blossoms.  Since I had no idea how Peanut Butter Blossoms were actually made, I did some Pinterest research. The recipes I found all called for a ton of ingredients. While mixing lots of ingredients works out well for some people, I need a more simple approach. I also ain't got time for that many ingredients! The simple peanut butter cookie recipe I found was nowhere to be found in the world of Pinterest Peanut Butter Blossoms. I couldn't believe it! Today, that is changing.

Transforming these peanut butter cookies into Blossoms is easy. I used my Tablespoon measure as a scoop and rolled the dough into equal size peanut butter balls. I got about 12 in total. I then baked them and placed the Hershey's kiss in right after I pulled them out of the oven. I would recommend freezing them for a little while afterwards. The chocolate didn't set up very fast and was kind of melted . Unfortunately, my freezer was full and I couldn't do this so I have no idea how long to leave them in there for. They eventually set up on the counter though, so if you don't have the freezer space it isn't a real issue.

I admit that I was skeptical about this peanut butter cookie recipe at first. After making them like 5 times, it's safe to say that it's my new favorite!

For like 99% of my life, I disliked coffee.  I always loved the smell but hated the taste.  I don’t know exactly when I warmed up to the idea of coffee, but it’s been a recent thing. It's also been a gradual thing. First, I was buying already made iced coffee in the dairy aisle and now I own a coffee maker. It's safe to say my coffee obsession is getting out of control. I even drank a warm cup of coffee the other day!  I don’t know who I am anymore. I love making drinks but homemade iced coffee always intimidated me.

When doing research for this post, I found that my iced coffee method is far from the preferred method. I want to warn you of that right now...but if you're looking for a super easy at home method, I've got you covered.

Here’s what I did: I took the leftovers from an already brewed pot of coffee and stuck them in the refrigerator.  When I was ready for my iced coffee, I added some milk, sugar and creamer and mixed it up.  Super easy iced coffee.

Then I photographed it a million times!  Simple as that.



PS:  If you’ve got the time, cold brew coffee is supposedly the best way to go.  Here are a couple links that explain it well:  01 // 02