Chocolate Fixes Everything . . . AKA Lies I Like To Tell Myself

I wish something as simple as chocolate could fix things.  I wish it could make the word safer, make everything easier.  

There are no words for the  horrific events that happened yesterday in Boston.  I am trying to stay away from the news, photos, and all the ugliness of it.  Just like in NYC on 9/11 people all came together during tragedy to help one another and that in itself gives me hope.  

The world is getting crazier by the minute.  Sometimes I don't even want to leave my house.  So what do I do ?  Eat some chocolate.  

I have been into smoothies lately.  This one is super good!  For my 16 oz serving I used 1 cup of coconut milk, 1 banana, and 1 tbsp of cacao powder.  

Hope you will give it a try.  And I also hope that you and yours are safe wherever you may be . . . 

xo

Mac And Cheese Please

Growing up one of my favorite comfort foods was mac and cheese. During Lent on Friday nights it was always mac and cheese with fish sticks. Of course I hated the fish but gobbled up the mac and cheese. Even during my cancer treatment 10 years ago that dish and grilled cheese sandwiches were about all I could hold down.

Having said all that the only mac and cheese I ever ate was out of a box. It was that blue box from Kraft with the silver packet of squishy cheddar cheese. My husband on the other hand grew up eating homemade mac and cheese. We met 10 years ago just one month after his mom passed away from breast cancer. At the time I was finishing up my own breast cancer treatment convincing myself that this guy I had just met would never stick around. Obviously I was wrong!

Anyway, over all these years he has been telling me about this amazing mac and cheese his mom used to make. A couple of weeks ago he finally got me the recipe. I think it was emotional for him to get her recipe book, see her handwriting again, and take that trip down memory lane. But he did and last weekend we tried the recipe. It was amazing!! She put her little italian spin on it with mozzarella instead of cheddar. We had fun cooking it together and I think for him it was a nice way to honor her memory. I wish I had met her.

So today I want to share her recipe with you! It is so simple and delicious and low fat.

Ingredients

8 oz penne pasta

3 cups 2% milk

3 tbs flour

3 tbs salted butter

1/8 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

8 oz part skim mozzarella (thinly sliced)

flavored bread crumbs 2 tbs

9x13 baking dish

While the water is boiling for the pasta, melt butter in saucepan, then add flour 1tbs at a time, whisk together, add the paprika, salt, and pepper. Slowly wisk in the milk and heat through (don't let it thicken too much) Add the cooked pasta to the baking dish, pour the sauce over pasta. Shake some paprika over the pasta, then add the mozzarella slices over the top to cover the pasta, lastly spread the breadcrumbs over the cheese as your last layer.

Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese browns on top.

Hope you enjoy!

xo

A Snowstorm and Some Pumpkin Bread

Wow how I have missed my blog! We have been offline since Saturday when the northeast snowstorm began. We lost power early Sunday morning and thankfully had a generator to get us through the 20 hours till our power was back on. Still hard to believe that we had snow in October. I have lived in southern NY state my whole life and never have we had snow so early! Not fun. The poor trees hadn't even lost their fall leaves yet. But most importantly we made it through with only minor damage to our property due to some fallen trees.

On Sunday via generator power I baked. I wanted to share this amazing recipe for pumpkin bread that I got from my mom who found out about it from weight watchers. So EASY!! I have never taken food photos so this was the best I could get to share for this post.

There are only 2 ingredients . . . any brand of spice cake mix (18 oz) and one 15 oz can of pure pumpkin. Mix them together (it will be gooey and sticky) and spread into a 9x5 loaf pan. Bake according to the directions on the mix which for me was at 350 degrees for approximately 60 minutes or until the a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Oh my gosh it is so good!! And I am not even a big pumpkin fan. My husband is and I was baking it for him. It is super moist too! I still cannot figure out how it works by eliminating the eggs, oil and water the mix calls for but who cares when the results are WOW! lol

Hope you give it a try! If you have any good fall baking recipes to share I would love to hear them!

xo