macaroni

How to Make the Best Minestrone Soup

My Grandma’s easy minestrone soup recipe is one of the healthiest vegetable-loaded soups you’ll make, and it tastes far better than any of those Olive Garden copycat recipes thanks to the secret ingredient in the savory broth.

Easy Minestrone Soup Recipe

“It is well worth the time and effort.”

But then, isn’t most anything when it’s done with love?

My sweet Grandma Frieda passed away when I was a senior in college and while there are many things that remind me of her, as a recipe maker it’s the cookbooks I inherited from her that I see most often. And this recipe for minestrone soup that graces the pages has always been one of my favorites.

continue to the recipe… about How to Make the Best Minestrone Soup

The Best Homemade Mac and Cheese

The combination of creamy gouda and havarti cheese make a silky, cheesy homemade mac and cheese sauce that tastes SO MUCH BETTER than the boxed kind.

Easy Homemade Mac and Cheese

There are several basic, classic, everyone-loves-them-because-even-when-we-shouldn’t-we-still-crave-them recipes I am driven to master.

The best steak. Check. The juiciest roasted chicken. Got it. The best potato salad. Double check and thank you mom. The best homemade fudge. Ever. End of story. Period.

I’ve made several macaroni and cheese recipes on the blog, including this Instant Pot mac and cheese, this one with lobster, another with gobs of cheese and bacon, and yet another loaded with veggies and such, and I’ve deemed each of them a wonder in their own right.

But I was missing that basic, homey, comfort food classic of a good old-fashioned baked mac and cheese. Not anymore.continue to the recipe… about The Best Homemade Mac and Cheese

Homemade Cheeseburger Macaroni

Call it what you want — cheeseburger macaroni, hamburger mac and cheese, or homemade Hamburger Helper. Whatever this recipe is, it’s delicious.

Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe

I’m not embarrassed to admit it. In our first days of being married—yep, that was just a feeeewww years ago—Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper was totally a favorite of my husband and I.

Maybe it’s because my mom rarely made dinner from the box that gave that dang Hamburger Helper version a secret appeal. Or maybe it was just because it had the basic ingredients that make a comfort food dinner completely craveable: pasta, hamburger and cheese sauce.

We always doctored up the boxed version with sliced onion and mushrooms, it’s not like we could just eat it the cardboard cutout way. But when I started reading labels and trying to pronounce words in the ingredient list that I needed to pull out the dictionary for, the boxed version went by the wayside.

But that didn’t mean my craving went away.

The day I created this recipe for my partners at Go Bold With Butter, I had a house full of 9-year-olds who had just come home from school and who, as 9-year-olds will be, were STARVING!

Super cheese mom to the rescue.

4 girls. 4 bowls served. 8 thumbs up.

That’s why I’m loving this homemade Hamburger Helper so much, because it’s the base of my favorite comfort food flavor but is made with real ingredients.continue to the recipe… about Homemade Cheeseburger Macaroni

Skillet Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

This easy and extra cheesy one-pot cauliflower mac and cheese dinner gets a heathified veggie bump thanks to caramelized cauliflower added to the velvety cheese pasta to create a whole new take on a comfort food favorite.

This post is in partnership with Cache Valley Cheese

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a 783 times. There’s nothing like sneaking a little healthy into dinner and knowing the thrill of everyone at the table loving it. And even better when they ask for more.

Break out the mom victory dance!

It’s one of my secrets when it comes to feeding kids of all ages. For instance, my husband. He’s the biggest kid I know and not the biggest fan of cauliflower. But when that bulbous head of a vegetable is cooked to become caramelized and sweet, and mixed with macaroni that’s coated in a silky, creamy, cheese sauce? Suddenly, he’s just as much a fan as Smudge has been since she was a wee toddler.

Sneaking healthy in. It’s my secret weapon at meal time.

This year I couldn’t be more pleased to be partnering with a brand I grew up with. Not only grew up with, but honestly ate every. single. day. I don’t think I can even remember a time when Cache Valley Cheese wasn’t in my parents’ fridge waiting for me to slice and layer in one of my famous turkey sandwiches, melt over a freezer burrito, or add a perfectly cut square slice to my liverwurst and pickle topped Triscuits for my after school snack while watching re-runs of The Brady Bunch. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

And please, don’t even judge me when I admit to slathering thick slices of mild cheddar with mayo and eating it just. like. that.

Cache Valley Cheese has been with me and my family forever, and I can’t wait to share my food memories and favorite recipes featuring it’s high-quality, calcium-rich cheeses here on the blog this year.

So let’s get started!

continue to the recipe… about Skillet Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

How to Make Classic Macaroni Salad

Nothing says summertime eating like a serving of the best, classic, old-fashioned, creamy macaroni salad with eggs and crisp vegetables dressed in a simple and creamy but still light mayonnaise dressing for any picnic, potluck, or barbecue.

Sometimes you just don’t mess around with the classics. While some might look at this macaroni salad recipe and think it’s too simple (where’s the twist? what makes it special? shouldn’t it be harder than this?) that’s exactly why it’s a time-proven favorite.

While I’ve always been a fan of potato salad (my mom’s potato salad recipe is THE BEST!) it’s taken me years to come around to macaroni salad. The reason being is that every time I tried one, it was never a good one. They were either too dry, too plain, or too heavily loaded with a goopy, flavorless mayo dressing that coated the macaroni like oil on a dipstick and likely came from a pre-packaged box from the deli counter—yes! That stuff usually comes from a box!

There’s nothing worse than that acrid taste of fake mayo macaroni salad. You know. You’ve been there.

But, this old-fashioned macaroni salad is everything those others were not. First off, it’s homemade—toss the box! It’s simple but well-seasoned. It’s dressed just right with a tangy but light mayo dressing. And the pasta is neither clumpy nor starchy, but smooth and satisfying with every bite.

I really do love this salad but I’m going to defer to my husband on this one, who as a self-proclaimed macaroni salad connoisseur did attest, “Honey, this is still the best macaroni salad I’ve had. Ever.”continue to the recipe… about How to Make Classic Macaroni Salad

How to Make the Best Minestrone Soup

Easy Minestrone Soup Recipe

The Best Homemade Mac and Cheese

Easy Homemade Mac and Cheese

Homemade Cheeseburger Macaroni

Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe

Skillet Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

How to Make Classic Macaroni Salad

How to Make the Best Potato Salad

How to Make Classic Macaroni Salad

How to Make the Best Grilled Salmon

The Best Greek Chicken Marinade

macaroni

Easy Minestrone Soup Recipe

Easy Homemade Mac and Cheese

Homemade Hamburger Helper Recipe

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