Egg and Spinach Quiche

Yum! I was given this recipe to make for a women's brunch at a church function. It would go well by itself or with chicken next to it. (not my picture but it looks just the same as this one, except not in a round dish) :D

Egg and Spinach Quiche

6 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup onion, finely chopped (I didn't add the whole amount)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 (10 ounce) pkg of chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 (16 ounce) pkg small curd cottage cheese

1 (16 ounce) pkg shredded cheddar cheese (I only used 8 oz [my reading error] but it was perfect!)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/8 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. 

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl with flour until the flour is no longer lumpy (try adding the salt to the flour first. It may not clump much by doing this). Mixture should be creamy looking. 

Mix in the onion. 

Stir in the spinach, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, butter, salt (if you haven't added it before) and pepper until combined. 

Pour into prepared dish.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbly around the edges.

Enjoy!!

Guadalupe Pie AKA Sunday Pie

1 C flour
½ C butter
1 C finely chopped nut
Combine, press into 9 X13 pan. Bake at 350 for 20-30 min. Cool completely.

8 oz. Cream cheese or Neufchatel
1 C powdered sugar

Cream thoroughly until smooth.

8 oz. Cool Whip or Whipped cream          

Add to Cream Cheese Mixture gradually, spread over cooled crust.

1 large pkg instant chocolate pudding

1-3/4 C milk

Combine and mix until thick. Spread over cream cheese.

1 large pkg instant vanilla pudding
1-3/4 C milk

Combine and mix. Spread over chocolate pudding.

Chill, cut in squares to serve.

Optional - top with whipped cream. 

I stole this photo off the internet, so I could have a photo to pin on Pinterest. But Guadalupe Pie looks a lot like this.

Creamy Chipotle Southwest Black Bean Chicken

Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 7 servings
Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!


2 chicken breasts
3 C chicken broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can Mexican stewed tomatoes, diced or whole
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1 (15 ounce) can corn
1 (4 ounce) can green chilies
1 (8 ounce) cream cheese
1/2 t smoked paprika
1/2 t chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, blended
flour tortillas, or corn chips

Go to the website for the directions and some great pictures to go along with it.

A couple of notes:

This was really good. John and I gave it an enthusiastic thumbs-up, and our kids ate it, too.

I can't make a recipe without modifying it a little. I only used 1/2 a package of cream cheese and I added 1/4-ish teaspoon of chipotle powder. Also, I couldn't find smoked paprika, so I used regular.

The chipotle peppers and adobo sauce is a little can in the mexican food aisle at the store. She suggests blenderizing the whole can and freezing it in a bag and then breaking off chunks, but I found it so thick that I thought it would not blenderize well. So I just put in the freezer without blenderizing it. And I was able to break off a piece easily and then blenderize what I needed for the recipe with a little of the chicken broth (and the green chilies and tomatoes, since my kids and I are opposed to chunks)

It seemed too runny to put into tortillas, so we just put it in bowls with avocado and ate it with chips.

Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

Sorry I don't have a picture for these, but they were awesome! Try them, try them, you will see!

Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. butter - soft
a handful of nuts - optional *

Muffins:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter - melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg - beaten

Mix together flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Mix together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour into well. Mix. Put in muffin tins. Mix together the streusel ingredients and sprinkle on top of muffin batter in cups. Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes until golden.

*I made these with and without nuts and I thought they were better with the nuts. I used pecans, but I'm sure you could use walnuts, or even chopped almonds.

Baking Powder Drop Cheese Biscuits

My dad likes cooking shows, mostly Alton Brown, but he likes a variety of shows. He told me a while back that he had found/made/discovered the recipe for the cheesy biscuits from Red Lobster. Not the ACTUAL recipe, but one very similar. So I told him he had to send it to me. In truth, I haven't made these yet. Why? I don't know. No time to I guess. But they are on my "To-Make" list. So until then, here is the top-secret recipe! :)

Baking Powder Drop Cheese Biscuits
(aka: Red Lobster Cheese Biscuits)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
¼ tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup shortening or butter
2/3 cup milk or buttermilk
1 egg
½ -1 cup finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
¼ cup melted butter (optional)
¼ tsp garlic powder (optional)

Directions:
In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Cut in shortening/butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a bowl, whisk milk and egg. Add cheese to crumb mixture then stir wet ingredients into crumb mixture just until moistened. Drop by heaping spoonfuls 2 in. apart onto an un-greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Optional: Brush tops of biscuits with butter (optional garlic mixture).

Serve warm.

Ranch Parmesan Chicken

I made this over the weekend and it was SO good. Find the original recipe here (and a recipe for twice baked potatoes that look yummy as well), because as always, I changed it. :)

Ranch Parmesan Chicken
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 sourdough English muffins
3 TBS. melted butter
1 tsp. garlic
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (sounds like it will make it hot, but it doesn't, just adds flavor)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 jars ranch dressing

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray your cooking pan/casserole dish with non-stick spray. In a blender or food processor, add English muffins and pulse until crumbs. I had to do this in sections since my blender didn't get the muffins on top. Put crumbs in a pie tin. Add the butter and mix together. Add Parmesan cheese, garlic, and peppers. Take your chicken and dredge it in ranch dressing. Dip the chicken into the bread crumb mixture and set on the baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with a potato side and veggies.

Those are the simple directions, some extra things I did were that I pounded my chicken flat - not thin - flat. Mostly I thought it would help it cook more even. I put it between wax paper (or you could use parchment paper) and pounded it with a mallet/tenderizer until it was evenly flat (if I had to guess thickness, I would say the chicken ended up about 1/2 inch thick maybe even 3/4 inch). Then I took this fandangled tenderizer I have and tenderized the chicken. Not necessary, but helps it to be tender and soak up juices.

Chicken side note, if you clicked over to the original recipe you'll see that she used double the chicken. Our family is small, so I halved it. And along with pounding the chicken, my hubby and I actually just split one chicken breast for us. We ended up having leftovers. So adjust the recipe to fit your family needs.

I didn't do this, but will try it next time, but thought the recipe be good if your replaced the ranch with BBQ sauce. The crumb mixture on top would compliment the BBQ flavor as well.

A ranch suggestion, I followed the original recipe and used the expensive ranch she suggested. I didn't like it and neither did the hubby. The hubby and I decided that a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dry mix made into the dressing (ahead of time so it has time to firm up a bit) would've been MUCH better. But, to each his own. Use your favorite! She also suggested adding a bit of the dry ranch mix to your crumble mixture which I thought sounded good. I'll try that next time.

Bourbon Chicken

I made this a couple months ago, and while planning my menu this week remembered it and then remember I hadn't blogged about it. Then while cleaning out my email, I realized I had taken pictures (which is rare for me) so I figured it was a good time to share this.

Don't be scared by the title, this is Bourbon-less Bourbon Chicken. No alcohol. But super duper good. I was really impressed by it. You can find the original recipe here that includes cooking pictures, but I changed the recipe a little, so here is my recipe of it.

Bourbon Chicken
2 lbs. B.S. chicken breasts - Cooked and shredded
1 garlic clove, minced (fresh or dehydrated)
1/2 tsp. ginger
3/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup brown sugar (the recipe called for light, but I only had dark, so either works)
2 TBS. ketchup
1 TBS. cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

Cook chicken how ever you prefer - cut into pieces and fry in olive oil. Bake. Crock pot. Boil. Just cook and shred. (I prefer to boil it, and then shred it, then I continued the recipe in the crock pot, I thought that way it would really soak up the flavor - I ALSO doubled the sauce recipe for extra juicy flavor. I would suggest if you are using more than 2-3 chicken breasts that you double the sauce.)

The fast was to cook this is to combine remaining ingredients. Heat and stir over medium heat until well mixed. Add chicken and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes. Serve over hot rice, in a lettuce wrap, on a salad, etc.

You can also cook your chicken in the crock pot, shred it...put it back in. On the stove, make the sauce and pour it in the crock pot over the chicken. Leave the crock pot on to keep everything warm.

No matter which way you cook it, it turns out great. The recipe made enough for our small family to enjoy it a couple of different times. We decided to try different stuff each time. The first night we served it over rice:

The second night we had lettuce wraps with the left over rice. Green leaf lettuce, rice, chicken and avocado (cuz I love them) and a splash of soy sauce. My husband likes his food spicy so he added cayenne pepper to his.

The third night we used the remaining chicken for salads. Green leaf & ice berg lettuce, carrots, chicken, avocado, and cubed cheese. No dressing needed! Super yummy!

Veggie Dip Pizza

This was made at a Pampered Chef party I went to last week, and it was super good. If you love those ranch packets they sell at the store where you mix them with sour cream, you'll love this! Super good, great appetizer, although I'd probably make it just to eat for myself. Yum!

Veggie Dip Pizza

2 - 8oz. packages of refrigerated crescent rolls (or your own pizza crust recipe)
2 - 8oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 package of dry ranch dip mix
Veggies of your liking, Suggestions:
Purple onion - chopped
tomatoes - sliced thin
bell pepper - in slices
cauliflower - chopped
broccoli - chopped
olives - sliced
avocado - slices
carrot - shredded

Preheat oven to 375. Roll out crescent rolls onto a pizza pan in the shape of a pizza crust. (depending on the size of your pan, this may make 2 pizzas) Bake for about 12 minutes. Once finished cooking, remove from oven and let cool completely.

In a small bowl combine cream cheese, mayo and ranch dressing mix. Mix well. Spread mixture over the cooled crust. Arrange veggies over the cream cheese layer. Slice into pizza slices and serve.

*I'm sure this could be made into a fruit pizza very easily, mixing a little sugar and fruit preserves with the cream cheese and layered with fruit. Sounds good to me!

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Like my last post, I mentioned that crusts just don't work for me. There are 3 things in the cooking world that I don't do very well. Crusts, yeast for breads, and corn starch. For some reason, those things hate me when I cook with them. The cornstarch is a big reason I've never attempted Sweet & Sour Chicken before. Most of the recipes I've looked at call for it in the sauce, so I never made them. I did some digging and found some recipes, then made up my own recipe from those. Now, I know what you're thinking, you're not going to try this recipe because it's an experiment; experiments in my house growing up were always a little scary. But I promise this one is good. I didn't make up everything, I combined about 5 different recipes, and added my own flare. Try it, it's now become a staple in our house!

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Chicken Breast (usually one per person that you are serving)
Olive Oil
1 can Pineapple chunks
Veggies (Carrots, Onion, Bell pepper, celery, water chestnuts, garlic - anything you want)
Minced garlic - optional
Minced onion - optional

Sauce:
1 cup sugar
pineapple juice from can
1/8 - 1/4 cup white or rice vinegar
1 cup ketchup
1 ½ tsp salt
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey - optional

Cut up veggies into bite size pieces (not minced, good size: bell pepper or onion 1 inch x 1 inch squares, carrots sliced about the thickness of two quarters together) and set aside. Cut up chicken into bite size pieces. Cook chicken in skillet with 1-2 tbsp of olive oil until done. Remove from pan. Cook veggies in the pan with remaining olive oil or add a small amount of oil to coat veggies, cook for about 5minutes covered, until just tender (don't over cook, you want them a little crunchy). Remove from pan. While cooking chicken and veggies, combine sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a low boil, then reduce heat to keep warm. (**Add vinegar slowly, it can over power the sauce - so if you tend to like vinegar add the full amount, if not add less. Although, tasting the sauce doesn't give an accurate taste because baking it changes the flavor. Trust the recipe, it will turn out good.) Place cooked chicken, cooked veggies, and pineapple in a 9x9 or 9x13 pan (depending on the amount of chicken cooked) and pour sweet and sour sauce over the top. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Serve over rice.

*I know there aren't measurements for the chicken and veggies, but it's all about what you like. The last time I made this, I used 3 chicken breasts, 4 carrots and a small bell pepper. After I cooked it, I thought it could've used a few more veggies. Next time, more carrots, celery, and a little more pepper, maybe red and orange for more color. I didn't use raw onion because I don't care for it, so I did a tbsp of the minced onion along with a tbsp of minced garlic. Go wild!

**A lot of the recipes I found called for coating in the chicken in egg (or milk) and then dredging it in flour followed by deep frying it. I cut out that step to save on calories, but feel free to add in that step. With keeping leftovers in mind though, flour coated chicken doesn’t warm up well the next day, it tends to be mushy. As where pan cooked chicken with a little olive oil warms up great. We had this for leftovers twice and each time it was fantastic!

Chicken Pot Pie Crumble

I've made this meal twice now, and it was amazing both times! I usually remember to take a picture about the time I take my last bite, so no picture, sorry. But you can go view a picture here on the post I got the recipe from. I loved this recipe because I don't do crusts, they just don't work for me, so this was perfect for me. The crumble is so tasty, and the insides are so good too. Seriously, try this!


Chicken Pot Pie Crumble
*Serves 6-8

Chicken and Sauce:
1 ½ pounds chicken (about three medium-size chicken breasts)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced (about 1 cup)
2-3 stalks celery, chopped (about ½ cup)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
½ cup flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup frozen peas

Crumble Topping:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup heavy cream

To prepare the chicken, place the chicken and broth in a large Dutch oven or pot and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Cook the chicken until it is just done (don’t overcook or it will dry out) – about 10-12 minutes. Alternately, if you are planning in advance, you can place the chicken and broth in a slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 5 hours. Transfer the cooked chicken to a medium bowl. Pour the broth through a fine-mesh strainer into a liquid measuring cup and reserve.

Return the pot to the stovetop (no need to wash if you used it to cook the chicken).
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Sprinkle the chilled butter pieces over the top of the flour. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Add the cream and stir until just combined. Crumble the mixture into irregularly shaped pieces onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the crumble topping until fragrant and starting to brown, about 15 minutes, tossing halfway through. Set aside.

For the filling, heat the olive oil in the now-empty pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 5 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, shred the chicken into small bite-size pieces. Transfer the cooked vegetables to the bowl with the chicken; set aside.

Over medium heat melt the butter in the empty pot. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the reserved chicken broth and milk. Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes, taking care not to burn the bottom. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Remove from the heat and stir the chicken, vegetables and peas into the sauce.

Pour the mixture into a 9×13 pan. Scatter the crumble topping evenly over the filling. Place the 9X13-inch pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until the topping is well browned, about 15-20 minutes. Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

After I made these I went around for days bragging that I had made cupcakes from scratch for the first time. Quite an accomplishment for me since I LOVE cupcakes, I usually make them with a cake mix, instead of from scratch. These were so good! And I love Snickerdoodles, so for that reason they were doubly good. I'm a slacker with posting pictures, see a picture here with the original recipe.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
makes about 2 dozen cupcakes

2 ¼ cups cake flour*
2 ¼ tsp baking powder
3/8 tsp salt
2 ¼ tsp cinnamon
¾ cup butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 cup milk

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla. Slowly add the flour and milk, alternating between the two until well incorporated. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl whenever needed. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Evenly distribute the batter between the cups (about 2 dozen). Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes. Top with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting and sprinkle a bit of cinnamon-sugar on top if desired.

* add 1 tablespoon cornstarch per 1 cup all purpose flour to make your own cake flour. Add the cornstarch to the bottom of the cup and fill the rest of the cup with flour.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tbsp butter, at room temperature
4 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
½ tsp cinnamon

Cream the cream cheese and butter until creamy and smooth. Add half the sugar, milk, vanilla (or almond) and cinnamon. Mix until smooth. Add remaining sugar and beat until light and fluffy and creamy. **Add more powdered sugar if you want it to be a stiffer consistency for decorating.

**I made the recipe into 1 & 1/2 of the original recipe to make more cupcakes since the original recipe only made 18 cupcakes. I would still change it a bit for high altitude baking. If you are higher than 3000 ft, you may want to add a tbsp or two of flour to the batter before cooking for better rising.

Dreamy Lemon Rice Pudding

In my recent quest to find foods that agree with my stomach, I found this book and this recipe in the book. Because I'm eliminating certain foods right now, I used rice milk, even though it warns that it won't be as creamy. It was delicious, but runny. So I tweaked the recipe a little, and I'm in love! I've never been a rice pudding fan, but I like my version of this recipe because it's smoother, more like tapioca, and I love the lemon instead of traditional cinnamon.

3 cups rice milk
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon canola oil
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 organic egg whites, whipped until they just barely hold soft peaks
4 cups cooked brown rice
Zest of 1 lemon, grated or minced (do NOT use lemon juice)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat the egg whites in a crock pot. In a blender, combine the milk, water, sugar, salt, and rice. Blend for 30-60 seconds. Add to egg whites and stir. Stirring every 15 minutes, cook in crock pot for 1 1/2 hours or until temperature reaches 150. Add the lemon zest and vanilla.

Green Sugar, Shamrocks and Fudge Frosting

Shamrocks (or any other shape you want):
I googled "shamrocks," found one I liked, and then printed a page of various sizes of them.
Then I taped this page to the table, layered wax paper on top, taped that to the table, too, and then "drew" the shamrock shapes on the wax paper using melted chocolate chips in a frosting bag. You could use white chocolate or almond bark. Sprinkle with colored sugar before the chocolate sets up.

Colored sugar (on the cheap!)
I just made this up as I went, but these are approximately the proportions I used:
~3 Tb. regular sugar
~8 drops food coloring
Shake well.
Then add ~1/2-1 tsp. corn starch to make it not clumpy.

I put it in an empty salt shaker. It worked really well.

Fudge Frosting
This recipe is one I adapted from Better Homes & Gardens.
1/2 cup butter
~1/2 cup chocolate chips (this turns out so much tastier with the chocolate chips)
1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup water
4 1/4 powdered sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter, chocolate chips, and cocoa powder together in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring often. Remove from heat.

Add 2 cups powdered sugar.  Mix well. Add water and remainder of powdered sugar. mix well. Add vanilla; Mix.

The Best Apple Pie Muffins Ever

Ingredients

      Topping
          o 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
          o 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
          o 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
          o 1 teaspoon cinnamon
      Muffins
          o 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
          o 2/3 cup vegetable oil
          o 1 eggs
          o 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
          o 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
          o 1 teaspoon baking soda
          o 1/4 teaspoon salt
          o 1 cup buttermilk
          o 2 cups diced peeled firm tart apples (such as Spy, Granny Smith)

Directions:

Note: cinnamon could be added to the batter (about 1 teaspoon or less).

Topping: In a small bowl toss together sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon until crumbly; set aside.

Muffins: In a large bowl whisk together brown sugar, oil, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, soda and salt.
Stir oil mixture into flour mixture alternately with buttermilk.
Fold in apples, mixing just until combined.
Spoon into greased muffin cups filling 3/4 full.
Sprinkle topping over evenly.

Bake at 350̊F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and tops spring back.

Prep Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 45 mins

original recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/the-best-apple-pie-muffins-ever-110506

My Substitutions:

I only use 1 cup brown sugar, instead of 1 1/2 cups.
I use 1/3 cup oil; 1/3 cup applesauce instead of 2/3 cup oil.
I make my own buttermilk by putting 2 tsp. lemon juice into the milk.
For the apples, I've been using crushed up dried cannery apples, which I rehydrate with boiling water (I only do this to eliminate the chore of peeling and chopping apples)
Soy or almond milk can be used to make them dairy free.

Four Cheese Macaroni with Bacon

This was Heavenly! That could be because I love bacon, but who doesn't?! (I found this recipe in the October 2010 Family Circle Magazine)

Four Cheese Macaroni with Bacon
1 box (1 pound) Cavatappi - I couldn't find this pasta so I just used elbow noodles
6 slices of bacon
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 tbsp. flour
2 cups 2% milk
1/2 tsp. onion flakes
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 pound Sharp Cheeddar Cheese
1 cup shredded colby-Jack Cheese
1 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese
8 slices Kraft Deli Deluxe American Cheese (6 oz)

1. Heat oven to 350. Coat a 3-quart dish with nonstick spray. Bring a large pot of water of lightly salted water to boil.
2. Cook pasta 8 minutes in boiling water, then drain. Meanwhile, cook bacon until crisp. Let cool on a paper towel. In a medium sauce pan, put 2 tbsp of bacon drippings in pan and add butter.
3. Whisk in flour until smooth. In a thin stream, whisk in milk. Stir in onion flakes, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. In a large bowl, toss together sharp chedder, colby-Jack and mozzarella.
4. Remove milk mixture from heat; Whisk in American cheese and 1 1/4 cups of the cheddar mixture. Toss bacon pieces with the remaining shredded cheese.
5. In pasta pot, combine cooked pasta and cheese sauce. Pour half into prepared dish. Sprinkle with a generous cup of the bacon-cheese mixture. Add remaining half of pasta on top. Top with remaining bacon-cheese mixture.
6. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Increase oven temperature to broil and broil for 3 minutes, until top is lightly browned. Cool before serving.

**I never stick to the recipe, so I didn't add all of the sliced cheese - because I didn't have it although it seemed like way too much cheese, so add your own desired amount. Also, I don't usually like left-over Mac & Cheese, but this was really good left-over which is good because it makes A LOT!