Category Archives: Natural Mamma’s Recipes

Homemade Mac And Cheese Recipe

natural homemade mac and cheeseHere is a recipe for homemade macaroni and cheese that’s so super tasty and reheats very easily  so makes great leftovers!  Makes a great stand alone meal especially when paired with a fresh salad, or, is an excellent side dish too!

 

Homemade Mac And Cheese Recipe
Recipe type: Main Dish
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6-8
 
Here is a homemade macaroni and cheese recipe that's perfect as a side dish or as the main dish served with salad. Enjoy it for dinner tonight!
Ingredients
  • 1lb pasta (elbow, bow tie, spirals, etc)
  • ¾ C bread crumbs
  • 5 T Butter
  • 3 T Flour
  • 2½ C milk or milk substitute
  • 8 oz cheddar cheese
  • 8oz Colby cheese
  • 1 t dried mustard
  • ¼ t nutmeg
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350
  2. Generously butter a 2 qt baking dish
  3. Boil pot of water and cook macaroni
  4. Melt 3 T butter in a large sauce pan
  5. Now, add the flour and stir over moderate heat for 2 min stirring constantly
  6. Next add the milk gradually while you stir with a fork. Keep stirring until mixture is thickened; about 3min.
  7. Cut cheese into chunks and add half of each kind to the milk mixture and stir until all melted.
  8. Add spices, salt, and pepper
  9. Once the macaroni is done, drain and add to pan.
  10. Pour cheese sauce over pasta and mix
  11. Add the rest of the cheese cubes and stir a bit more
  12. Melt the rest of the butter in a pan
  13. Add bread crumbs and brown for a min.
  14. Sprinkle bread crumbs over cheese covered pasta
  15. Bake in pre heated oven for 45 min or until bubbly and golden on top

 

Yummy Veggie Hot Pockets Recipe!

Autumn is here and is one of my favorite seasons of the year.  It’s so beautiful out the weather is amazing, we have some family birthdays as well as other celebrations, and, the food!

One of my favorite autumn (and winter, and sometimes spring and even summer….) dishes is these yummy veggie hot pockets, or turnovers.  Homemade crust wrapped around tasty root vegetables and other fall staples with a vegetarian sauce over them.  You can really use any vegetables just get them tender if needed, via steaming or sauteing – which ever is appropriate.

Also, these vegetarian hot pockets freeze really well so you might want to make extra.  This also makes them excellent options for bringing meals to help others like new mothers or those caring for ill loved ones.  Just wrap individually and freeze then bring over w/instructions for re heating whenever they need a quick, homemade meal.

Yummy Veggie Hot Pockets Recipe!
Author: 
Recipe type: Vegetarian Entree
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
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Serves: 4-6
 
A super tasty vegetarian recipe for hot potkets/turnovers featuring fall veggies, a special vegetarian sauce and homemade crust. Perfect for autumn or, any time of year! Can also become a veggie pie.
Ingredients
  • Dough for Crust
  • ½ C Butter (1 stick)
  • 2 C Flour
  • ¼ C Iced Water (may need more especially if using whole wheat flour)
  • Veggies
  • Use any combination of these you wish just adjust the amounts as you work out the ingredients ie use the larger amt called for if you omit another ingredient - or if you just like it a lot - I'd say the only essential ingredients are at least a bit of garlic and the onion for flavor.
  • Steam or saute in olive oil as appropriate.
  • 1-2 Carrots
  • 2-3 Potatoes
  • ½-1 C Pumpkin and/or other Squash
  • 2 Ears of Corn w/kernals removed (or frozen corn)
  • ½-1C Broccoli
  • ½-3/4 C Green Beans
  • 2-4 Cloves of Garlic (more if you really like garlic)
  • 1 Large Onion
  • 1 Med Bell Pepper
  • ½ C Peas
  • Sauce
  • 4T Butter
  • ¼C Flour
  • 1 C Milk
  • 2 Egg Yolks
  • ½ C Cheddar Cheese
  • Olive Oil to brush onto the top
Instructions
  1. Make the dough by cutting the butter into the flour until its a crumbly mixture.
  2. Then, add water and mix until you create a dough that doesn't stick to your fingers but forms nicely into a ball.
  3. Now prepare the veggies as appropriate (ie steam carrots, broccoli, pumpkin, etc - boil potatoes - saute onions, garlic, peppers in a bit of olive oil, and just add the corn and the peas)
  4. Once veggies have been prepped add them all into a big bowl. This is where you'll mix them up with the sauce - so give yourself room!
  5. Next its time for the sauce. Melt the butter over med heat, then add the flour. Stir until combined over low heat.
  6. Add Milk and stir over med heat until it boils.
  7. Once the mixture boils let go for 1 min then take off the heat. Add the egg yolks and the cheddar cheese stirring until all combined.
  8. Now, pour over veggies.
  9. Next, get your dough and separate into 4 med - 6 small balls.
  10. Roll out each ball into a flat circle and add a few spoonfuls of the veggie and sauce mixture into the front/center area.
  11. Fold the back of the dough up and over the veggies and press bottom and top together to create a seal.
  12. Repeat with each dough circle.
  13. Then glaze all turnovers with a bit of olive oil - I like to mix mine with a bit of salt too.
  14. Now bake at 350 until dough is golden - about 30 min.

If you have leftover veggies – they can be wrapped up in a tortilla to make super tasty leftover veggie burritos.

Or, you can make this recipe as a pie – Just roll out the crust and put it into a baking dish trimming off the extra.  Then, add the veggie mixture and you can make a lattice top from your crust trimmings.  Baking time is the same.

Fresh Cucumber Salad on a Hot Day

I can’t really say for sure why we grow so many cucumbers, but every year we hit a point in the growing season where the cucumbers take over the kitchen. The kicker at our house is that although I like cucumbers in almost any form, my hubby thinks they make him burb, our oldest girl only likes them on like the third Tuesday of each month and the baby…well, she eats anything, but cucumbers she only likes to eat in spears without seasalt and again, this can change depending on the day and the current weather conditions.

Well I had a cucumber overload happening and those summer fruit flies were closing in on my fresh garden produce pile so I had to make something quick, simple and tasty. Knowing full well that the rest of the family wasn’t likely to help me finish off whatever creation I came up, I decided to go with my family recipe for Fresh Cucumber Salad modified slightly to possibly appeal to the rest of the crowd that sits around our dinner table.

You will find my recipe below. I don’t include onions, well because my kids don’t like onions. I don’t do the vinegary style either because they seem to turn their nose up on any salads with that kind of flavor. And I drain and salt the cucumbers in hopes that they won’t cause my life partner too many gastric repercussions.  Isn’t it funny how eating naturally can be so complicated!

Was it a hit?! It was gone. No one wowed over it or said can you make that again, BUT, it was gone which usually if it sucks, there are lots of leftovers to prove it. So share your thoughts. Tell me what I can do to make it better or what not to do next time, but I think I am on my way to having a future family favorite on the table each cucumber season.

Fresh Cucumber Salad on a Hot Day
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Just a great kid friendly way to use up those garden cucumbers in a perfect salad for a hot day!
Ingredients
  • ½ cup Plain Yogurt or Sour Cream
  • 2 Tbsp Nayonaise or Mayonaise
  • 2 Large Cucumbers-Peeled and sliced thin
  • 1½ tsp Lemon Juice
  • 1 tbspn Sugar or Honey/Agave flavor equivalent
  • Sea Salt
  • Dill
  • Celery Salt
  • Onion Powder
Instructions
  1. First peel your cucumbers and slice them very thin. Place in a layers in a bowl; sprinkling each layer with sea salt. Let the cucumbers sit for at least one hour in the salt. Then pour cucumbers into colander draining off excess liquids. Mix yogurt, mayonaise, sugar and lemon juice. Add sea salt, dill, celery salt and onion powder to taste. Once blended remove cucumbers from colander by the handfull and squeeze out excess liquids into sink before adding to yogurt mixture. Continue to press and add cucumbers until all have been added. Fold gently into yogurt mixture. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving!