Penne with Gruyere and Bacon

We are moving in two weeks and I am trying to use up the food we have on hand so we have less to take with us. I came up with this meal to use up what I had in the fridge and pantry. The best part is that it was DELICIOUS! You can think of it as grown up mac & cheese if you want but the kids will gobble it up, too!

Enjoy!!!

Penne with Gruyere and Bacon

1 (16 oz) box penne
1 lb bacon
2 TBSP bacon grease
2 TBSP flour
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups Gruyere, shredded
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 TBSP butter, melted

Cook penne according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Cook bacon until crisp; crumble and set aside. Drain all but 2 TBSP of grease.

Add flour to grease and whisk to combine. Add salt, pepper, and milk. Bring to a boil and stir until thickened. Stir in cheese and mix until melted. Pour cheese mixture over penne and mix well.

Pour noodles into greased 9x13 dish. Mix panko and butter; sprinkle over noodles.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I love making my own take-out. It is so easy and so delicious! This meal was no different. My family gobbled it up pretty quickly. YUM!

Sweet and Sour Chicken
Recipe from Live Love Pasta

Chicken
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Sauce
1 ½ cup sugar
8 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup cider vinegar
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
2 Tablespoons garlic powder

Vegetables
broccoli
carrots
pea-pods
water chestnuts
baby corn
canola oil

Note:
You can use any combination of vegetables you would like. You will want about 6 cups of vegetables.

Directions
Cut boneless chicken breasts into bite sized pieces; season with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in egg and then in cornstarch. Fry in a little oil until brown. The chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Mix sauce ingredients together and pour ½ over chicken. Bake for about 45 minutes at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes so it is evenly coated with the sauce. While the chicken is cooking begin sautéing the vegetables with a little oil. Depending on what kind of vegetables you use it will take about 10 minutes. Bring the remaining sauce to a simmer in a small pot and let thicken about 8 minutes. Pour the sauce over the vegetables. You can then mix the vegetables with the chicken or serve them separately.

Caramel Apple Cider Cookies

I originally saw this recipe on Pinterest (which I am addicted to, BTW! hahaha). The orignal recipe calls for the cookie dough to be wrapped around a caramel. Now, don't get me wrong, that sounds FABULOUS. But that requires chilling time and a lot of prep to get the cookies ready for the oven. If I had planned ahead, that would've been doable. But I didn't start these cookies until about a half hour before dinner and needed to get them done quickly. What is a girl to do? Well, I got creative. Instead of the caramel cubes I used two bags of Kraft caramel bits and mixed them straight into the dough like you would chocolate chips.

It produced a delicious, caramely cookie that I would definitely make again! Below is the recipe as I made it. You can find the original recipe here.

Caramel Apple Cider Cookies

1 cup softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix -not sugar free- all 10 packets

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups all purpose flour
2 bags Kraft Caramel Bits  (11 oz each)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment.

In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.

Cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well.

Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined. Fold in caramel bits.

Scoop cookie dough onto prepared sheet and bake 12 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. Remove from oven and let sit on cookie sheet until set. Move to cooling rack and cool completely.

Pumpkin Baked With Apples & Cranberries

This was such a quick dessert to throw together. You just cut up the apples, mix with fresh cranberries, brown sugar, and cinnamon, throw it all in a pumpkin and bake. It doesn't get much easier than that! I love fresh baked pumpkin and the addition of sweet brown sugar and tart cranberries was amazing! I served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it was delicious! It doesn't get much more Fall than this!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Baked with Apples & Cranberries
Recipe from Eat at Home

1 pie pumpkin

2 small apples, peeled and diced

1/4 cup dried cranberries or 1 cup whole, fresh cranberries

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbs. butter

Cut the top off the pumpkin. Once the top is off, scrape out the seeds and stringy stuff.

Stir the apples, cranberries, brown sugar and cinnamon together. Fill the pumpkin with this delicious-smelling mixture. Dot with butter.

Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for an hour to 1 1/2 hours, until the pumpkin inside is tender when you poke it with a fork.

Pumpkin Spice Kiss Cookies

When I made the Pumpkin Kiss Blossoms a week or so ago I had a friend ask me if I thought they would ship well to Afghanistan (where her husband is currently deployed). They are such a soft cookie that I knew they wouldn't hold up well. She thought her husband would really enjoy them so I told her that I would create a cookie recipe that used the pumpkin kisses that she could ship. This is what I came up with and we love them! I hope they find their way to Afghanistan! :)

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Kiss Cookies

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup pumpkin spice kisses

Preheat oven to 325. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice; set aside. Cream butter and sugars; beat in vanilla and eggs. Mix in dry ingredients. Stir in pumpkin kisses. Drop by 1/4 cups on parchment lined cookie sheet at least 3" apart. Bake 15-17 minutes or until edges are lightly toasted.