Aaron's been gone all week which leaves me in charge of feeding these four kids that expect meals 3x a day!!!  One of the millions of things I love about Aaron is that he loves to cook and not only does he love it, but he is such a great cook that it's sometimes a better meal here than at any restaurant.  You think I'm kidding.  I would put his pizza up against Home Slice, House Pizza, East Side Pie, any pizza in town!  No lie.  He's that good!

Anyhow … he's been gone which has put me in charge of meals.  For him, he can just shop and stand in front of the fridge and come up with a fabulous meal, but for me I need a plan.  I need recipes and if it's a casserole or crock pot meal even better!

This week I made mac n' cheese, Sweet Potato Chili, Zero-Points Value veggie soup from WW, & Kale soup.  The mac was good.  It's not your normal mac, but we all gobbled it up like crazy.  The sweet potato chili (made in crock pot and have made before) was okay and I may not make it again.  The kids ate it (except Deacon who doesn't like sweet potatos), but it wasn't my favorite.  The Weight Watchers soup was also just okay.  I added pasta to it and didn't have half of the veggies, so it went from 0 points to who knows how many.  🙂  Now the Kale soup was so so so so yummy!  Can you tell I like making soup?  🙂  It's easy for me and usually always turns out tasty.  This soup was fabulous and my kids (especially Story) loved it and ate a whole bowl each.

Here are the recipes that aren't already found here on my blog:

Homemade Mac and cheese (I'm sorry I don't remember where I found this recipe)

8 oz macaroni noodles

2 T butter, melted

1 small onion, minced

1 T flour

salt & pepper, to taste

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1 1/2 c milk

2 c shredded sharp cheddar

1 c shredded colby jack

Directions:

Cook macaroni according to package; drain.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and cook about 5 minutes, until the onion softens and turns translucent.

Sprinkle the flour, salt, pepper and dry mustard into the onion/butter mixture.  Slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.  Simmer, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes until the mixture thickens.  Remove from heat and stir in cheeses, a cup at a time, until the cheese has melted.

Mix macaroni and cheese sauce and bake at 350 in a greased 13×9 pan until bubbly, about 20 minutes.

Yeah I did WW earlier this Spring for about 10 days.  I lost about 7 pounds.  Then quit and gained it back.  Lovely.

Zero points Value VEGETABLE SOUP from the Weight Watchers website

2 medium garlic clove(s) minced

1 med onion, diced

2 med carrots, diced

1 med sweet red pepper, diced

1 med stalk of celery, diced

2 small zucchini, diced

2 cups green cabbage, shredded

2 cups swiss chard, chopped

2 cups cauliflower, small florets

2 cups broccoli, small florets

2 tsp thyme, fresh, chopped

6 cups veggie broth

2 tbsp parsley or chives, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, optional

Directions:

Put garlic, vegetables, thyme and broth into a large soup pot.  Cover and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to low and simmer, partly covered about 10 minutes.

Stir in parsley or chives; season to taste w/ salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Now for the Kale Soup which I got off of my E-mealz subscription that I have.  Honestly when Aaron's home the Emealz subscription isn't the best thing for our family because Aaron loves to cook his own creations, but for someone like me who needs a recipe and a plan in front of me this subscription is awesome!  This Kale Soup recipe came from the “any-store vegetarian meal plan” week April 5-11.

Kale Soup

1 cup chopped onions and peppers (I just chopped up a whole onion and pepper)

2 bay leaves

1/2 c olive oil

8 c water (i used 2 veggie broth and 6 water)

2 heaping T vegetable bullion paste

15 oz can diced tomatoes

15 oz can kidney beans

1 bunch chopped kale, remove stalk from center of leaf

3 medium red potatoes, chopped in 1/2″ pieces

2 t paprika

dash of cayenne pepper – I left out b/c of the kids

1 t salt & 1/2 t pepper

Directions:

In a large stockpot, saute onions & peppers and bay leaf in oil until soft.  Add water, vegetable bullion paste, tomatoes, kidney beans, kale, potatoes, paprika, cayenne, salt & pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer approx 30 min.  Discard bay leaf.  Take 2-3 c of soup and place in a blender.  Puree until smooth.  Add back to soup.