Macaroni and Tomatoes

Each family has their own comfort food. This is definately mine. As a kid, when mom was out for the evening and dad was cooking, this was a staple in the Dunnagan household. It’s super simple, super cheap, and super good. Toss a bag of macaroni in the pot. After draining and rinsing the mac add 1-2 cans of diced tomatoes. Done.

As I have gotten older and developed a taste for spicy things I've added 2 cans of rotel instead of tomatoes. I also add some cracked pepper and top it off with some shredded cheese. If you are a milk drinker like dad and myself, pour yourself a tall glass of goodness and take a seat.

1 bag of mac- $1.15ish
2 cans of tomatoes- $2.50ish.
Who can beat a meal to feed 2-4 under 4 dollars?

Apple Muffins and Surprises

Later today we (myself included) can read a guest post by my baby brother (he's 26, married and has a kid of his own, so I guess I can't really call him a baby) Zach.



I have no idea what he is posting about. All I know is that he made something, took pictures and asked if he could post on my blog. So I'll be as surprised as you are!

But before we do I wanted to share these apple muffins I made last week. I don't have a picture. I made them late one night so my son could take them to school for snack the next day and then the ones left were eaten in about 2 minutes. They were good! I'm always looking for muffin recipes since that is what I signed up to bring for school snacks for my boy. So about once a month I take them. I don't want to do the same things each time and I'd rather make them from scratch so that I know what goes into them and we can avoid any potential allergens. The recipe I finally settled on was from Taste of Home December/January 1995, p. 54. I've adapted the recipe because I didn't have everything it called for, and we were very happy with the results. Plus I got rave reviews from D's pre-K class!

Apple Muffins

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup applesauce
1 large apple, diced
1/8 cup canola oil
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Stir in applesauce and oil. Combine dry ingredients and stir into creamed mixture. Fold in apples.

Fill muffin paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Makes about 2 dozen muffins.

*You can also make this into bread. Fill bread pans 3/4 full and bake at 350 for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. (I did make a couple of small bread loaves with this. It took about 35-40 minutes to bake for the small loaves.)

Chicken and Dumplings

Actually around here we call it "Chicken and Ducklings." The first time I made these the boys had asked what I was making and I told them "Chicken and Dumplings" but they heard "ducklings." So that is what they call them.

It's cold here. Really cold. We had a blizzard and about 11 inches of snow so we've been inside and I've been making all sorts of warm, comfort foods and drinking hot chocolate. I thought last night would be a good night for Chicken and Dumplings.

Chicken and Dumplings are a pretty controversial meal. (Well, actually just the dumplings). Flat, noodle- dumplings or large biscuit-like dumplings. I'm not sure which is the best (I've only had the flat ones). In fact, I had never had them until I met my man. His great grandmother made them. I had only been to her house a couple of times before she passed away and both times she had chicken and dumplings on the stove. If she knew someone was coming then she had it cooking. She passed away last year and the family handed out the recipe at her funeral. So it has become a winter staple in our house. The boys actually eat it and my man loves it, so this is a good thing!



Here is the recipe, adapted from my man's great grandmother.

Chicken and Dumplings

Whole Chicken (about 3 lbs)
1 large egg
1/8 cup water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk

Boil the chicken in a large pot for one hour. Take the chicken out and keep the broth simmering on the stove. Pick the chicken from the bone.
Beat egg, water and salt. Mix in 1 cup of flour. Knead dough and roll out on flour covered board until thin. Cut into strips, tear apart and put in broth. Add butter, evaporated milk, chicken and salt and pepper. Let simmer until dumplings are cooked through (they should float to the top of the broth once they are cooked). Enjoy!