#9 Turkey Noodle Casserole

My daughter is into contracts lately, she made me sign on today. It read, "For every minute I am late (to theater) I will be paid $1. Time arrived______ Money earned______
I got her there on time. The theater has a saying, "If you are early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. And if you're late, you're in trouble." No trouble for me or my pocketbook. For the record, she has never been late but she was concerned today as I had three errands to run on the way and she was certain she was going to be late. She is very conscientious of these things.

The boy proved himself useful today as he made a repair to the toilet. Handy one that 13 year old.

Turkey Noodle Casserole, at first glance made me think of Tuna Noodle Casserole which I despised as a kid because of the peas. So I was a bit leery to dive in. I should not have feared. Not pictured is the cheese, gruyere. I am going to be a cheese aficionado by the end of the year. As we are nine recipes in and we have already used six difference cheeses if memory serves me correctly.  

 The new skill for today, for both of us, was making bread crumbs. We were standing in the GF aisle at the store and we were debating about the bread crumbs, make our own out of the extra baguette in the freezer or buy some there at the store. DD says, "Let's make our own and save money." I love that girl! I had never done it before but I think I have watched it on a cooking show at some time in my life. We placed the baguette in the oven and crisped it up, then threw it into the food processor. Easy!

 The melted cheese and the crispy bread crumbs gave this dish a nice golden look.

It was FANTASTIC! My favorite dish thus far. Seriously, so good.

And as always we had leftovers. These ones went to our Americorp member helping at the garden. He is a college student and also gluten free, so I thought he might like it! He loved it. In his words, "A total winner." "Heavenly!" "THANK YOU!!!"
He may just get other leftovers as he was so appreciative.
-Mom

It was NOT a winner in my book. It had mushrooms and I despise them as well. When I was first cutting the cheese it reminded me of my grandma's dog but the cheese was actually good. -DD

#8 Mega Meatball Pizza and Zippy Italian Popcorn

It is 11pm and I may be crazy but we went for a twofer. You know DD was looking forward to pizza. Well, I guess I was too because when she got home from drama tonight we decided to make #8 the Mega Meatball Pizza. I put a call out on facebook for some rosemary and within seconds my sister offered up some from her garden. With parsley from my mom's garden and the rosemary from my sister's we had everything we needed.

 To make it gluten free we made this pizza crust from Better Batter. Added the olive oil and rosemary and put it in the oven to bake. Meanwhile, we made the meaty sauce.

 Have you ever tried to grate mozzarella? It is rather difficult so we went with half grated, half sliced.
PIZZA!! A rather deep dish pizza.

 Pizza!

 The cookbook said it was a TV dinner and who are we to argue? We rented the movie Free Birds.

 Made the flavored popcorn and as I type we are watching the movie and snacking on the popcorn.

Hey, it's summer! I'm lovin' it!
-Mom

I'm watching the movie. -DD

#6 Tex-Mex Mac-n-Cheddar

We did it! We survived. Four mac-n-cheeses are complete.

For this one we browned some beef with yellow pepper and switched up the noodles to spiral JUST FOR A CHANGE. I will say that Tinkyada Pasta has not disappointed. They are made in a strictly gluten free facility making them an excellent choice for those adhering to a gluten free diet, which I am. Some GF pastas turn to mush before they actually cook but Tinkyada can fool even the most critical skeptic into believing they are traditional wheat noodles. A win for the gluten free community!

 We are becoming pros at cheese sauces. I will forever and always be able to make a cheese sauce from this day forward.

 This was the BEST of the mac and cheese combos we made this week. It tastes just like cheeseburgers. Yum Yum and Yum! This one WILL be added to the yes for the future list.

I polled the kids and the results are in:
In fourth place with 3 points is Mac-n-Cheddar with Broccoli
In third place with 7 points is Mac-n-Smoked Gouda with cauliflower
In second place with 9 points is Chipolte Mac-n-Cheddar with Tomato and Chorizo
and in first place with a total of 11 points, the winner is Tex-Mex Mac-n-Cheddar!

I don't even mind that there are leftovers, it is that good I will eat it for lunch tomorrow making it the sixth mac meal for me in less than a week. ;)
-Mom

I am SO sick and tired of having mac-n-cheese 4 recipes in a row, you know, let's say one of your favorite foods is macaroni and you have it 4 recipes in a row, just slight variations and you feel like you mastered how to cut cheese small enough to get it to a melting point. You get so sick of it you feel like you don't want to have it ever again! This is how I feel (by the way I have mastered how to cut cheese to get it small enough for it to melt. And well I may have mac-n cheese another time just definitely not this week) that being said, I did like this one. It was my favorite mac-and cheese. -DD

P.S. The zucchini bread from earlier was de-lish!