eat! craft! live!

coconut cream pie "laraballs"

Back when I was doing my Whole 30, I stumbled into a delicious "dessert" - whole dates with unsweetened coconut. I'd just put a bit of coconut in a bowl, add some dates and...that's it! It was simple, delicious, and while not exactly healthy, it wasn't that bad for you. (That's still a lot of sugar, yo, and the powers-that-be would probably frown on me having any sort of "dessert" at all. But anyway...)

A few days after that, I discovered Larabars. I know, where have I been? Well, to be quite truthful, Larabars are a little out of my normal price range. But, I had a coupon and they are almost all made with Whole 30 compliant ingredients, so I bought a few to take with us on a road trip to Connecticut in case we needed a quick snack in the car. One of the flavors I grabbed was the coconut cream pie flavor and oh my heavens, it was delicious. Very reminiscent of my dates-with-coconut dessert and I knew I needed to figure out how to make it.

Turns out if you Google "homemade larabars" there are a LOT of options out there... Mine isn't groundbreaking in any way, I'm just sharing because I can! The ingredients are simple - dates, unsweetened coconut, almonds, cashews and coconut oil. I formed mine into balls, just because that seemed the easiest. This recipe consistently makes 17 slightly-bigger-than-a-tablespoon balls for me.

coconut cream pie laraballs

• 1/2 c. raw almonds
• 1/2 c. raw cashews
• 1 c. pitted dates (I used 11-12)
• 1 c. unsweetened coconut flakes
• about 2 teaspoons extra virgin coconut oil, slightly melted (Normally I used refined coconut oil for cooking but in this case you do actually want the extra coconut flavor.)

Grind up the almonds and cashews in a food processor until they are crumbly, but not super fine. Set aside in a small bowl. Pulse the dates a few times, then add the coconut and nuts and pulse to combine. Drizzle in the coconut oil and combine. (Feel free to add more coconut oil, if desired.) The mixture will be crumbly but should stick together when formed into balls. I use my tablespoon measure to scoop out lumps of the mixture and form it into a ball. I keep them stored in a glass container with a lid, in the fridge. They will firm up upon cooling.

mom's spinach lasagna

Oh, this lasagna.

This lasagna is easy, tasty, inexpensive. It is easily doubled and I often make two at once - one to eat immediately and one to stash in the freezer for some future lazy day. It's my go-to dish to bring to cold-weather potlucks, new parents, anyone who needs a little food-pick-me-up. It freezes well and reheats beautifully. I've been meaning to blog this recipe for ages but somehow hadn't gotten around to it...I was reminded to when I made it for a friend (and also our freezer) and also gave the recipe to another friend to make ahead for her freezer to prep for a new baby. I got the recipe from my mother, which is why I consider it my mother's spinach lasagna. But, she got from someone else, who likely clipped it from a magazine some 20-odd years ago or more. (Basically, I have no idea where this recipe originated.) And...apologies, but I have no photo of the finished product. Use your imagination, it looks much like any other lasagna.

mom's spinach lasagna

• 1 15 oz. container of ricotta
• 8 oz. shredded mozzarella
• 1 egg
• 1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 32 oz. pasta sauce
• 9 lasagna noodles
• just under 1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta, egg, spinach, salt, oregano, and half the mozzarella.

In a 13x9 baking dish, layer 1/4 of the sauce, followed by 3 lasagna noodles and half of the ricotta mixture. Repeat. Top with 1/4 of the sauce, 3 more lasagna noodles, the remaining sauce and finally the remaining shredded mozzarella. (Got that? From the bottom - sauce, noodles, ricotta, sauce, noodles, ricotta, sauce, noodles, sauce, mozzarella.)

Finally, pour the water carefully around the edge of the pan. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 1/4 hours or until bubbly.

Mixing the ricotta mixture.

I used cheap sauce. Feel free to get fancy!

Sauce, with noodles on top.

Now with ricotta!

The final layer of mozzarella.

Now pour water around the edges...

...and you end up with weird, watery tomato-ness at the edges. It's OK. It'll all soak in and be delicious. I promise.

healthy morning muffins

In stark contrast to the last muffin recipe I posted, these muffins are actually packed with healthy stuff, along with being plain ol' delicious. This is another of my favorite recipes to have on hand in the freezer. I find that if I bake a batch of muffins, eat one, then put the rest in the freezer for a later date, there's a lot less of a chance that I'll impulse-snack them all into my belly before the day is over...

Packed with carrot-y goodness, these muffins look a bit sketchy when being mixed up. I'm just warning you...it looks a little like a carrot salad. But! I promise they'll bake up into delicious, moist muffins that have more than just carrot going on.

healthy morning muffins
adapted from this Martha Stewart recipe

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 4 medium carrots, grated
• 2/3 cup applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400°. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or use liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt until there are no lumps. Stir in oats and raisins. Add oil, egg, milk, carrots, applesauce and vanilla and stir until blended.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

banana chocolate chip muffins

These muffins are perfect - soft and fluffy and full of chocolate chips. They are really more like little cakes than muffins, but there's fruit in there (bananas!) so they've got to be healthy, right?

Right?

Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but these aren't exactly the healthiest of muffins. Which means that they taste amazing. I wouldn't eat a bunch every day, but they are a delicious treat to have around. I keep mine in the freezer, which keeps the impulse snacking to a minimum.

I always thought I didn't like the classic banana-chocolate combo, but I think it's because I'd always had banana bread with lots of spices and chocolate chips, all crammed in together. Then one day someone made me a mini loaf of banana bread that had chocolate chips but no spices. It was heavenly.

Now I know that what I really don't like is the combination of bananas, chocolate chips, and stuff like cinnamon. (Don't get me wrong - I love cinnamon! Just not here...)

So I took this recipe from the King Arthur cookbook, tweaked it to my liking, and voila! A simple, delicious banana chocolate chip muffin. So go ahead and gather up those black bananas just waiting to be used...

banana chocolate chip muffins
adapted from the King Arther Baker's Companion

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 medium sized ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Scrape down and add egg, banana and milk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine dry ingredients with wet, being careful not to overmix. Add chocolate chips and stir to combine. (I add the chocolate chips before the dry ingredients are fully incorporated to make sure I don't overmix the batter.)

Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or use paper liners. Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin cups - the batter is fairly stiff.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven, let cool for 10 minutes and take them out of the pan to finish cooling.

These are delicious fresh, straight from the oven, but they also keep quite well! My frozen ones last a good while and still taste as delicious as the moment they went in. Enjoy!

cashew tamari dressing

Just over two months ago, I hinted that I'd be blogging this recipe for my favorite salad dressing. (I was pretty obvious.) Favorite salad dressing, you say? Salad dressings aren't usually the kind of thing people tend to talk about with the same reverence as, say, a good brownie recipe or anything involving cheese. (Or is that just my group of friends?)

Until they've tasted this dressing.

It's that good.

I seriously love this stuff. I went on and on about it in my previous post, but I'll just reiterate here how amazingly delicious this stuff is. You know how when you bake a cake or cookies or brownies you maybe lick all the batter or dough off the spoons and bowls even though you know you shouldn't because of the raw eggs and stuff? I do the same with this dressing. I'm not even kidding.

(As a side note, when I was a little kid I always thought you weren't supposed to eat the raw batter because of the baking soda. I thought it was something like how your stomach is acidic, so don't eat raw baking soda...like how vinegar and baking soda react? I thought you'd have a volcano in your tummy. Yeah. Kid logic!)

Anyway...dressing! I was first introduced to a version of this dressing at Mother's in Austin. I tried the house dressing on a whim, I hadn't actually heard anything about it, and it was delicious! It may have been the first restaurant salad I had ever completely devoured. This is the only salad dressing I have ever craved. I tried to find a way to buy it when I moved away, but alas, none was found. I googled and googled but had trouble finding anything I could definitively identify as that dressing. So I gave up on it for a while. Another google search after many months finally resulted in finding that there are actually a few different semi-well-known "cashew tamari" dressings. But oh how different they were! I found a few recipes that sounded like what I wanted and ended up with this one.

Give it a try. You won't regret it!

Our humble ingredients...

cashew tamari dressing
adapted from somewhere though I can't at this point remember where

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup unsalted cashews
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons tamari

Combine all ingredients in a blender or in a cup for an immersion blender. Blend until emulsified but don't make cashew butter out of it! It will only take a few seconds. There should still be bits of cashew visible. Drizzle over salad. Enjoy.

You can adjust the amount of tamari to change the level of saltiness. I like things pretty salty. You may need less! Another note on salt - do not use salted cashews. Not unless you REALLY LIKE SALT.

Mmm...tamari...

Note: I have an immersion blender that came with a cup that has measurements on it - makes measuring out the oil and cashews super easy! Just add the 1/4 cup oil first, then dump cashews in until the liquid rises to 1/2 cup.

Our humble ingredients...combined but not blended...

See the bits? You may like your bits larger! I wouldn't go any smaller or you'll have cashew butter. Though if that's how you like it...

Yum.

chicken & rice enchilada casserole

This casserole is seriously the least photogenic thing ever...

But it is so good! I promise.

Living in Texas for ten years, I really had a serious love affair with Tex-Mex. We made it at home, ate it at gatherings, went out for it not infrequently. One of the great things about it is that it's cheap, so going out for dinner was never a spendy affair. Which also means it's cheap to make at home! Beans, rice, tortillas...the most expensive part of your meal will be (optional) meat and possibly salsa or another type of sauce. Oh, and cheese. But really, you can't do without cheese...

My favorite thing to get at restaurants was always enchiladas. Hot and steamy, dripping in cheese and smothered in various sauces and filled with a wide variety of tasty treats - beef, chicken, cheese, corn, roasted veggies, fish - you name it! But enchiladas made at home were never quite...the same. Largely because it's a giant pain in the ass to roll all those little, prone-to-breaking corn tortillas around impossibly small piles of filling and squash them all into a pan for baking without letting them fall apart or lose their fillings.

*sigh*

So after making a batch or two of "regular" rolled enchiladas and deeming them too much hassle, we developed this enchilada casserole! Basically you take the tortillas, sauce, cheese and "fillings" and layer them, then bake until melty and gooey and delicious. This most recent time, M made it and he put down a layer of slightly seasoned rice on the bottom of the pan before layering everything else over it - I was wary at first, but it turned out really wonderful so I'm including the rice option here. (Typically, the rice would be on the side...)

Additionally, this casserole is infinitely adjustable. Don't eat meat? Skip the chicken. We frequently do, since meat is expensive. (Leftover chicken is perfect.) Add corn or other veggies. Make your own corn tortillas! (We actually usually do this - corn tortillas are really super easy to make. This time, we just didn't have time, hence the prepackaged Chi-Chi's.) Use canned beans for convenience or cook your own dried beans. Add more or less cheese as it pleases you. The only thing I recommend you do not skimp on is the enchilada sauce - a dry enchilada, or in this case casserole, is a sad, sad thing indeed. Also, get an enchilada sauce you really like, since the flavor of the casserole really rests on it. (We have limited options here in Portland, Maine...Old El Paso it is.)

chicken & rice enchilada casserole
an eat! craft! live! original

• 1 recipe slightly spiced rice (see below - optional)
• 1 package corn tortillas (ours had 10)
• 1 28 oz. can enchilada sauce (we prefer green, but you can use your favorite!)
• 12 oz. grated colby jack cheese
• 1 15 oz. can black beans (or use dried and cooked beans)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 chicken breast, fully cooked and shredded (optional)

If you are using rice, spread the rice in the bottom of a 9x13 inch casserole (or similarly sized) dish, then top with a small amount of enchilada sauce. If not using rice, put a thin layer of enchilada sauce down anyway. Follow with half the beans, onion and chicken, if using. Cover with 1/3 of the cheese, some enchilada sauce and half the tortillas. Repeat with the remaining beans, onion and chicken. Cover with another 1/3 of the cheese and more enchilada sauce. Layer remaining tortillas on top, cover with the rest of the enchilada sauce and the remaining cheese. Bake in a 350° oven for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly. It's not pretty but it sure does taste good!

slightly spiced rice

• 1 cup white rice
• 2 cups chicken broth (or veggie, or water and bouillon)
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon butter or oil
• optional seasonings: dried cilantro, parsley, cumin, chili powder...the possiblities are endless!

In medium saucepan, melt butter or heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and saute for a few minutes until onion starts to soften. Add rice and saute briefly, until rice is coated in butter or oil. Add broth or water and bouillon and whichever seasonings you desire. Bring to a boil, give it a good stir, then cover and simmer on low, undisturbed, for 15 minutes.

A side note - M wanted me to note his "pro tip" for getting the tortillas to fit pretty much perfectly: put down four, as shown, then cut the 5th one in half and cover the expose corners. You're welcome.

roasted beet risotto

With fall, comes root vegetables. Yes, folks, it's that time of year again. The time of year when a trip to the local farmer's market results in heavy bags laden with sturdy produce and most leafy greens now come attached to a hardy taproot. It's the time of year when I always forget this fact, and think, "Yeah! I'll bring the baby to the market in the Ergo carrier and we'll have a great time!" Many pounds of produce later, my shoulders hurt and bags are cutting into my hands and I'm counting the steps back to the car where I can drop it all. (Except the baby. Never drop the baby.)

But oh, how I love those root veggies... Especially beets. Earthy and rich, sweet when roasted and the most gorgeous bright magenta - how can you go wrong? Well, according to M, it's just all wrong. He takes his own bowl of risotto before I add the beets. Sacrilege, I tell you... But I love this recipe, regardless. And even little, increasingly picky, E gobbles it up. Pink rice! Delicious.

Some notes! First, I used a "bunch" of beets. And yes, I realize that is not a very specific term and that your bunch may be much smaller or larger than my bunch. And yes, it's one of my pet peeves when people don't include more formal measurements in recipes. (A bunch! What's a bunch? Sheesh.) But in this recipe, it really doesn't matter. You can go with a very small bunch of beets, or pile them in. It's really a matter of personal preference. For reference, my "bunch" of beets, once roasted and diced, equaled somewhere around 2-3 cups. Second, I am a big believer in the "invisible cheese multiplier." You know what I mean. When you read a recipe that calls for cheese and then you add twice as much? Because, cheese. But here, I've already done that. Just FYI. You're welcome to add more but...dare I say that might be just a bit too much cheese?

roasted beet risotto
adapted from Gourmet, Nov. 2004

• 1 bunch beets, trimmed, leaving 1 inch of stems attached (see note above)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425°F. Tightly wrap beets in a double layer of foil and roast on a baking sheet until very tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Cool to warm in foil package, about 20 minutes. Beets can also be roasted ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until needed. (I roasted mine the previous day.) When beets are cool enough to handle, peel them, discarding stems and root ends, then cut into 1/2-inch cubes.

Warm broth and water to a bare simmer. Keep simmering lightly, covered.

Melt butter with oil in a wide, heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.

Stir in a ladle full of broth and simmer briskly, stirring constantly, until broth is absorbed. Continue simmering and adding broth, about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and letting each addition be absorbed before adding the next, until rice is tender and creamy-looking, about 20 minutes. (Reserve leftover broth.)

Stir in beets and watch your delicious risotto turn bright pink! Cook, stirring, until heated through. Thin, if necessary, with leftover broth, then stir in cheese and remove from heat. Add salt and pepper, as desired.

granola bars

Before E was born, while I was still hugely pregnant and nesting, nesting, nesting, I made a bunch of food to have on hand after she was born. I figured I wouldn't feel like cooking (I was right) and we can't afford to order out every meal. When I asked my mom if she would bring us some food after E was born, she balked and said, "But you're such a better cook than me!" So, thanks mom. But no thanks. (She did relent and bring us a lasagna. That lasted about a day and a half.)

One of the many things I stocked the freezer and pantry with was a giant batch of these granola bars. There's nothing like having a big pile of sweet, tasty, oaty bars that you can grab at a moment's notice. Especially when that moment may have been preceded by one involving baby poo or a long sleepless night. Now that E is older I have less need of stockpiling food, but these are still a great snack to have on hand. Particularly when someone *cough*M*cough* has a tremendous granola bar addiction. We don't usually buy them from the store because the whole box will be gone before I've even thought to open it.

Recently though, I had a Whole Foods coupon for some granola bars so two boxes made it into my cart and tagged along for the ride home. They even lasted longer than a day and a half! And I even got to eat a few! But as I was eating them, I realized that my own homemade granola bars are certainly no worse, and maybe even better than these fancy schmancy boxed bars. Not to mention cheaper. Much much cheaper!

I took a look in the cabinet and realized we had just about everything to whip up a nice batch of bars. It's pretty ordinary stuff that we usually have in the house anyway, so it's easy to make a batch. Of course, I consider shredded coconut pretty ordinary and I'm well aware that this isn't the case in lots of households. But it should be. *ahem*

I started off modifying this granola bar recipe and have adapted it to better suit my tastes. More coconut. Yum. My version is fairly sweet and honey-tasting and the coconut isn't subtle either, so take both of those things into consideration. I happen to use whatever dried fruit I have on hand, which this time was cranberries, but feel free to substitute whatever fruit pleases your palate! And yes. I am the crazy woman who individually wraps each bar in waxed paper, but you can probably get away with storing them in an air-tight container. We keep ours in the freezer, for added freshness, which has the added benefit of not being so obvious to my granola bar-loving husband and thus they last just a wee bit longer. (And I get to eat a few more, without resorting to stashing them away in secret locations.)

granola bars
adapted from Catherine Newman's recipe

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup rice krispies
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1/2 cup ground flax seeds
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups dried fruit - for this batch, I used 1 cup dried dates and 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a 9x13 baking dish and line with parchment. Set aside.

Mix together the oats, almonds and coconut on a large baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning. I err on the side of caution with this and go for the lesser amount of time because if there's the slightest hint of burnt, it sullies the whole batch for me. I'm picky, what can I say? You want the mixture a nice golden brown.

In a very large bowl, combine the oat mixture, rice krispies, wheat germ and flax. Reduce oven temperature to 300°.

In a small saucepan, combine butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat then cook, stirring, for a minute. Pour over the oat mixture and add dried fruit. Stir very well making sure everything is evenly coated. Pour into prepared pan and press into place. Press hard - you want them to stick together! I use the back of a spatula and it works beautifully. If you want/need to use your fingers, wet them first so they won't stick.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for at least two hours before cutting. Try to keep your husband or other creatures from cutting pieces off before then. (I failed.) Cut into bars and store airtight.

Granola bars in the freezer - like money in the bank!

chocolate zucchini bread

This bread. Oh! This bread! I've made this bread a thousand times. The page in my cookbook is slightly floured and smeared with chocolate and has many notes written in the margins. (This one. It's great.) I've made it to eat with ice cream. I've made it for work friends where it got divvied up on the break room table. I've made it for new-mama friends, where we ate it on the floor and tried to keep the wee babes from kicking it with their uncoordinated newborn feet. I've made it for family. I've made it just because.

The recipe is fantastic - it makes two loaves, so you can have one to devour right away and one to share with friends. (Or stash in the freezer for a later chocolate emergency.) I love recipes that make two loaves. It's no more effort but twice the reward! I've tweaked it a bit for my personal preferences and, as I am wont to do, to make it just a trifle healthier. Just a trifle. I've cut down on the oil and sugar and added just the teeniest bit of whole wheat flour. We use locally grown and milled whole wheat (yum!) that tends to be a bit on the coarse side, so you may be able to get away with adding a bit more if you use regular old store bought whole wheat. (As most do!)

It's a great way to use up any wayward zucchinis that have become a little long in the tooth. Or buy one especially for this recipe - you won't regret it!

chocolate zucchini bread
adapted from The Classic Zucchini Cookbook

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups grated zucchini (approximately 1 medium zucchini)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease, or spray with non-stick spray, two 5x9 inch loaf pans.

Combine sugar, eggs and oil in a large bowl or the bowl of a mixer. Beat until well blended, then stir in zucchini and vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini mixture and stir to combine.

Add chocolate chips and stir until relatively evenly distributed. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle of a loaf comes out clean.

Cool breads in their pans on wire racks for ten minutes, then turn out onto racks and cool completely.

macaroni & cheese...with broccoli!

Trying to get more veggies into your diet? Have a fussy toddler? Try this mac 'n' cheese! It's got all your basics - cheese, noodles, more cheese, broccoli, cheese...

I am a big fan of cheese. And, sometimes, so is my toddler. (Toddler! How crazy is that?) This is a great homemade macaroni and cheese recipe - it makes a whole bunch, so there can be leftovers for lunch the next day. The veggie portion is conveniently coated in cheese, which could make it more desirable to the little (and not-so-little) members of the household. (Cheese!) And despite the fact that there are a bunch of steps to making this, it never seems to take me much time, even with a toddler underfoot. (Toddler!) Plus, any of the various parts can be made ahead and then combined at the last minute, or the entire thing can be assembled and baked when needed! It's terribly versatile. You can also make it as decadently fattening (or not) as you like by using whole milk, skim milk and different types of cheese. Whole wheat pasta? Mix it up!

macaroni & cheese with broccoli
adapted from the Joy of Cooking

• 1 lb. broccoli, chopped (I use fresh because I like the texture better, but frozen would work fine as well)
• 2 cups elbow macaroni
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese (we like sharp)
• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese or neufchatel cheese, cut into cubes
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 medium onion, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9x13 inch casserole and set aside.

Steam broccoli as you wish - I have a steamer and I use that to steam the broccoli while everything else is cooking. Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain and set aside.

While those things are happening, or after, if you don't have enough pots and pans, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking, for a few minutes. Gradually whisk in the 3 cups of milk. Add onion and paprika and simmer gently for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and stir in half of the cheddar and all of the cream cheese. Stir until nice and smooth and creamy. (Yum!) Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the macaroni and broccoli. I like to slightly overcook my broccoli so that when we get to this stirring part, it will start to fall apart and distribute evenly throughout the macaroni. You may prefer to keep your broccoli chunks larger and/or firmer!

Pour half of the mixture into your baking dish and sprinkle with half of the remaining cheese. Pour in remaining macaroni mixture and top with the rest of the cheese. In a small pan, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Add breadcrumbs and stir until coated. Sprinkle over macaroni and bake for about 30 minutes or until breadcrumbs are lightly browned and mixture is bubbly!