Mom's Love Macaroni

4 c macaroni, cooked according to package directions
1/2 c butter
1/2 c flour
salt and pepper to taste
5 c milk
4 c shredded cheddar cheese or baby swiss cheese or mixture of other cheese.

Heat oven to 350. Melt butter in large saucepan. Blend in flour, season with salt and pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until sauce thickens and mixture begins to boil. Add cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. In 3 qt casserole, stir together pasta and cheese sauce. Bake 30 min or until bubbly. Sprinkle with bread crumbs during last 5 minutes, optional.

Publix Tilapia with Lemon Butter Sauce

4 tsp flour, divided
1 tsp seasoned salt
large ziploc bag
2 T parsley
juice of one lemon, about 3-4 T
1.5 lbs tilapia
3 T butter
1/4 c white wine

1. Mix 3 T flour, seasoned salt in zip bag. Shake to mix. Place rinsed fish in bag and shake to coat.
2. Place 1 T butter in preheated saute pan over medium high heat. Swirl around. Add fish and cook for 3 minutes. Add 1 T butter to center of pan. Flip fish over, distributing butter underneath fish. Cook 3 more minutes. Place fish on serving plates.
3. Place 1 T butter, 1 tsp flour, wine, and lemon juice in saute pan. Heat 1-2 minutes until thickened. Stir in parsley and spoon over fish to serve.
4. May be served with angel hair pasta tossed with olive oil, broccoli, and sun dried tomato pesto.

Apple Onion Soup with Cheddar Bacon

2 T butter
3 med. onions, thinly sliced
3 med. granny smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4 inch slices
Kosher salt
6 c chicken broth
1 3/4 cups beef broth
1/4 c dry red wine
1 bay leaf
pepper
6 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 lb cooked bacon, crumbled
1 T finely chopped sage
1 french baguette, cut into slices.

1. Heat butter in large stockpot over medium heat
2. Add onion, apples, and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook, stir, scraping until deeply carmelized and bottom of pan has crust on it. (about 30 minutes)
3. Stir in chicken broth, beef broth, and wine, and bay leaf. Bring to boil and scrape bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen crust. Simmer 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Stir in chopped sage.
4. Combine bacon and cheddar in another bowl.
5. Put soup into individual crocks/bowls, top with baguette slice and cheddar-bacon. Broil in oven until cheese is melted and bread is toasty. Watch very carefully so cheese doesn't burn.

One Pot Lemon Chicken Artichoke Stew

*Note* Have all ingredients ready before starting to cook, as it goes fast once started. We have set off the smoke alarm numerous times while cooking the chicken because we didn't have everything ready!

1.5 lbs chicken, cut into 1 inch cubes
4.5 T flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper.
Toss flour, salt, pepper. Coat chicken with mixture.

4 T lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
3/4 c chicken broth
Heat 2 T oil over med high heat in big pot. Add chicken, cook until brown on all sides (about 6 min.) Reduce heat to medium, add 4 T lemon juice and 1 tsp lemon zest, and 3/4 c chicken broth. Cook, stirring and scraping until liquid thickens, 1-2 minutes.

3 c chicken broth
2 small potatoes, diced.
3 T capers
Add these ingredients and simmer about 10 minutes.

Add one can of separated artichoke hearts, cook 5 more minutes or until potatoes are soft.

Harpold's Pumpkin Lasagna

1 large can pumpkin
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2-4 c assorted mushrooms
2 T butter
2 T sage, freshly chopped or 2 tsp dry
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 package lasagna noodles cooked (or no-boil kind, uncooked)
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
3 C grated mozzarella
1 c sour cream
2 T chives, freshly chopped
Toasted pine nuts

1. Saute onion, mushroom, garlic in butter until golden brown. Stir in sage.
2. Spread a thin shmear of pumpkin on bottom of greased lasagna pan. Stir in salt and pepper.
3. Layer lasagna noodles, pumpkin, mozzarella, and mushroom mixture, reserving about 1/2 c mozzarella for top layer.
4. Spread top layer of mozzarella with sour cream and sprinkle with parmesan and chives.
5. Bake in preheated 350 oven for 35-40 minutes. Garnish with pine nuts before serving.

Sweet Potato, Barley, and Vegetable Soup

1 c medium barley
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp fennel seed
9 oz package baby carrots
1 chopped onion
2 celery stalks chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 sweet potatos, peeled and chopped
2 c frozen corn
2 c frozen green beans
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
42oz vegetable broth
4 c water
14 oz can diced tomatoes with herbs, undrained

Place all ingredients except tomatoes in 5-6 quart crockpot in order given. Do not stir. Cover crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir soup, add tomatoes. Cover crockpot and cook for 15 minutes longer. Remove bay leaf, serve.

Baked Chicken with Peaches

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 c + 2 T brown sugar
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 1/4 tsp lemon juice
2 fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced thin.

Preheat oven to 350. Place chicken in greased pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 the brown sugar. Place peaches on top of brown sugar, then sprinkle with remaining brown sugar, ginger, cloves, and lemon juice. Bake for 30-60 minutes, basting often with juices.

You can also make this as a barbeque/shredded chicken dish in the crock pot. Just combine everything in crock pot and as chicken begins to cook, pull chicken apart with 2 forks. This is good served on buns with bacon.