I’m not ashamed to admit that I love regular old boxed mac and cheese. But, sometimes, I want something a little creamier. I was home alone, so I needed to make something for just me. I decided that mac and cheese was just the thing! This is so simple that I am not even going to write it up as a ‘recipe’ – just give you directions as I go.
3 simple ingredients: Pasta (any kind you want, I chose penne and cooked about 1/2 the box), milk (1/4 cup) and Velveeta cheese (about 6 oz).
I just boiled my pasta.
And cut the cheese into squares.
When the pasta was done, I drained it and returned it to the pot. I also reduced the heat to low. I added in the milk and cheese and stirred until all the cheese was melted.
Add salt and pepper, if you like. These measurements makes enough for 2 servings.
I’ve had pasta carbonara in restaurants many times, but had never tried my hand at making it until now. Since I was making it for one, I just tried to figure out the measurements – and I learned a few things in doing so.
Pasta Carbonara has very simple ingredients – pasta, egg, parmesan cheese and pancetta (or bacon – and that’s what I used, because that is all I had). I also added a little bit of salt (not much, as the bacon is salty) and pepper.
I started by chopping 2 pieces of thick cut bacon into small pieces.
Then fry the bacon in a pan.
First lesson learned: Don’t try to fry bacon, when you’re home alone with an adventurous puppy – I got my bacon a little more crisp than I intended to (and have no photographic evidence of frying it) – thanks to Ollie. This is Ollie (in lieu of a picture of the bacon frying).
After the bacon is done, remove it from the pan (keep the bacon grease!!). I quickly prepped the egg and cheese mixture at this point.
Second lesson learned: Despite the fact that I love parmesan cheese, don’t use as much as you think you want. I used a little under 2/3 cup of cheese – I think I needed probably about 1/2 of that to get a shinier, smoother sauce (and I could have added more parm when serving).
Third lesson learned: I think that this recipe might work better with freshly grated parmesan cheese. I only had the pre-grated (not powder, but pre-grated) kind.
When my pasta was done, I was sure to reserve a little bit of the water. Then I threw the pasta into the pan with the bacon grease and stirred through. I turned off the heat and added in the egg and parmesan mixture and continuously stirred it, to ensure that the egg didn’t scramble. I used a little of the pasta water to thin it out, as needed. Then I added the bacon back in, and mixed through.
I served the pasta with a little bit of fresh basil.
It was really good – however, I think that it will be even better – next time – when I give consideration to the lessons that I learned. The pasta carbonara that I’ve had, and loved, in the past was much smoother. I think that using less cheese would do the trick here.
Since this was so simple (and I plan to try it again to get it closer to what I’ve had before, I’m not going to write it up as a ‘recipe’, per se). I will try to do that when I’ve had a chance to come back to it! Hopefully, it will be during a time that I will be cooking for more than just me!
I made an apple and pumpkin spice strudel the other day and I had some apple mixture left over. So I decided to make some fried apple hand pies.
I started with some canned biscuits and the leftover apple mixture. I also used a little bit of oil to fry the pies.
I just rolled the biscuits out until they were large enough to put the mixture in and fold over. I did kind of an oval shape.
I then put a little bit of the apple mixture in the middle (don’t overfill it, or the edges won’t stay closed – I know this from experience – you can tell from the pictures). I, then, crimped the edges with a fork.
In a small amount of oil, I fried the pies in a skillet on the stove.
After letting the oil drain a little, I enjoyed my little (imperfect) hand pie!
One night last week, I found myself home alone – needing only to cook for one. Of course, for me, this means pasta 90% of the time. What can I say? I love pasta – so easy (and super easy to cook for 1)!
I had some salmon fillets in the freezer that I thought would work well (single serve and easy to cook in the oven). You could certainly use any salmon fillet – but, I used these by Gorton’s, since I had them on hand.
While the salmon was cooking in the oven, I was deciding what I would do with the pasta. I had some cherry tomatoes and spinach. And, lemon was an obvious addition, given that I was eating salmon.
I halved the tomatoes and chopped the spinach (I didn’t have baby spinach) and removed any stems.
Both were put in a hot skillet, with a little bit of avocado oil, salt and pepper. Once the spinach was wilted and the tomatoes were warmed through, I added the juice of 1/2 a lemon.
I dished up a serving of cooked spaghetti, added the cooked salmon and topped with the veggies.
A quick and easy (and delicious) meal for one!
Easy Salmon and Pasta for One
Cooked salmon fillet (use fillet of choice, I used a bake in the oven Gorton’s fillet)
Single serving of cooked spaghetti
Handful of fresh spinach, chopped
Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Avocado oil spray
Cook salmon, per package and set aside
Cook a single serving of pasta, set aside
Chop spinach and halve tomatoes
In hot skillet, with avocado oil, wilt spinach and warm tomatoes through
Add juice of 1/2 a lemon
Plate spaghetti, top with salmon filet and add the vegetables on top
During football season, I regularly find myself cooking for one, as everyone scatters into a million different directions. Today was no exception.
Luckily, yesterday, I cleaned out my freezer and found some still perfectly good salmon ‘burgers’ from Trader Joe’s. These things are delicious, easy to cook and individually wrapped so they last a while in the freezer. Then I just needed some veggies.
I decided to cook everything in a cast iron skillet (I do love using one pan / pot!) and I started with the vegetables (the salmon only takes a few minutes on each side, if you allow it to thaw prior to cooking). I sliced my red potatoes thin and trimmed my fresh green beans and cut to bit size. I added a little bit of avocado oil spray and a pat of butter in the pan and added garlic, potatoes and green beans. I cooked until they had nice color and were almost done – then added 1 tsp of soy sauce and tossed the veggies.
Then I made room in the center of the pan, added a small pat of butter – and add the salmon burger.
I just cooked the salmon for 2-3 minutes, turned it over and cooked for another 2-3 minutes. I squeezed the juice of 1/2 a lemon over top, tossed the veggies and removed from the pan and served. Delicious and easy!
Salmon and Veggies for 1
1 Trader Joe’s salmon burger (or salmon fillet of your choice)
2 red potatoes, sliced
1 handful fresh green beans, trimmed
1 tsp garlic, minced
avocado oil spray
1 pat of butter, divided
1 tsp soy sauce
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon
salt and pepper to taste
Trim veggies (slice potatoes and trip green beans).
Spray avocado oil in cast iron skillet and raise temp to med – high. Once pan is warm, add 1/2 of the butter.
Add garlic, potatoes and green beans to pan. Cook until vegetables have a nice color and are almost done.
Add soy sauce, salt and pepper and toss vegetables.
Push vegetables to the edges of the pan and make room for the salmon in the center.
Add remaining butter to center of pan
Add salmon over butter – cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes (this is assuming you’ve thawed your salmon – if cooking from frozen, cook 7-8 minutes per side).
Once done, add the lemon juice in pan – toss veggies, remove and serve!
Michelle Can Cook! 