Mac n' Tuna Bites

I have decided to no longer title each post with a "Day of the Week" type title it is just not reality that I can blog each and everyday so I will keep it to recipe names and other titles appropriate to the subject. One thing for sure is kids love mac and cheese. Noddles good..cheese good...I fully understand. I have made several types of Mac n Cheese over the years and have no definitive recipe for it. I basically have a simple base of butter, flour & milk and add what ever cheeses I have on hand until it is thick, gooey & tasty lol. I made up a big batch of Mac n' Tuna Bites Wednesday afternoon they are perfect for a after school snack or a quick lunch or dinner. I double them and they are gone with in 3 days. For this batch I only had about 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese so I used that plus 1/4 cup mozzarella, 1/8 cup of Parmesan cheese & 6 slices of Havarti dill cheese The kids said these where the best ones ever I thought they where quite tasty too.

Mac n' tuna bites
8oz macaroni noodles
2 TBS butter
2 TBS flour
1 1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 to 2 cups of cheese of your choice
salt & pepper
1 can tuna drained
3/4 cup frozen peas (cooked)
Ritz or saltine crackers
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350, spray mini muffin pan with cooking spray
cook 8oz macaroni noodles according to the package (and of course drain)
for the cheese sauce in a sauce pan melt butter then stir in flour it will resemble paste
add in 1 & 1/2 cups of milk and whisk to get out clumps. Add your cheeses of your choice
salt and pepper cheese sauce to taste
In a big bowl combine cheese sauce and noodles with one can of drained tuna &Peas
in a ziplock bag crush crackers & add Parmesan cheese
Scoop 1/4 cup of noodle mixture into each tin and sprinkle on about a tsp or so of cracker mixture. Cook for about 12-15 mins allow to cool slightly before removing. These keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days if they last that long
**I don't like tuna so I keep a little of the noodles separate for myself and they hold up just fine with out the tuna
**Thanks to Cathrine at Weelicious for the inspiration for this recipe

Mini Muffin Monday(Granola muffins)

My mini muffin tin is by far the most loved pan in the house. I have discovered that you can make lots of things other then muffins with them. Mini muffins are perfect for tiny toddler tummies that my feel overwhelmed by a big muffin. I like to play around with different recipes and things I have in the house. Last week I was cleaning out the pantry and seen I had a box of bisquick. It has been a good long time since I remember ever buying bisquick so I check the dates and surprisingly enough it was not expired. Then I started wondering other then biscuits or pancakes what can I do with this bisquick. So I started measuring out how much was left and it was 4 cups. That is a lot of bisquick to let go to waste so I started thinking what else do I need to use up? Granola! I had a double batch that I had a little left of. So we call these "Almost Expired muffins" Thats not so appealing and you might not sell to many friends on that Idea.. so Granola Muffins it is lol

Granola Muffins
2 cups of Granola (you can use homemade or store bought)
4 cups of Bisquick baking mix
2 large eggs
1/4 cup Honey or Agave
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 & 1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 375, In a large bowl mix granola & bisquick. In a 2nd bowl whisk together wet ingredients. Gradually mix in the granola/bisquick mixture into the wet ingredients then fold in chocolate & peanut butter chips. Grease your muffin tins and add fill about 2/3 with batter. This recipe can be halved it makes about 48 mini muffins or 24 large muffins. mini muffins will bake in about 12-15 mins, larger muffins about 20-25. Check them with a toothpick and if it comes out crumb free then you know they are done! **you can substitute the chips with dried fruit**

Friday Feature (Weelicious)

Fridays I will be Featuring other blogs, websites & recipes that I have tried. If you have a recipe that you would like me to test out and review for you or have a blog related to cooking or parenting and would like to be featured please contact me at Kitchenfullofkids@yahoo.com

Weelicious hands down is one of my favorite sites to browse when I am feeling uninspired by my own recipes. I have tried several different recipes and I have been thrilled with each and every one. Today I tried one that I haven't tried before and I was really shocked at how much I liked them. The kids got awfully excited when they got home from school and they see a container of mini muffins waiting for them on the table. Today we tired out her Banana Wee-eat Germ muffins I had a few spotted bananas that needed to get used today and as much as I love my Great Aunts Banana Bread recipe I wanted something a bit healthier this was Perfect. I used my Rachel Ray mini muffin tins which are likely the most used piece of cook wear in the house. The wheat germ gives the muffins a nice hearty taste and after eating a few where quite filling. These muffins would be great for a breakfast on the go or a lunch treat for the kids. All 4 of my daughters loved them and trust me anything that makes all 4 girls happy makes this mama very very happy!!


Photo from weelicious.com