Recipes: Easy French Bread and Personal Mac 'n Cheese Bowls

I've had a lot of writing and editing work over the past couple of weeks, and this influx of work has caused me to slack off on blogging and taking pictures to share.  So, I apologize for the lack of pictures in this post, but I do have several delicious recipes to share with you!

I don't know about you, but I really enjoy making homemade bread.  There is something about it that makes me feel particularly accomplished.  Plus, it's delicious!  Here's a recipe for easy french bread that I got from a family friend:

Easy French Bread

3 to 3 1/2 Cups flour

4 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 pkg yeast

2 Tbsp butter

1 1/2 Cups of hot water

Combine 1 Cup flour and the remaining 5 ingredients.

Beat 2 minutes on medium with a hand mixer.

Add 1 Cup of flour and beat 2 minutes at high speed.

Add 1 Cup of flour and stir by hand until a soft ball forms.

Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

Sprinkle flour over the dough and punch down.

Grease and lightly flour a baking sheet.

Add enough flour to the dough to handle it easily and plop it onto the baking sheet.

Form a loaf about 15" long and let it rise for a half hour.

Bake at 400F for about 20 minutes.

Remove loaf from oven and brush with melted butter.

Bake another 5 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown.

This bread is easy and delicious.  I love how it comes out every time I make it.  In fact, I wish I made it more often!

And for my second recipe, this is something I whipped up the other night when I had zero dinner ideas!  Sometimes I have oodles of ideas, and sometimes I feel so uninspired.  But my husby and I love pasta and this turned out really yummy.

Personal Mac 'n Cheese Bowls

2 tsp butter

2 tsp flour

dashes salt, pepper, nutmeg, and garlic powder

1 Cup milk

1 Cup grated cheddar (or whatever cheese you like!)

3 Cups of dried pasta

Panko crumbs or Italian style bread crumbs

Mix the butter, flour, and salt in a sauce pan over medium heat until well blended.

Meanwhile, cook your pasta.  I use a fasta pasta, and I LOVE it!  Seriously, I never boil pasta on the stove unless it won't fit in the fasta pasta.  Anyway...  Drain the pasta once it's done cooking, and set it aside.

Once the butter, flour, and salt are well blended, ad the milk and stir until the sauce thickens.

Add dashes of pepper, nutmeg, and garlic powder.

If the sauce is too thick for your taste, add a little milk until you reach the right consistency.

Add the cheese and stir until it's melted and the sauce is smooth.

Pour the pasta into the sauce and mix well.

Spoon the mac 'n cheese into individual serving bowls.  Make sure these are oven safe!  My dishes are oven safe, but you may consider using ramekins if your regular dishes are not oven safe.

Sprinkle Panko or bread crumbs over each bowl.

Broil bowls until the crumbs are golden brown.

And voila, you've got personalized mac 'n cheese bowls.  These were super easy and we both loved them!  If you like mac 'n cheese, I'm sure you'll like it too.