Comfort food. The perfect fix for a bad day or any day really.

I’ve been using this same recipe for years now – and it’s always a hit at dinner. The best thing about it is that it’s easy to make and tastes like you were making it all day long. Check out this tasty recipe below!

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ounce) package macaroni
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1cup milk
• 1 cup cream
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded good quality
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, buttered
• 6 slices of thick cut bacon
• 3 tbsp of Velveeta

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Cook macaroni according to package directions; set aside.
3. In a saucepan melt butter.
4. Add flour mixed with salt and pepper, stir until well blended.
5. Pour milk and cream in gradually; stirring constantly.
6. Bring to boiling point and boil 2 minutes – stirring constantly.
7. Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes – stirring constantly.
8. Add shredded cheddar little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.
9. Add in Velveeta and stir in completely until sauce is smooth.
10. Turn off flame.
11. Add macaroni to the saucepan and stir coat with the cheese sauce.
12. Transfer macaroni to buttered baking dish.
13. Cook bacon and shop up into bite sized pieces.
14. Melt 1 tbsp of butter and add in breadcrumbs.
15. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bacon.
16. Bake 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Hi everyone!

This past weekend I celebrated my best friends birthday. Having dinner guests over your house could be a bit overwhelming, especially if you want to ‘wow’ everyone. Since his birthday coincided with the notorious Superbowl, I thought nothing would be more fitting than an American classic! But, I wanted to make things a little more upscale. The result: delicious juicy burgers with a side of parmesan truffle fries. Check out my recipe below!

The meat:

• 1 pound of 85% fat 15% lean burger meat
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp of salt
• 1 tbsp of black pepper
• 1 tbsp of minced garlic
• 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce

1. Let’s get grilling! Turn barbecue on and set to medium-high heat.
2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until fully incorporated.
3. Form patties to thickness preference. I like to measure using two scoops of a regular sized ice-cream scooper – major LIFE HACK
4. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until ready to cook.
5. Grill for 10 – 15 minutes depending on preference – rare to well done.
6. Enjoy!

The bread:

• Bun of your choice, I chose a potato bun for this burger
• Butter and mayonnaise

1. Spread butter and mayonnaise on both sides of bun and toast face down for 1 – 3 minutes!

The fries:

• 2 large russet potatoes, hand cut into fries
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-2 tablespoon truffle oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450° F.
2. Cut potatoes into ½ inch thick restaurant style fries. Do not remove the skin.
3. In a large bowl combine hand cut fries, parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic powder, parsley, salt, and pepper. Toss until evenly coated.
4. Transfer to a greased baking sheet and spread evenly with the least amount of overlap possible.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and crispy. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. They will continue to crisp up as they cool. Top with a little extra fresh parsley and parmesan cheese if desired. Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of truffle oil and serve.

Believe it or not, this dish has been messed up many times in the past at my family parties. But, I think I’ve got it down to the T.  Now, I will go ahead and start by saying that this recipe is a little bit labor intensive because it starts off with sweet potatoes that need to be peeled by hand. But after that – I promise it gets easier and the end result is definitely worth it! 
Take a look at the recipe below: 

INGREDIENTS

MASHED SWEET POTATOES:

• 3 pounds sweet potatoes* peeled and chopped into large chunks, see note
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup milk or half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• salt to taste 

TOPPING;

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened 
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 2 -3 cups mini marshmallows 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 2 or 2 1/2 quart casserole dish and set aside.
2. Place the sweet potatoes in a large pot, cover with water, and boil until tender (about 7 minutes, depending on the size). Drain and return to the pot. Add butter, milk, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt to the potatoes and mash until smooth. Use a hand mixer, if desired, to make them extra smooth. Taste the potatoes and add additional seasonings, if desired.
3. Transfer the mashed potatoes to the prepared casserole dish. Place in the oven until heated through (if they’re warm it will only take a few minutes).
4. While the sweet potatoes are heating, prepare the topping. In a medium bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and pecans. Stir until thoroughly combined.
5. Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven. Top with half the marshmallows, then sprinkle half the streusel over the marshmallows. Top with the other half of the marshmallows and sprinkle the remaining streusel over the top. Place back into the oven for 8-15 minutes, until the topping is bubbly and brown (keep an eye on it so the marshmallows don’t burn). You can also place it under the broiler very briefly to add a little more color to the marshmallows.

Fun Fact: One of my favorite cuisines ever is Chinese. You name it, I like it. Egg rolls, honey chicken, dumplings, fried rice, fortune cookies! I fill my plate up with it all. For the past two summers, I’ve had the opportunity to intern in New York City – basically, food heaven. There was nothing I enjoyed more than placing an order for take-out and grabbing it on my way home (and NYC’s Chinese take-out is on a whole other level.)
Now that I’m back in Gainesville, I needed to create a dish that satisfied every take-out craving I could ever have… and I did just that! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find one spot in Gainesville that tickles my fancy, so I played around with different recipes until I nailed it!
Check out my step-by-step on how to make a kitchen sink stir fry that tastes great and is budget friendly!

Step 1: Take a look at the ingredients that I bought for this kitchen sink stir fry! Ingredients: Broccoli, mushrooms, instant brown rice, steak, shrimp. Sauce Ingredients: soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, mustard, cooking wine, sugar!

Step 2: Roast your veggies of choice! For this stir fry I chose broccoli and mushrooms and seasoned them with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper! Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Step 3: Let’s get saucy! Usually, when people see this combo of ingredients they can’t believe it works well together – BUT I promise, you won’t regret this one!  Measurements: 2 teaspoons of teriyaki sauce, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of cooking wine, 2 teaspoons of mustard (I used regular but prefer dijon!), and a pinch of granulated sugar!

Step 4: Here’s a basic walk through of what the cooking process looks like before we mix everything together! 1) Roast veggies of choice in oven – season with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper! 2) Scramble 5 eggs and set to side – season with salt and pepper. 3) Cook protein of choice (I used shrimp and steak) in skillet with olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic, and Adobo. 4) Cook instant brown rice for 90 seconds in microwave. 5) Make sauce and set to side.

Step 5: Before you throw everything together in the pan, cook the sauce on medium heat for 5 minutes. Once the sauce starts bubbling, add the veggies, eggs, protein, and rice in pan. Stir and combine everything until all ingredients are coated in sauce. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve!

I hope y’all enjoyed this step-by-step on my favorite kitchen sink stir-fry! Try it out and let me know what you think. Eat up and stay tasty! 

Hi there! It’s nice to meet you. My name is Alyssa Bethencourt and I live in Gainesville, Florida. I started this site in January 2019 – with the goal of sharing my passion for cooking and life with the world! Here’s the beginning: I grew up in front of the television watching re-run episodes of Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse while eating away at a tangy tub of orange sherbert. I shifted a couple of feet away from the living room and ended up in my kitchen, creating all sorts of crazy concoctions that my family members would test out – imagine the craziest episode of Chopped you would ever see. With enough encouragement and practice, I learned how to whip up a couple of tasty things in the kitchen… and  a decade or so later, I earned the title of “go-to chef” – meaning that I cook for EVERY family gathering, birthday, holiday, etc. + day-to-day meals that you too can put together. This site is about more than just recipes; it’s also a story of sorts, a collection of thoughts and food. Welcome to my kitchen and thanks for the company.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton