Pepper Jack Mac Cups

Picture and recipe courtesy of http://thematzats.blogspot.com

5 T. butter or margarine
1/3 lb. ham lunch meat, sliced thin (substituted bacon instead)
1/4 c. flour
2 c. milk
2 c. pepper jack cheese, shredded or diced
1/2 lb. elbow macaroni, cooked
1 T. butter or margarine, melted
1/4 c. breadcrumbs

Directions

1. In a sauce pan, melt butter or margarine. Add ham and cook for about 5 minutes, until slightly crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Stir flour into pan and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk, bring to a slow boil and cook just until thickened. Remove from heat and add cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Add macaroni and ham. Stir to combine.

3. Grease muffin tins and press about a quarter to a half cup of mac & cheese into each cup. Combine 1 T. melted butter with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle over each cup. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until bubbly and slightly crisp. Remove carefully once they have cooled a bit.

Recipe makes about 20 cups, depending on the size of your muffin pan.

Michelle's notes:

This was my first attempt at home made mac n cheese and it does not disappoint. I made a few changes though. I substituted bacon in place of the ham. Also, instead of stuffing the whole of the mixture into a muffin tin, I just put it in my square pyrex dish. It turned out extremely good. Hot, spicy, cheesy with bacon pieces throughout. I was going to serve it with cornbread (because what else do you serve with a bacon mac n cheese dish?) but I didn't want to wait 20-30 minutes. So I took my Jiffy mix and decided to make cornbread pancakes. Yeah, I know, I'm lazy like that. But sometimes my laziness turns into sheer genius because they were really good. Throw on some honey butter and they're good to go.

BLT Salad

1 head of iceberg lettuce
8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 large tomatoes, diced
4 slices white bread
butter
salt
ground black pepper
ranch dressing

Break up clean cold lettuce into bowl. Add diced tomatoes and crumbled bacon. Toast white bread and brush lightly with melted butter. Cut toast into squares and add to bowl. Toss salad and season liberally with salt and ground black pepper. Add enough ranch to dress salad to your taste. Serve immediately.

Cheddar and Bacon Quiche

4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups half and half
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 - 9 in. refrigerated pie crust (or frozen pie crust, thawed)

optional:
1 cup fresh baby spinach chopped
handful of chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the eggs, half and half, salt and pepper in a food processor (I whisked it really well by hand). Layer the bacon and cheese (and spinach and green onions) in the bottom of the pie crust, then pour the egg mixture on top. Bake for 45 minutes until the egg mixture is set. Do not bake it on a cookie sheet.