Leftover Love

On Easter, Ryan made macaroni and cheese for lunch at his grandparents. He had some cheese sauce leftover, which we saved because I just knew I could come up with a way to recycle it. This is the story of that leftover cheese sauce...

First, I picked up some all natural, hormone and antibiotic free chicken breasts at the Choppin' Block, and when I arrived at home, I set out the sauce so it could come to room temp.

Next, I got out a jar of marinated quartered artichokes and a can of mild diced tomatoes and green chiles. I sliced about half of the artichokes, added them to the sauce, drained the tomatoes and chiles, and added them, too. It was finished off with black pepper and cilantro and stirred.

I placed the chicken on a broiler pan and spooned the cheese sauce mixture over each one.

They baked at 350 for about 25 minutes, and then they were ready-to-eat deliciousness.

I served them with sweet yellow corn and lima beans. (Ryan called them butter beans - cooked in milk and butter. I don't know anything about cookin' beans!)

So, the lesson here is be creative and use what you've got on hand to make an easy and yummy dinner!

For the cheese sauce:

I know Ryan made a rue with milk, butter and flour, but I don't know the amounts. I do know that when either of us make a rue, it is just done by "feel." (Here is a link to make a rue from Allrecipes.com: http://allrecipes.com/howto/cheese-sauce-made-easy/)

To the rue, he added Philadelphia Cooking Creme Italian Cheese & Herb. He let that melt and combine. Once it was combined, he added black pepper and it was taken off the heat to cool down to room temperature. Then it was combined with the rotini pasta and shredded cheddar cheese to make the macaroni.

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