cheesecake brownies [recipes]

I made these brownies last weekend to bring to Kaycie's house for dessert and they were a huge hit between the four of us. in fact, there were only two left in the pan when we got home later that evening, although that could have been due to Sean's drunk ravaging. either way, they were delicious. very, very, very simple recipe... easy enough to do on a whim and bring to a party, for sure.

Cheesecake Brownies

[Facts]:

prep time: 15 minutes

cook time: 20 minutes

ready to eat: 45 minutes

[Ingredients]:

• 1 package (19.8oz) brownie mix - I used Betty Crocker's Ultimate Fudge mix
• 1 package (8oz) cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup white sugar

[Directions]:

1. Prepare the brownie mix as directed by manufacturer. Preheat oven to temperature indicated on box. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.  (I used a 9x9 pan because I like thicker brownies).
2. Spread the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan. 
3. Using an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, egg and sugar until smooth. 
4. Dollop the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie batter. Swirl together using a knife or skewer. (my mixture didn't really "swirl" well... probably because I used the 9x9 pan. there was more cheese mixture than I thought there would be, so I just spread it along the top and it came out fine).
5. Bake according to manufacturer's instructions. Brownies will be done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean (about 35 minutes for me). Cool in the pan, then cut into bars and serve. 

Unfortunately, I didn't take any 

photos of these, but here's one that 

I shamelessly jacked from All Recipes. 

ENJOY!

Friday loves

well now that Blogger has decided to stop being a douchebag, we can get on to the little list of things I'm loving this week... ya know... because you're all DYING to know! ;) 

• these garden markers (the post was actually from a year ago, but I found it via Pinterest this week), made from an old spoon and some creative labels. now that my herbs are planted, I might need to do this. 

• this post by Mandy (who obviously has the coolest name ever), reassuring everyone that she is not super woman, and that she, just like all parents, has daily struggles. I'm not a Mama, but it's comforting to me for some reason.
• the completed patio, courtesy of YHL. we want to demolish our existing deck and put in a patio of pavers, and the DIY experts have pretty much confirmed our wavering decision to NOT do it ourselves. it honestly just seems like a huge pain in the ass, and we don't have time for it. 
• marble chevron tile. 

• 40 handmade gifts from the kitchen - I am really considering going handmade for gifts this year, since we're trying to save up for the possibility of a babe in the future, and this post is full of SO many wonderful edible gifts.
• baskets in the fridge = organization genius.

• the handmade giveaway going on over at Rogue Poags! the only reason I didn't enter is because that little yellow pouch in the pictures already has my name on it - enter to win a custom handmade coin purse... with a Starbucks gift card inside! 
• these planters from West Elm. since we plan on repainting our shutters grey (they are currently hunter green and I hate them), these would look awesome on our front stoop.

• this recipe for grilled zucchini pizza looks delicious. I want to try it soon. 
• and as always, live kittens playing and cuddling and mewing. I may or may not be slightly obsessed with these guys.

have you discovered anything awesome this week? 

HAPPY FRIDAY!

shrimp fettuccine alfredo [recipe]

I know that this recipe may not seem like much for most people, especially those more adventurous eaters. but the truth is that ever since Sean and I have been together, the only sauce we've eaten with pasta is red sauce, because he swore up and down that he didn't like cream sauces, blah blah blah. so finally, he agreed to try to a cream/cheese sauce, and it just happened to be alfredo because we already had the ingredients on hand.

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo

[Facts]:

prep time: 20 minutes

cook time: 20 minutes

ready to eat: 40 minutes

makes: (6) servings

[Ingredients]:

• 1lb fettuccine pasta
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1lb cooked shrimp - peeled & de-veined
• 4 gloves garlic - minced
• 1 cup half & half
• 6 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (we ended up using more like 8-9 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (substituted 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes)
• salt to taste 

[Directions]:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. In a large skillet, saute shrimp and garlic in the butter for about one minute. Pour in half and half; stir. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese in one tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly. 
3. After all Parmesan is added, mix in parsley and salt. Stir frequently making sure it does not boil. Sauce will take a while to thicken.
4. When sauce has thickened, combine with cooked pasta noodles; serve hot. 

[NOTE]: 

don't get me wrong, this shit was delicious, but next time, I'll probably either add more half & half, or cut the amount of pasta in half. I felt like it was way too much pasta for the little bit of sauce it made. we don't need to be cooking a pound of pasta at a time anyway, since it's only us eating.

enjoy! 

and happy Cinco de Mayo, friends!

cookie dough stuffed cupcakes [recipe]

remember when I mentioned these completely mouth watering cupcakes (that I discovered via Pinterest) in this post? well guess what? 

I finally made them. 

and they were everything I thought they'd be 

but about 1000x more delicious than I imagined possible. 

this recipe made enough for 24 cupcakes... I quickly (and somewhat somberly) made the decision to send Sean to work with half of them, just to get them out of my house.

Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes

[Ingredients]:

• cupcakes: (1) box Betty Crocker Supermoist butter recipe yellow cake mix (cheating? maybe. delicious? for sure)
• cupcake frosting: 12 oz (1 can) Betty Crocker Whipped milk chocolate 

: for the filling :

• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 7 oz (1/2 can) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used regular sized chocolate chips and increased the amount to a full cup)
• optional: Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough for garnishes

[Directions]:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Make cupcake batter according to directions. Bake cupcakes according to package directions. Let cool.
2. To make the cookie dough filling, combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (aka not crumbly), about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, about a half hour.
3. To fill the cupcakes, cut a cylinder shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake. An apple corer spoon works great for this. I just carefully edged the spoon into the cupcake in a circular shape and took out the middle. Fill each hole with a chunk of the chilled cookie dough mixture.
4. Frost cupcakes with chocolate frosting. I like to put the frosting in a plastic storage bag and snip off a nickel sized hole in one of the corners to pipe the frosting on in a cone shape have no idea how to properly (or aesthetically) frost a cupcake.
5. Garnish with mini chocolate chips and mini chocolate chip cookies (See tip below).
6. To fancy up your cupcakes, garnish with mini chocolate chip cookies. I used 1/4 of a package of refrigerated cookie dough. I placed little balls of dough on a cookie sheet and baked for 8-9 10-14 minutes (which was slightly too long, haha) at 350 degrees. My cookies were a little big, which is why the garnish is a broken-in-half piece of cookie. 

and now, here are some pictures of what I consider to be the baking masterpiece of my life. please keep in mind that I have no idea how to frost a cupcake... and I think next time I'll go with normal frosting instead of whipped. the whipped stuff kind of resembles dog poop. but don't think about that, cause they tasted AMAZING. aka not at all like dog poop. 

 

enjoy! 

Friday loves

because my affinity for all things (recipes, design, fashion, products, music, etc) changes as quickly as the weather frequently, I've decided to dedicate a post every Friday to some of my favorite things from that week. 

there are a few bloggers out there doing this (like Lauren & Kristal) and although I won't be posting kiddo stuff like them, I still think it's an awesome idea to share what I'm diggin' at this moment. 

___________________________________________

so without further adieu, here's what I've discovered and fallen in love with this week...

Emily Giffin. after reading Something Borrowed and Something Blue, I rushed to Amazon to buy the next in the series (I say "series" loosely, based on the fact that Baby Proof does not include the main characters from the first two novels) and finished it in a matter of days.

Emily has such a casual, yet very intense way with words, and I'm finding myself really getting attached to her characters. also, I really appreciated that little break from the usual young adult books that I've been picking up lately (and incidentally, am reading now, haha).

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this bag:

I actually discovered this a few weeks ago, but I'm reaaaaally tempted to pull the plug on this purchase in the near future. it's the Rose camera bag by Jo Totes in Marigold. yes, it's mustard. and it has houndstooth lining. and it is perfection.

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my new Biofit bra that I talked about purchasing here. it is the perfect combination of comfort and sexy.

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I haven't tried this recipe yet, but I'm going to attempt them in the next few weeks when I have a break from weekend madness.

chocolate chip cookie dough STUFFED INTO CUPCAKES. 

if you tell me your mouth isn't watering right now, I'm calling you a fucking liar. they won't exactly fit into my new "healthy lifestyle" attitude, but I figure I can make a small amount of them and therefore not be forced to eat 98 mini cupcakes in one sitting.

... I'll keep you updated, fo sho.

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Matched by Ally Condie.  

yes, it's another YA, but it's gooooood.

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anything and everything lemon verbena scented by Mrs. Meyers. 

I've been making an effort to buy greener household products and I am SO thankful I tried this brand out.

first of all, the scents are amazing. I was looking to buy products that worked like normal household cleaners, but without the typical cleaner smell. and also? the results? awesome. a little goes a long way when using Mrs. Meyers, and therefore, the product lasts longer. now, I've only tried the hand soap, the dish soap, and the counter spray, but I'm willing to bet the other options work (and smell) just as great.

personally, the lemon verbena scent is my favorite, but I've also tried the lavender, which smells wonderfully. I like the lemon because it's nice and citrusy (yes, that's a word) and summery. uh, and bonus... it's green, so it virtually matches everything in my house.

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this dresser transformation over at Design Sponge.  

I wish I had that kind of talent... and patience. chevron is my go-to pattern these days.

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this swimsuit I came across on Pinterest. 

the linked source claims that the image is from Victoria's Secret. must have been from last year's swimsuit line, because I cannot find it anywhere on the website. super sad face. 

if you know where this suit is from, hit a sister up. I need to own it.

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DISCLAIMER: 

I am not being reimbursed or compensated in any way for the mention and positive reviews of the products listed on this blog. the opinions expressed are solely my own and while I wish I could receive free shit... trust me, I'm not.

HAPPY FRIDAY! 

chocolate mint brownies [recipe]

oh yes. these were delicious. I'd say they were more cake-like in texture than brownies, probably because they had to cool first before adding the mint layer.

to be fair, I should mention that Sean made these from beginning to end... I had nothing to do with it at all... I was too busy cleaning to even pay attention. but I did help eat them, so that gives me rights to post the recipe! HA!

Chocolate Mint Brownies

[Facts]:

prep time: 15 minutes

cook time: 30 minutes

ready to eat: 2 hours 5 minutes

[Ingredients]:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate syrup
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons creme de menthe liqueur
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

[Directions]:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of softened butter until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the chocolate syrup. Stir in the flour until just blended. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool completely in the pan.
4. In a small bowl, beat the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup butter or margarine and creme de menthe until smooth. Spread evenly over the cooled brownies, then chill until set.
5. In a small bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and the chocolate chips, stirring occasionally until smooth. Allow to cool slightly, then spread over the top of the mint layer. Cover, and chill for at least 1 hour before cutting into squares. 

Happy Thursday!

homemade lasagna [recipe]

we had Kaley, Adam & Kullen over for dinner on Saturday evening. I made my first ever homemade lasagna and it was SO delicious, I knew I had to share it with you all. if you've been around here for a while, you know that I am no chef, so this was quite the accomplishment for little ol me.

as always, the recipe was found at allrecipes.com. I'll note the changes I made to the recipe in bold below. sadly, I didn't take ONE single picture of the dish, so you'll have to use your imagination to picture how wonderfully mouthwatering it was. 

Kaley was kind enough to make salads and garlic bread, which perfected the meal. Sean made these mint brownies, which were dangerously delectable... I'll be writing a post all about those this week, since I do have a picture of them on my camera!

World's Best Lasagna 

[Facts]:

prep time: 30 minutes

cook time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

ready to eat: 3 hours, 15 minutes

[Ingredients]:

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage (I don't like Italian sausage, so I substituted with a pound & a half of ground beef)
• 3/4 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I used dried parsley flakes = 4 teaspoons)
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced (about 18 slices)
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

[Directions]:

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. 
2. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. 
3. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. 
4. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. 
5. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. (see notes below)
6. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
8. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. 
9. Repeat layers (noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, meat sauce & Parmesan). 
10. Top with remaining mozzarella (I just added another whole layer of mozzarella slices) and Parmesan cheese. 
11. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
12. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

[NOTES]: 

the directions were originally combined into about 5 steps, but I like it broken out more by actions than components of the recipe, so I got a little ENTER key happy. 

Sean accidentally bought the "no boil" noodles, so we eliminated step #5 that required cooking and draining the noodles. they actually turned out to be a little chewy, so I will probably use regular noodles next time. 

I made extra meat sauce and added an extra layer, which turned out to be too much meat for my tastes. next time, I'll probably add more ricotta to level it out, but that's just a personal preference.

this recipe fed five adults and two children on Saturday night, and we had two servings of leftovers for lunch on Monday!

______________________________________________________

just so this post isn't completely photo-less, here are some that I took with my cell phone over the weekend:

this is the hard work that Bear contributed to the super duper cleaning of the house this weekend.

I got this shirt for $10 at Woot! and I love it. the shapes that make up Poe's face are ravens.

Happy Tuesday!

Garlic & Lemon Shrimp [recipe]

I tried this recipe a few weeks ago. We had a 2lb bag of frozen shrimp that had been in our freezer forever, so we figured we'd go ahead and cook half of them using a new (to us) recipe. 

As always, the recipe was found on allrecipes.com. It was super easy to make... keep in mind that our shrimp were frozen, so I had to thaw them out and then peel them, which took a little longer than it would have if I'd had fresh shrimp. Instead of cooking in the oven on the broiler setting, I cooked them stove-top in a saute pan. We served this with wild rice and green beans.

Garlic & Lemon Shrimp

[Facts]:

prep time: 10 minutes

cook time: 5 minutes

ready to eat: 15 minutes

[Ingredients]:

• (1) pound frozen large shrimp
• (3/4) cup butter or margarine 
• (1) teaspoon minced garlic
• (1 1/2) tablespoons lemon juice
• (3) tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

[Directions]:

1. Defrost shrimp by placing them under running cold water until soft. Peel, devein, and remove tails.
2. In a medium saute pan, combine butter, garlic, and lemon juice over medium heat. 
3. When mixture bubbles, add shrimp. 
4. Cook shrimp over medium heat, approximately 2 1/2 minutes on each side, or until cooked thoroughly.
5. When shrimp is shrunken and pink, remove from heat. Pour remaining butter mixture into dish for dipping. 
6. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over shrimp. (I forgot to do this until after I took pictures)

[Photos]:

Day 21/30

Day 21/30 - a recipe

crap. I just posted a recipe the other day and I didn't know this prompt was coming up right around the corner. son of a gun.

if you know me, you know my ass does NOT cook. Sean does all the cooking in our house, and he is awesome at it. he's always trying out new recipes and changing things up, and I love him for it. I mean, I wouldn't STARVE without him, but I would surely live off of Ramen Noodles and grilled cheese.

this is a recipe we introduced in our house a few months back, and it's still one of our favorites. it's super easy (according to Sean, haha) and absolutely delicious. the good thing about it is that it can be paired with just about anything.

Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken

[Facts]:

prep time: 15 minutes

cook time: 30 minutes

ready to eat: 45 minutes

[Ingredients]:

• (2) tablespoons olive oil
• (1) clove garlic, minced 
• (1) cup dry bread crumbs
• (2/3) cup grated Parmesan cheese
• (1) teaspoon dried basil leaves
• (1/4) teaspoon ground black pepper
• (6) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

[Directions]:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a bowl, blend the olive oil and garlic. In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs (we use Italian bread crumbs), Parmesan cheese, basil, and pepper. Dip each chicken breast in the oil mixture, then in the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in the prepared baking dish, and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.
3. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

I don't have pictures of this recipe, but it's pretty simple. the crust of the bread crumbs ends up being nice and crispy and the amount of garlic is perfect. we usually eat this with some kind of carb like rice or roasted potatoes and a fresh veggie like green beans. 

enjoy!

asparagus & mozzarella stuffed chicken breasts.

yes, a recipe. I know, it's weird for me too. but I posted about this recipe making it's way into our home back here, and I never updated you guys on how AWESOME it turned out.

Sean found the recipe at allrecipes.com, of course - it's right HERE. we fooled with it a little bit, adding a bit more mozzarella and asparagus to the filling, and also adding in grinded garlic pepper on the outside of the chicken breast. you'll see.

[Facts]:
-serves two people

-prep time 20 minutes

-cook time 25 minutes

-ready to eat in 45 minutes

[Ingredients]:

• (2) large boneless skinless chicken breasts
• (16) stalks of asparagus, with the ends trimmed 
• (1) cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• (1/4) cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• salt, pepper, and garlic pepper to taste

[Directions]:

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease an 8x8-inch baking dish. (We used foil, but still sprayed with Pam).
  
• Place each chicken breast between two sheets of heavy plastic (resealable freezer bags work well - this is the method we used) on a solid, level surface. Firmly pound the chicken with the smooth side of a meat mallet to an even thickness of about 1/4 inch. Sprinkle each side with salt and pepper.  
• Place 8 spears of asparagus down the center of a chicken breast, and spread about 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese over the asparagus. Repeat with the other chicken breast, and roll the chicken around the asparagus and cheese to make a tidy, compact roll. Place the rolls seam sides down in the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle each with about 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs.This is also where we added the grinded garlic pepper.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the juices run clear when pricked with a fork, about 25 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Our chicken actually took about 32 minutes to cook all the way through... just a heads up. It was a little thicker than the 1/4 inch thickness the recipe called for.

[Pictures]:

this is what it looked like before we baked it.

and after. it was delicious. we served this dish over a side of wild long grain rice, and it was perfect. the melty cheese with the crunchy asparagus made for the perfect difference in texture. the breadcrumbs with the garlic pepper made all the difference in the world for the flavor of the chicken.

 

and it even looks pretty when you cut it open!

it was a night of noms, indeed! let me know if you try this recipe out and if you make any changes to it.

it's the year of the cicadas!

Last Friday evening, we had a little girls night, and it was one of the best nights I've had in a while. We all met at Kaley's house and started cooking. I made my homemade macaroni & cheese (I'll post the recipe at the end of this post), Aubrey made her famous nuggets (which are amazingly similar to Chick Fil A nuggets), and Jen brought brownies. We all brought our own wine (except Steph... slacker!), and our party pants. ;)

We started off the night cooking and drinking wine, and catching up as more girls arrived. It was a ruckus in the Poag house - all talking over each other and having our own conversations in equally loud voices. Drinking wine and smoking about a billion cigarettes in the mosquito infested heat outside. Laughing about things babies do, and breaking Kullen's water table. Spraying enough bug spray to coat an elephant. Celebrating the year of the cicadas. Venting about life, and raving about life. 

After we all ate, (and refilled our wine glasses for the 3rd time), we decided to break out Kaley's Secret Santa gift - Partini. I'm still a little confused as to how this is meant to be a drinking game, but we made it work. We molded things out of clay, bounced balls, hummed songs we didn't even know, and did a little charades. The game was a hell of a time, and we were laughing SO hard at the different games we had to play, and how bad we all sucked at it. Well, I guess I should say how bad mine and Kaley's team sucked, haha. 

We spent the rest of the evening talking and gossiping (only a little ;)), drinking more wine, comparing cameras, and laughing at each others' funny stories.  It was just so nice to be in the company of amazing women and have both deep and shallow conversations all night long. To forget our troubles for only a couple hours to enjoy either others' company and laughter. To indulge in good food and drink and not count calories or worry about getting too much sodium.

And of course, there are pictures to prove our good time.

And as promised, the recipe for MandeeFoFandee's homemade macaroni & cheese:

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter

1 large block of Velveeta cheese

1lb of elbow pasta

Bread crumbs (I used Italian bread crumbs)

Milk

Steps:

1. get a pot of water on the stove, since it takes a while to start boiling. unless you have one of those fancy pants stoves that boils water in 90 seconds. if that's the case, I hate you.

2. preheat oven to 350.

3. once you have your water on the stove, melt the stick of butter in a medium sized pot on low/medium heat. when the butter is melted, add 3/4 of the Velveeta cheese. 

hint: I usually chop it in 4 equal sized pieces, and then take 3 of those pieces and cube them so that they melt faster. make sure you put the rest of the 1/4 back in the fridge so it doesn't get soft... you'll thank me later.

4. add a few dashes of milk when it starts melting to get a creamy consistency... if it's too thick, it won't cover all the pasta. 

5. make sure you keep stirring so it doesn't get all thick on the top. do this until it's all completely melted.

6. cook pasta al dente. pour the pasta in a strainer and cool it with cold water. 

hint: I run the cold water over the pasta and stick my hands in there and move it around so that ALL the pasta cools off.

7. when the cheese is melted, pour 1/2 of it into a non stick or glass pan (usually 9x13 pan works fine). 

8. add the pasta. pour the rest of the cheese in and mix it with a spatula until it's all covered. 

9. then take the rest (1/4) of your Velveeta and slice it thin, placing slices on top of the pasta. 

10. sprinkle with bread crumbs and stick it in the oven (uncovered) for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown on top. 

PS - if you are trying to watch what you eat and keep healthy, I would not recommend making this dish. It is extremely delicious, and you will want to eat the entire pan in one sitting. You've been warned. 

Happy Tuesday!