TGIF Wings

There's no such thing as healthy junk food, but there can be healthier junk food. These wings are baked, not fried and you can use fat free salad dressing for dipping. Guaranteed to be a favorite and a staple of Friday Happy Hour.

20 wings (flats and drummettes)
3/4 c. flour
3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
wing sauce (Kroger brand or Sweet Baby Ray's or whatever your favorite is)

Dry wings on paper towels. Shake flour, garlic and cayenne in a ziplock bag. Add wings and shake to cover. Wings should be dry and covered in flour. Keep shaking until they are not stuck to each other in the bag. Spread them out inside the bag as much as possible. Let them sit in the fridge for about 3 hours. Put foil on a cookie sheet and put a rack on it. Spray rack with Pam. Shake off excess flour into the bag as you take wings out and put them in a large bowl. Drizzle with wing sauce. Stir to get a little sauce on all the wings. Put on baking rack. Cook for 30 min. @ 400. Turn wings over and cook for 30 min. more. Serve with celery and carrot sticks and ranch or blue cheese dressing. We use Kraft peppercorn ranch.

Grown-up mac 'n' cheese

The other day my husband asked for some plain old mac 'n' cheese. This was not a usual request and I couldn't remember when the last time was that I had made it. I started going thru all my recipes and most of what I had contained spinach or kale or some other vegetables. I finally had the basic idea of what I wanted to do and proceeded to cover the countertop with ingredients , bowls and baking dish. In the midst of all this, he walked in the kitchen and exclaimed "what are you doing?" Making mac "n" cheese, I replied. His response was..."oh, I thought you would just mix up a box of Kraft." There hadn't been a box of Kraft in this house since we were first married and besides, this was going to be grown-up mac 'n' cheese. Nothing against Kraft, but this turned out to be comfort food at its finest.

8x8 pyrex baking dish sprayed with Pam
8 oz. elbow macaroni
2 c. milk (I use Carnation instant)
3 tablespoons butter, divided (whatever spread you use)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce
2 c. shredded fiesta blend cheese
3/4 c. seasoned breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 425. Cook elbows according to shortest time on box and drain. Melt 1 1/2 T. of butter in same pot. Stir in elbows. In a bowl, beat the egg and add milk, hot sauce, mustard and cayenne. Stir together and then add to elbows. Stir in cheese. Cook, while stirring until cheese melts. Pour into baking pan. Melt 1 1/2 T. of butter in a small bowl in microwave for about 30 sec. Stir in the breadcrumbs. Spread over top of elbow mixture. Bake for about 15 min. or until top is golden brown. You can double the recipe for a 9x13 baking dish.