Heidi & Haley's chocolate chocolate chip pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Whisk dry ingredients together.

1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 stick butter (melted)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Whisk wet ingredients together.

Combine both bowls of ingredients and whisk in 3/4 cups of mini chocolate chips.  Cook on griddle at about 325.

Kurt & Hannah's One Pot Mac & Cheese

I thought Hannah was crazy when she started pouring milk into the pot to boil our macaroni noodles in, but turns out they have a secret recipe and she was totally right. Anyway, this is their recipe but I wanted to share it because it was amazing.

Ingredients

2 cups large elbow macaroni, uncooked (about 1/2 lb)

2 cups low fat milk (about 16 oz), or more if needed

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1 teaspoon salt, plus additional for final season later

generous dash of nutmeg

1 cup grated cheese, (gruyere, jack, cheddar, swiss, mozzarella, gouda,)

black pepper to taste (optional)

Directions

1. Rinse raw macaroni under water.

2. In medium sauce pan, add milk, raw macaroni, salt, butter, mustard powder and nutmeg.

3. On medium heat, slowly bring milk/macaroni mixture to a simmer, stirring the macaroni frequently as it comes up to a simmer. (It comes to a boil very quickly so don’t let it overflow.)

4. Once mixture comes to a simmer, immediately turn down heat to low. Macaroni will slowly cook in the milk.

5. Continue to stir the mixture frequently so that macaroni will cook evenly and absorb milk evenly.

6. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until milk has been fully absorbed. (If macaroni isn’t fully cooked, add a little more milk or water to mixture until macaroni is fully cooked.)

7. When milk has evaporated, stir in grated cheese.

8. Turn off heat. Place lid on top of pan and cover for about 5 minutes to allow macaroni to plump up and absorb any excess milk.

9. Add additional salt to taste and stir one final time to mix everything together.

Quinoa and black beans

It has come to my attention, that some of you out there think that you're too cool, anti-hipster, or very worried about smallholder farmers in Peru and thus can't eat quinoa. While I can support any of those reasons, I think quinoa is delicious and you should stop thinking so much and just try it.  Anyway here's my secret quinoa and black beans recipe.  Simple, quick, healthy and delicious.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup frozen corn kernels

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Sour cream

Grated cheddar, monterey jack, or pretty much any kind of cheese

Directions

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro for those non-cilantro-haters, or sour cream and cheese for the cilantro-haters.