I am posting my homemade Mac ‘n Cheese recipe for my friend – she asked for it!
This isn’t crazy healthy on it’s own – but it is Mac n Cheese! Depending on your family you can definitely health it up thought. I have tried “real” cheese & honestly – it isn’t as good. I use the low-fat Velveeta, skim milk & whole grain pasta. Other ideas – you can add chunked tofu, pureed white beans, diced cauliflower, spinach or other veggie including frozen peas to make it a bit healthier.
I served mine this week with turkey kielbasa and sauteed cauliflower (seasoned with salt, pepper and Penzey’s Arizona Dreaming spice mix).
As for pans. I used this cast iron Le Creuset Roaster (that I bought as a new turkey roaster but use for MANY dishes). It is only available at Williams Sonoma, but you can get a similar (slightly smaller) Le Creuset Roaster at several other stores including Amazon
.
I used to use a Corningware baking dish & it makes a good dish too – but since it is deeper & not as wide you get less of the good crunchy noodles.
- 1 – 14-16 oz box of macaroni (I used <a target=”_blank” href=”http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=scrabyheat-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=barilla%20plus&url=search-alias%3Daps&sprefix=barill%2Caps%2C182″>Barilla Plus</a><img src=”https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=scrabyheat-20&l=ur2&o=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />)
- 1/2 large block of <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XV5K3K/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=scrabyheat-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003XV5K3K”>Velveeta 2%</a><img src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=scrabyheat-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B003XV5K3K” width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />
- Salt
- Pepper
- <a href=”http://bit.ly/U2GRdz” target=”_blank”>Paprika</a>
- Milk (I use skim)
- Cook macaroni per package directions
- Lightly spray pan (see notes for type of pan)
- Cube <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XV5K3K/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=scrabyheat-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003XV5K3K”>Velveeta 2%</a><img src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=scrabyheat-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B003XV5K3K” width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” /> into 1/2″ cubes
- Scatter some cheese cubes along bottom of pan
- Cover with macaroni, salt & pepper
- Repeat layering – pan size will determine how many layers
- Sprinkle the top with <a href=”http://bit.ly/U2GRdz” target=”_blank”>Paprika</a>
- Add milk until it is just below the top of the macaroni
- Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the milk is no longer liquid