Mac-n-cheese test!

So I am always telling my hubby how easy it is to make things from scratch that you can get out of a box at the store. Today I challenged Mac N Cheese. I made it for all of us at lunch time but, because I am a foodie I made Jordan and I a "real" version of it. It takes about 20 minutes start to finish to make a box of mac n cheese and it taste like cardboard dusted with this bland powder and drenched in again, bland milk.. YUCK! My version was 20 minutes also.. Easy peesy..

 I hate boxed food. When I was a kid my mom made a ton of it but my dad was pretty big on not using them in his cooking. Thanks dad!! My Grammie is awesome with food too! She grows herbs and veggies and only buys the good stuff! She is such an awesome cook and someday I hope to be up on her level in the kitchen. I mean the woman used to grind her own wheat into flour!! That is so cool!

Anyway.

While the kids were eating (I made ours separate becuase I couldn't figure out what I wanted to eat yet) I made ours.

I started by boiling water. DONT FORGET TO SALT YOUR WATER! If you want noodles to taste like cardboard go ahead... skip the salt..

Then added the noodles which take about 10 to 15 minutes to cook so while that is going on 
Grate your desired cheese. I used Swiss, cheddar and jack. Whatever I had. If you wanna cut the time even more. Use pre-grated cheese!

Then I started on my Bechemel sauce (thats fancy talk for white sauce!)

I large skillet with raised sides (see picture below) on med high heat I used 1tbs of olive oil, 2 tbs of AP flour, 1 1/2 cups milk. Make sure that you make a roux first. Thats where you heat the oil just a bit and wisk in the flour until it starts to bubble. Tada.. Roux done. Then wisk in milk and bring to a boil. Should only take like 2 minutes if your pan is on about med-high. Add in the cheese and take off heat. stir it in till all melted and there you have your cheese sauce. Season to taste. I added pepper and salt to mine. It's up to you!

Your noodles should be done by now so drain them and Add them to your cheese sauce. Right in the pan works!

Yum Yum! So you can eat it like this. And it would take you about 10 to 15 minutes to make it! or you could go a step further and add a bit of crunch..

All I did to make the topping was pour a bit of panko bread crumbs on top and sprinkle a bit of paprika and spray with Pam. I put it under the broiler for like 2 minutes and it was done. I topped it with some of my Grammies dried Oregano from her garden! Its so good!

There are a lot of ways to make this your own. If you like that hamburger helper cheese burger macaroini add some ground beef and tada you have your own cheese burger macaroni that tastes better and is just as time saving.

If you want low  - fat then add all ruduced fat cheeses and non fat milk.You can use smart balance for the roux too. Make it your own and Have Fun!