Friday 31 October 2014

Ooey Gooey Homemade Mac and Cheese


So this week has been a bit of a blur. The flu has been running rampant through our house, knocking me right out, and knocking Mya out for a couple of days too. But she's now completely recovered, and I'm just on the mend. But Halloween comes whether we're sick or not.

Tonight is one of those nights that is fun, exciting, spooky and (my favourite part)..it will make memories for your kids that they just won't forget. But it's also a night that always feels a bit rushed, getting the kids home from school and daycare, getting dinner made and filling up their bellies with something other than candy before they go out and stock up on all the good stuff. So, I thought it was only appropriate to share a quick and easy dinner recipe that you could make before heading out to trick or treat tonight...and (the best part), your kids will actually eat it!    

It's Terry's mom's homemade mac and cheese.

We absolutely LOVE it.

And the great thing about mac and cheese is that the kids love it too. So I decided that it was about time to learn how to make her famous dish since I was trying to track down yummy, easy recipes that I could make large batches of and freeze. So, I thought it was only appropriate to share this delicious recipe, since I technically stole it myself.

So with Judy by my side the other week, she took me through each part of the recipe step by step, and we came away with the most delicious ooey, gooey mac and cheese that you'll ever taste. I promise. And (bonus!) it's not full of all of that bright powdered cheese that I usually use for the mac and cheese in this household.

So, if you want to try it yourself here is how you do it: *These measurements are all approximate, so if you want to add a little more or a little less it won't hurt!

Ingredients:
1/4 cups melted butter
1 onion diced
salt and pepper to taste
approx  1/2 cup of flour (or until melted butter thickens up)
4-5 cups of milk
3 cups grated cheese (I used marble, but you can choose whatever you prefer)
4-5 cups of elbow noodles (or throw the whole bag in like I did and once you've made your sauce you can add however many noodles you want and just freeze the leftover noodles for an even quicker meal next time!)
Bread crumbs (as much or as little as you prefer as a topping)

Instructions:
Add butter and onions to large pot on stove and cook until onions are translucent and soft.

Then slowly add your flour, mixing until it looks like the picture below (where the moisture from the butter is soaked up and you have almost a paste surrounding your onions).



In a separate pot, boil your noddles until soft. Drain water and place to the side for later.


Shred your cheese and place to the side for later.


Pour milk SLOWLY into the pot with the onion and flour paste, keeping it on medium heat, stirring constantly. Then start adding your cheese slowly, stirring constantly.  

Once it starts to boil just a little and the cheese is melted, start slowly adding your noodles until it's as ooey gooey as you like it (I like a lot of sauce on my pasta, so I added less noodles).

Judy, the master mac and cheese expert, showing me how it's done. 

Keep stirring until completely mixed together.



Pour noodles into large baking dish



Pour a thick layer of bread crumbs over entire dish




Put in oven at 350 for approx 20-30 minutes. The sauce will get thick and ooey gooey as it cooks. Once cooked, let it sit for a few minutes on the counter to thicken up even more, then serve. I also sauteed up some green beans as a side dish, and voila--easy dinner!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Erica xo


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