Taking the Challenge: Baked Mac and Cheese

I am back!!!

I know, I have been missing in action in my blog for a month!  But I have a good reason!  We just moved to a different house so that pretty much took my (our) time (and it still does!) since the last blog post.  I haven't even gotten the chance to tell some family and friends about our move yet.  (So to my family and friends, if you are reading this, I am so sorry for not writing sooner!  I guess, now you know, teehee)  

I will be sharing with you (in my succeeding blogs posts) some home improvement projects (just minor ones) which Hubby and I did to make this house, our home.

For today's post, I will be sharing with you something I prepared for the kids' lunch today: Baked Mac and Cheese!

(I am blogging about it now before I forget what I did, haha!)

I have tried making Mac and Cheese before but somehow, it didn't work out for me, haha!   Truth be told, it is an easy to do recipe where you just mix together butter, milk, flour and cheese.  The first (and LAST!) time I made Mac and Cheese, it tasted "floury".

But since the kids now are enjoying Mac and Cheese (it is one of the few things they eat when we dine out), I challenged myself to try making it again!  It doesn't have to be good, as long as it is eatable AND it doesn't have that floury taste, haha!

Challenge accepted.

I saw two recipes from two of my favorite Food Network stars, Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) and from the Neelys and took something from each recipe.

(For their original recipes, please click on the links above.)

Ingredients:

Elbow Macaroni - 10 oz package (I didn't use everything though)

1/2 cup Butter

1/4 cup of Flour

2 1/2 cups of Milk

1 tbsp of Prepared Mustard/Yellow Mustard

A pinch of Nutmeg, Thyme and Garlic powder

8 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese

4 oz Velveeta Cheese

Salt and Pepper

Toppings when you bake it:

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Crushed Potato Chips (I'm glad we had some in the pantry!  I used the Cheesy Garlic Bread Flavored potato chips by Lay's----Yummm!!!)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F

2. Cook the Macaroni according to package, drain and set it aside.

3. Melt the butter and then sprinkle the flour, whisk it together for a couple of minutes on medium -low heat.

4. Add the milk slowly and continue whisking everything together.  As the sauce thickens, add the mustard, nutmeg, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Mix everything well.

5. Add the cheese, stir and let it melt.

Taste to see if it is to your liking.  Feel free to add more of your seasonings and more cheese!!!!  

6. Add the macaroni pasta.  I suggest you do it gradually (don't dump the macaroni all at once) to come up with the consistency you like (ratio of the cheese sauce to the pasta).  You may serve it as it is or you may bake it.  

If you want to bake it, I suggest make it more saucy to avoid drying up your  Mac and Cheese. 

7. Butter your baking dish, pour the Mac and Cheese and top it with grated Parmesan Cheese and crushed potato chips!  

Notes:

I definitely found the Mac and Cheese recipe that worked for me!  Happy to say that it is toddler- approved!  The next time I'm doing it, I will add more salt (I just added more crushed potato chips on top of it) and add another type of cheese!  I am sure that adding other types of Cheese like Gruyere, Fontina or Asiago would do wonders!

Happy Cooking!

Easy Italian Sausage Pasta

The Little One prefers to eat the tangy Italian spaghetti over our Pinoy sweet spaghetti (where we use banana catsup as an ingredient!).  When we were in LA, this tomato-based pasta recipe has been one of her faves (she also loves her Papa's Adobo and Ginisang Sayote) that I always cook this for her almost every week.  (Now that we're back in the Philippines, I haven't cooked as much as I want.) 

This has become a fave of mine too because it is fast and easy to prepare.  The use of Italian sausage definitely gives additional flavor to the pasta sauce (flavors like Italian seasoning, garlic powder, fennel seeds, paprika)

For this pasta recipe, you will need:

Spaghetti noodles
Italian Sausage
Olive oil (preferably)
Garlic, chopped
Onion, chopped
A bottle of your favorite marinara sauce (a personal fave is the Barilla brand)
Cheddar cheese singles
Salt and Pepper
Sugar (optional) - Pinoy talaga! haha!

Let's start cooking . . .

Cook the pasta noodles according to its direction.

1. Remove the sausage meat from its casing and cook it until it turns brown. 

2. In the same pan, set aside the sausage and saute the garlic and onion.

3. Add the Marinara sauce, let it boil and simmer for a few minutes.

4.  Add the Cheddar slices, let it melt.  Season the sauce with
with salt, pepper and a little bit of sugar (according to your taste).
Stir the sauce and let it simmer for a at least 10 minutes.  I noticed
that simmering the sauce slowly and for a little bit longer
enhances the flavor of the sauce.

After tasting the sauce and you got that smile on your face which makes you say "Perfect!", 

toss in your cooked spaghetti noodles and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese

(which I didn't have when I cooked this pasta, haha!).

Buon Appetito!

Okay, it actually tastes better than it looks!
I am blaming this on a) the bad lighting or b) the Iphone's camera, Haha!

I keep this pasta dish simple for the Little One but feel free to add your favorite veggies like mushrooms, bell peppers or olives. . . and if you want a fancier pasta dish. . .throw in some fresh basil leaves!  Ooohhh and some toasted garlic bread on the side!  Yuuummm!  (Now I'm craving for some Italian food!)

If you're having a lazy weekend at home, and you plan to wear your PJs the whole day . . .but would love to eat some pasta,  you might just want to cook and eat at home.  

Hope you're having a fantastic weekend!  =)