Mac and Cheese

No pun intended. We have all been trying to get used to our new computer. Going from a PC to a Mac has been a tiny learning curve, but really nothing tooo crazy. Except my oldest son thought this new computer was going to be his saviour our something. Last night he threw a hissy fit (please tell me your 13 year old sons throws hissy fits) because his Ipod wouldn't sync. EEE-gads child! Just because we have a new computer, unfortunately that does not fix our internet dilemma. Which I am working on.....kinda...oh I can be a procrastinator. It is not something I like to admit but.....well I just did. SO now it's out there. I on the other hand I am pretty much loving the Mac. So that's all that really matters.......

When mom is happy the whole family is happy. Or should be.

Macaroni with cheese makes me quite happy too! So I thought I would share my borderline criminally cheesy mac and cheese recipe with you. Yes criminally....as in should be outlawed it's so cheesy and sometimes I even add more cheese.

MAC-N-CHEESE

printable recipe

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup flour

1 clove of garlic finely minced

3 cups milk

3 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded

1 cup of pepper jack cheese shredded

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup of Gruyere cheese shredded

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt **taste your cheese sauce before adding, it may not need salt

1/2- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 cup of crushed cheddar jack Cheez-its

1 box of Cellentani or Cavaltoppi noodles (any noodle that is curly with a good ridge on it to hang on to all that ooey-gooey cheese)

preheat oven to 375

1. boil noodles in salted water until al dente. DO NOT OVER COOK! Noodles should be firm to the bite.

2. Melt butter in a 6 quart sauce pan. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.

3. Add flour and whisk into butter let it get all bubbly and start to brown then add milk gradually whisk well as you add. It will get thick, but you don't want it too thick. If it gets too thick add more milk a 1/4 cup at a time until it is about at thick as syrup, you want it to coat the back of a spoon.

4 Remove from heat and add your dry mustard and ground pepper, now add your cheese. You don't want to wait, because you want the sauce hot so it will melt the cheese. If the cheese does not completely melt that's OK it will in the oven.

Now stick your finger in the cheese sauce....get a big glob on your pointer finger and TASTE. Does it need salt? If yes then salt it 1/2 teaspoon at a time. Be careful not to over salt. Cheese sauce will now be quite thick and gooey.

5. Add noodles to the cheese sauce and fold them in.

6. Butter a 9x 13 baking dish generously. Or you can Pam it if you are into her.

Spread your criminally cheesy mac-n-cheese into the pan. Sprinkle the Cheez-its on top.

7. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until bubbly and yummy looking!

There you have it! I took pictures. BUT I could not find them. I searched for....oh a half an hour! Then I had a hissy fit like my son. Where could they be in I photo. They have to be there somewhere! I am sure it is user error.

Oh well!

I did find these photos......

My baby as Tina Turner in the school lip-sync. She sang Proud Mary. It was a scream. The video didn't turn out or she would be famous on YouTube right now.

Oh my! And this would be my seestor. And the man? Well we are not sure...this was the week before she got married and he showed up at her bachelorette party wanting her to leave Skidder and come back to him. He said he still loved her and was very sorry. Apparently she thought this was hilarious. She obviously laughed him off and married Skidder. Thank the Lord.

Look-E-here. This was in my creative birthday party days. My third son had a Scooby Doo party and I made the Mystery Machine out of a refrigerator box that Lowes gave me. WOW those days are over. Who was that mom? These days its bowling and cupcakes......sorry kids, mom spent her creativity on the Mystery Machine 5 years ago.

Donkey boy. He cried his eyes out when I made him wear this costume, for manger day at preschool. Once we arrived at preschool and he saw he wasn't the only donkey boy....he was fine and forgave me and is not scarred for life of anything. In case you were worried for him. (FYI Manger Day is the much anticipated day the kids get to dress like a animal or person from the manger scene.) Hey his sister was a chicken the year she did it. Was there a chicken at Christs birth? I bet there was, she just didn't get in any of the nativity scenes because she was squawking around and being a nuisance.

So aren't you glad that I couldn't find my Mac-n-Cheese pics? Now you know SO much more about me and my family.

We will be cheering my sons team on in the Irish Cup Soccer Tournament this weekend in South Bend, Indiana! If you know of any good family friendly places to eat in South Bend....Hey let me know....much appreciated! Go Georgetown Rangers!!!!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

LuvYa!