Look, Ma! No Box!

I've done a few posts so far about food--I think this will be my third. I've told you how I cook for my ex on a regular basis, and how I'm experimenting with new recipes in an effort to both avoid boredom and save a bit of money. I first tried this Mac & Cheese recipe a number of months ago, and I've been tweaking it since then. And let me tell you: comparing the boxed crap to this recipe made with 13-year-old cheddar (which is what I used last night) is like comparing an algae cell to a 300 year old Seqoia. Technically, they're in the same kingdom, but in actual fact, there's simply no comparison. And yes, I'll admit that we need both single-celled algae and KD (and I do have KD as a pantry staple), but when you need to satisfy or impress, go for the Sequoia of Mac & Cheesedom!

Ingredients:

2 cups elbow macaroni (before cooking)
2 tablespoons of butter
salt, pepper, and flour
lots and lots of shredded cheese
2 cups milk

For butter crumb topping:

1/4 cup soft butter
bread crumbs

Cook the macaroni according to package directions until al dente. Drain and put back in the pot. Add the butter and stir until it's mixed in.

Pour about half of the buttered macaroni into an 8 x 8 inch baking dish. I use a glass one.

Shake salt, pepper and flour over the layer. I use a flour shaker--if you don't have one, just sprinkle a light dusting over the layer.

Put half the shredded cheese over the layer. I generally use about a cup per layer. I would strongly suggest you grate your own cheese with a box grater, available for really cheap at any thrift store near you! The already grated stuff in the store has some kind of anti-clumping agent added, and that's the kind of stuff I'm trying to avoid by making my own food. And you can't get 13-year-old cheddar that way anyhow.

Pour the remaining macaroni on top of the layers, and repeat the salt, pepper, flour, cheese layers.

Carefully pour the 2 cups of milk into the dish.

To make the buttered crumbs:

Put 1/4 cup of soft butter into a cereal bowl, and add bread crumbs. Mix with your fingers and keep adding bread crumbs until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Sprinkle on top of the Mac & Cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Serves 1 (if it's my autistic 22-year-old son), 4 normal people as a main, or 8 as a side. I really reccomend that this be the main dish, with salad or cut up raw veggies as a side.