Macaroni & Cheese

Macaroni & Cheese
Michelle Francom from Megan Trent

It is fast, easy, and tasty! (Okay, not as fast as Kraft Mac and Cheese, but definitely better tasting and healthier!) You guys will probably want to double this recipe for your size families and put it into a 9X13 pan.

2 cups, uncooked macaroni noodles
2 qts. boiling, salted water
2 cups milk
4 T. butter
3 T. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper
2 C. grated cheese (I prefer cheddar or colby jack, but any cheese will work. Also, I usally add about 3 cups instead of 2 because we like it extra cheesy!)

Optional Additions:
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2-1 cup cubed ham

Cook the macaroni noodles in the boiling, salted water until tender. Meanwhile, make a white sauce by stirring the milk, butter, and seasonings together over medium heat until butter is melted. (Don't boil it.) Then, whisk in the flour small amounts at a time so it doesn't get lumpy. Add 1 1/2 cups (or 2 1/4 if you are doing the extra cheesy variety) of the grated cheese and stir until melted.

Drain the cooked noodles. Butter or spray your cooking dish. Alternate layers of macaroni and cheese sauce, mixing in between so all the noodled get covered in sauce. Sprinkle the top with the remaining grated cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Enjoy!

Note: If you add sour cream to it, add that to the white sauce mixture as you heat it on the stove. Also, we LOVE this recipe with ham in it. Whenever I make a ham for Sunday dinner, I always use some of the leftovers in this recipe. I just cube the ham and add it to the white sauce with the grated cheese. My sister-in-law makes it with wafer thin sliced ham lunchmeat too, but we prefer the real thing.

And, one thing I have learned through trial and error with this recipe is don't scrimp on the sauce! It is still really good if it is a little more saucy. But, it is not so good if there isn't enough sauce---it gets dried out.