Easy Mac...without the microwave

So did you ever wonder if people ate macaroni and cheese before the invention of the blue box of wonder? I'm pretty sure they did. I don't know if it was quite as good as the macaroni that I made tonight, but if it was, they were lucky.

So it's 9:30 and I went to the pantry and realize that if I cook an actual meal, it'll be at least 10:30 before it was done. So, upon further examination, I see a box of elbow macaroni, rice, spaghetti and cereal. The fridge had cheese, milk, butter, bread and jelly. and beer. don't judge me. So Macaroni and Cheese it is!! (I don't know about y'all, but I'm the kind of person that can eat macaroni and cheese no matter what. Like, I show up at your place and your grandma is cooking and says, "hey, ya hungry, hon?" Of course, I'd politely say no...but then grandma whips out the mac and cheese. Next thing I know, I've got a bowl of the mac and a spoon.)

Anyways, here's how to make the absolute best (and easiest) macaroni and cheese you'll ever eat. I apologize in advance to your mother, just in case you slap her.

1 1/2 cup water
1 cup dry elbows
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon butter
fresh ground pepper

1. Boil the water and most of the salt and add the macaroni elbows. When the elbows are cooked, drain them well. Put them back in the original sauce pan while you're waiting for the cheese sauce to cook.
2. In a separate sauce pan, heat the milk on a low temperature setting. You HAVE to be cautious with the milk because if it gets too hot too quickly, it'll burn or be gross.
3. Add the butter, remaining salt and a few good shakes of pepper to the milk. Let the butter melt and keep stirring the mixture.
4. Add all but 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese and the mozzarella cheese to the milk. Stir almost CONSTANTLY! If not it'll be kinda clumpy and it'll take longer for the cheese to melt.
5. After the first bit of cheese has melted and is no longer visible in the milk, add the last little bit of cheddar. Let everything melt together and keep stirring.
**If it looks a little thin, add a bit of corn starch. If you don't have any, add the tiniest bit of flour-half a teaspoon tops- and stir constantly. Adding flour will make it kinda grainy...no me gusta.**

OK! Once the macaroni and the cheese sauce are both cooked, just dump the drained macaroni noodles into the cheese sauce and mix it all up. You're done! You'll have the best damn macaroni since the blue box came along!

Happy cooking!

amy

King Ranch Chicken for 2

When my friends and I were in college, one of the best things Belvin (the cafeteria) made was King Ranch Chicken. My best friend, Ashley, makes it even better. I borrowed her recipe tonight and made King Ranch Chicken. Remember the roast chicken from the last post? Well...turns out a whole chicken is way too much for two people to eat, too...my bad. The left overs were just enough for the king ranch chicken, though! Woot!!

Now, I'll confess...I have leftovers from how I made this. But, good news: I'll cut it down for you so that you can just share it with one person.

And away we go!

1 cup cooked chicken -- if you're feeling extra low maintenance (aka lazy) you might try using canned chicken. It could be decent.

1 cup shredded "Mexican" Blend cheese
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can rotel tomatoes and green chilies (I used original...turn up the heat, use the hot!)
3-4 corn tortillas

1. Tear or cut your chicken into bite sized pieces and set it aside in a bowl.
2. In your baking dish, mix 2-3 table spoons of each soup and the tomatoes. Add a layer of chicken on top of the soup.
3. Tear up the tortillas and add a layer of tortillas to the soup and chicken. Top that later with cheese.
4. Repeat the layers until you're either out of ingredients or out of room in the dish :) OOOH! Make your last layer a layer of cheese! It'll be so melty and awesome! Trust me!
5. Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the casserole is hot all the way through.

Now, like I said, when I did this, I made twice as much as I needed, so I cut this down for you and a friend...or just you and the noid's. Avoid the noid. Eat food.


A side note: If you want to aggravate a cat or two, buy the pull top cans of soup an then refuse to share anything with the cats. While we both know it's soup, the cat doesn't and just meows at you. A lot.

Happy cooking!

Amy