Old Fashioned Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Okay, pretty much anyone who knows me knows I love macaroni and cheese.  Anyone who knows me better knows that my mom makes a killer mac and cheese, and that we eat it for Christmas dinner every year with our ham.  Anyway, its a super easy recipe and can be used as a side dish to almost any meal. 


I'm kind of lazy when it comes to measuring out my ingredients.  I've included the exact measurements, but a lot of this is give and take - have fun with it!  Also, the recipe only calls for 1/2 package of elbow macaroni, but there will be enough cheese sauce for an entire package, so you can either do the half and cut down the cheese sauce recipe, or do what we do and make a ton and have leftovers! 
Prep time:  15 minutes
Bake time: 25 minutes


8 oz. (1/2 package) elbow macaroni
1/4 cup margarine -or- butter (you will be making a rue, and I've found that butter works better)
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp dry mustard (totally optional - I don't think we have ever used it)
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (we use and entire brick of Cracker Barrel Extra Sharp White, and lately I've been adding in a few other cheeses... you can never have too much cheese and it only makes the recipe better)
bread crumbs (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350 deg.
• Cook elbow macaroni.  Drain, set aside.
• While you're cooking your macaroni, in a separate medium saucepan, melt margarine or butter, blend in flour, salt, pepper (and mustard if you're using it)
• Cook until mixture is smooth and bubbly, stirring with a whisk.
• Gradually add milk
• Stir over medium heat until mixture boils (this takes a little while.. be patient and keep stirring!) 
• Simmer one minute (still stirring!) until mixture thickens.
• Gradually mix in cheese.  Stir over low heat until cheese is melted.
• Add pasta, mix together.  Pour into 2-qt casserole.
• Top with breadcrumbs.
• Bake for 25 minutes (or until top looks crunchy)

Enjoy!

I forgot about this until Maggie just asked, but I found cubed ham in the commisary one day and put that into the mac and cheese.  Its great because all you have to do is mix the ham with the mac and cheese before you put it in the oven, and that's it.  You don't have to worry about making something separately.  As a side, that was probably Bing's favorite way to eat it, and its what I would do with our Christmas leftovers anyway!

And now, some pictures!  The top one is pre-breadcrumbs and the bottom is after its been cooked.  I went a little overboard with the breadcrumbs.  Oops :)  I made this for Bing to take to work with him last night (16 Sep) since the guys are all working 12's overnight.  I thought they might like some home cookin'.