Since I detest and refuse to eat Easy Mac, I've been working on perfecting my own homemade macaroni and cheese recipe for a while. I wanted the baked cheesy goodness my Mom and Grandma can consistently produce but I didn't want to ask for their help, hahaha. If you're interested, my fantastic concoction is below. It was amazing; Ricky and I devoured half of an 11 x 13 baking dish of it by ourselves!
*Note: The picture is not of my macaroni but of the closest replica I could find online (
www.countryliving.com). We ate half the pan before I thought about taking a picture. I also want to try these individual baking dishes when I serve it for a dinner party!*
You'll need:
2 cups of rotini pasta
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 egg, scrambled
1 teaspoon diced garlic
3 turns of fresh ground pepper
1 can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup (low sodium)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded (not grated) Parmesan cheese
1 cup half and half
Cook the pasta for about 3 minutes so that it's not quite al dente. I use the Barilla pasta with extra protein so it takes a little longer to cook. In a large bowl mix the following with a spatula: cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup cheddar cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, half and half, butter, garlic, pepper and egg. Add the cooked pasta (drained) to this mixture. Mix thoroughly and place in a greased baking dish. Top the mixture with the remaining cheeses including the Parmesan. Bake for 25 minutes at 325 degrees until the cheese on top is fully melted with small regions of brown crispy cheese on the edges.
Enjoy!
Ricky and I have casually been looking at real estate in San Antonio for the past few months. With the first time homebuyers tax credit on the brink of expiring we hustled our search into high gear and finally narrowed down our house search to a few picks. After much deliberation, we decided on a small one story house in the quaint subdivision of Emerald Point on the northeast side of town. It's cozy with just the amount of space we need--an ideal find for first time homeowners! I'm already making plans for painting, new furniture and backyard parties. Ricky is shopping for BBQ grills and lawnmowers. Needless to say, the three days of offers and counteroffers, along with all the stress, was totally worth it. We cannot wait to move in! (Closing date is tentatively June 14th). As long as our inspection goes well this week, we'll be calling this our home!
