mid-week meal share: creamy baked macaroni & cheese

A little while back, I received this Snapchat from my husband:

A. I love that he reads the blog.

B. Of course I can oblige!

After sharing this with friends, I got a couple recipes sent my way and I "combined" two that were somewhat similar. Thanks Granny and Jennifer!

One is a recipe is for creamy no drain skillet macaroni and cheese and the other is for baked macaroni and cheese. The ingredients between the both were pretty similar; the ingredient list and recipe is a little more extensive for the baked version so I just picked a few things to add to the already amazing skillet version. Let me say if you are not interested in baking the recipe from Mel's is perfect.

Cost effective: yes, $10-12 for a decent sized batch.

Easy to concoct: Lots of mixing and measuring.

Here's what you'll need for my slightly larger combined recipe with notes:
*'d items are things I added/substituted in the skillet recipe from the baked
If you're not going to bake I would recommend using only 3½ cups water and 1 can evaporated milk

16 oz elbow macaroni (because what is anyone literally going to do 

with the 4 oz leftover from the original recipe)

4 cups water

 2 cans of evaporated milk (14 oz + needed)

½ tsp salt

1 tsp cornstarch (wahoo I finally found it!)

½ tsp dried mustard

*½ tsp paprika

*1 bay leaf (pictured, but I forgot to add it)

¾-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

¾-1 cup shredded monterrey jack cheese

2 tbsp butter

topping

*3 tbsp butter

*1 cup bread crumbs

1. In a large skillet combine together your noodles, water, 1¼ cup evaporated milk, and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until noodles are tender and the sauce thickens. Admittedly, I didn't notice a thickening but a 'lessening'. This will take between 9 and 12 minutes. (Oh, and this is when I would've added my bay leaf)

2. Once your sauce In a separate bowl whisk together your cornstarch, dried mustard, paprika and ½ cup of evaporated milk and combine into your skillet and simmer for an additional minute.

3. Preheat your oven to 350°F if you are baking.

4. Remove your noodles from the heat add in 2 tbsp of butter and slowly add in your cheese. Oh my god, the cheeeeeeeeeese!

 

Looooook at it!  Now if you're not going to bake your pasta, you're done! If you're doing the oven baked deal, you're gonna transfer your pasta into a baking dish to prepare for the next steps. No one is watching if you want to take a couple bites for the hard work you've put in thus far...

5. If you're like me and like to take the easy way out, you're going to melt 3 tbsp of butter in the microwave and combine your bread crumbs in a bowl vs dirtying up another pot by melting it on the stove.

6. Top with some more shredded cheese and your bread crumb mixture.

7. Bake for a torturous 30 minutes.

8. ENJOY!

This recipe is the best either way. If you want to be done after the cheese is melted because you know there is nothing that compares to being hangry, by my guest. But waiting it out the 30 minutes in the oven makes for a nice competition to see if you can get all your shit cleaned up before it's done. If I were to go through the process again and bake it, I would add a little bit more milk and water before transferring it into the baking dish. It was not dry, but it totes could have been creamier.

I think you'll like it guys. Try it.

"Me likey the mac n cheesey." - Brendon

Leia