Sunday, November 22, 2009

Mac and cheese, peanut butter cookies and little animals

We went to the gas station on Friday night with a very modest request. We both wanted macaroni and cheese. Kraft, fluorescent orange mac and cheese. We didn't feel like going all the way to the grocery store, so if it wasn't at the gas station, we were out of luck.

Gas station didn't have it. BUT!!! They did have macaroni noodles, with a recipe on the box. Hmm...after I quick gander, I discerned we had enough of the ingredients to make do, and we set off to have a very nutritious dinner of Mac and Cheese.
We halved the below recipe, because we barely had a cup of cheese. It still worked well, and between four of us, it was gone before it even cooled down.

8 oz elbow macaroni
1/4 cup butter
3 T. flour
1/8 t. dry mustard
1/8 t. pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups cheddar (or a mix)
panko for the topping

**we also added a good 1/4 cup chopped jalapeños
-cook noodles until barely al dente, drain
-melt butter in saucepan, add flour, mustard and pepper
-cook mixture until bubbly and smooth, gradually add milk
-gradually mix in cheese
-add pasta, mix and pour into casserole
-top with panko and bake for 25 minutes at 350.


What goes with macaroni cheese? Peanut butter cookies :) So much bad-for-you food, but so delicious! We only ate a couple of these, sent the rest home with friends.

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. baking powder
3/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt

375 for 10-12 minutes

Do you guys remember Sculpey? (Or Fimo?) Its the clay that you can bake in the oven. It was on sale at the local art store, so we grabbed a couple packs to play around with. I forgot how fun this is!!


Frog!
Scale shot--I'm no hand model.
Reindeer!


We made an army of critters to protect us.

7 comments:

Jenn said...

I love kraft mac and cheese. That reminds me that I still have a pack in the pantry. Mac and cheese has alwasy been my lazy go-to meal. I love that you added the jalapenos. A nice added kick to an already awesome meal.

buffalodick said...

The dish we all eat, and don't admit to! I've taken to using evaporated milk in mac and cheese.. really smooths out the sauce!

tavolini said...

Jenn--I love Kraft Dinner :) It's one of my many guilty pleasures.

Buffalo--evaporated milk is a great idea! We rarely EVER have milk in the fridge, this was a rare occasion :)

The Blonde Duck said...

That's like the best dinner ever. Both of those are two of my FAVORITE foods!

Marjie said...

Sometimes you just want dayglo orange food. And Kraft is there to help. And sometimes you want to play with children's toys. After all, what's more fun than an army of critters?

Velva said...

Your creation was a great alternative to the Kraft mac n' Cheese that you were looking to prepare. The peanut butter cookies were a fabulous dessert idea. God, I adore peanut butter cookies!

Unknown said...

Lovin' the PB cookies we haven't had those in forever, I'm going to have to make some! I love your animals Tavo looks so proud of himself!!