Comfort Foods - Mac and Cheese

In my post last week about comfort foods I received a few recommendations for people's family favorite recipes. One suggestion was something I've never made before - crockpot lasagna. It sounds like a great idea. I found this recipe for slow cooker spinach lasagna over at the Raise Healthy Eaters blog and plan to give a try soon.

But for now, I wanted to share a couple of my favorite recipes for a comfort food classic, Mac and Cheese. I have made my fair share of the blue box mac and cheese over the years, but have happily moved my family away from that ~ although my youngest still gets excited about a monthly treat of Easy Mac (I'll have to write more on that later). Below are two recipes for Mac and Cheese: one that I prefer and one that my kids prefer.

Kids Mac and Cheese
adapted from a recipe in Family Circle
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 cup milk
8 ounces sliced American cheese from the deli (not the cellophane wrapped singles)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar

• Prepare macaroni according to package directions.
• While pasta is cooking, break American cheese slices into small pieces and shred cheddar if it not already shredded.
• After you've drained the pasta, add the milk to that same pot. 
• With the pot on medium heat, add in the cheeses.
• Whisk together the milk and cheeses until the mixture is smooth.
• Return the macaroni to the pot and stir to combine.

My Preferred Mac and Cheese

adapted from a recipe from Rachael Ray

1 T olive oil

2 T butter

3 T flour

1 1/2 cups milk

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1/4 t ground cayenne pepper

1 pound elbow macaroni

• Cook pasta according to package directions.
• Preheat broiler.
• Heat oil and butter in a large skillet at medium heat.
• When butter is melted, add flour and whisk together.
• Cook for a few minutes until flour mixture is smooth.
• Slowly add the milk while continuing to whisk.
• Continue to cook until milk thickens a bit.
• Add in 2 cups of the cheddar, stirring until smooth.
• Add in nutmeg and cayenne.
• Stir the cooked pasta into the sauce.
• Transfer to a baking dish and sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
• Place baking dish in broiler. Cook until cheese on top is melted.

Anyone else have any favorite mac and cheese recipes to share?