Carb-Loading!

44 degrees in October? What in the what?! This calls for the heavy winter recipes to come out. I usually revel in the fall months for cooking because I get to overuse pumpkin in every possible way, but I will save the pumpkin muffins for a heartier meal suitable for a cold winter’s day in the prime of autumn.

There is one requirement for this dish: you have to channel your inner-kid.
Note: There is little to no health value in this dish, and I’m not even going to begin to count the calories.

Cheesy, Bacony, Carby, Baked Mac n’ Cheese

1 box (1 lb) elbow macaroni (or rigatoni, but elbow usually makes you reminisce from when you were 5)
¾ c. butter1
¼ c. milk
1 c. bread crumbs
2 c. cheese (mozzarella, parmesan or any kind of melty cheese works really well but for this recipe I used Velveeta)
bacon (2 strips is enough, add more if you want to be Paula Deen)
salt
pepper

The steps to heavenly creamy goodness:
1.) Cook the macaroni, usually one cup water to one cup pasta. Bring the water to a boil, add salt if desired. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2.) Once macaroni is cooked, drain and set aside. Cook bacon to desired crispiness, medium high for 3 minutes works well

3.) Mix butter, milk, and cheese together in a bakeable dish (glass or ceramic works well), add macaroni. Stir.

4.) Bake at 375 for 20 minutes

5.) After 20 minutes, give the concotion a good stir, sprinkle bread crumbs and bacon on top. Bake for another 20 minutes.

6.) Delight in the gooey-ness, have a glass of milk and don’t forget to eat your vegetables.


Photo Credit: Julia Compton