I haven’t made homemade mac and cheese in a very long time so I decided it was time! I found this recipe a few years ago in the Macaroni & Cheese cookbook put together by Joan Schwartz (easily obtained on Amazon!) I like this one because it has some spice!
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups salsa – I used Frontera (Rick Bayless) Chipotle salsa
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Salt
- 1 lb dried pasta (I used elbow macaroni but can also try cork-screw cavatappi or the spiral rotini or fusilli)
Pour 4 quarts of water into a large pot, cover and set over high heat.
In a medium-size saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, then stir in the flour and whisk until the mixture turns a deep golden, about 2 minutes.
In a small saucepan over medium heat (or in a glass measuring cup or bowl in the microwave), warm milk for about 1 minute.
Add the warm milk and continue to whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and comes to a full boil, 4 or 5 minutes. (Whisk diligently and there will be no lumps.) Stir in the salsa, remove from the heat, then stir in cheese. Continue stirring until all the cheese has melted. Taste and season generously with salt, usually 1 1/2 teaspoons. Cover to keep warm until the pasta is done.
When the water has come to a boil, add the dried pasta. Stir well to keep the pasta from sticking together and boil until the pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly and add the pasta to the sauce. Stir until all the pasta is covered in the salsa cheese sauce.
You can eat it this way. But I decided to put the mac and cheese in a baking dish and top with some fried onions (or buttery bread crumbs could work as well) and bake in a preheated 375 oven for 10-15 minutes, until browned and crisp on top.
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I went to bed last night in a bad mood. And sure seemed to have woken up in an even worse one. I woke up at 5:00am due to Storm needing to go out. Apparently he got a hold of something yesterday that did not agree with his tummy :( After that I was awake. But I just did not want to go out for a doggie walk yet so I climbed back into bed. This is actually very strange for me. Normally, once I’m awake – I’m up. But I just wanted to be under the covers. Plus it was still basically dark out and all wet and misty and cold – typical NorCal coast summer. Blech.
When I finally dragged myself out of bed, I took the buds on a beach walk. This always puts me in a better mood. Any walk with the buds usually does. But notsomuch today. Was pretty darn cute when Angelus waded out into the harbor and a seal popped up about 3 feet away from him and jumped up and out of the water. He was totally playing with Angelus! Very cute. Angelus wanted to go in after him! Luckily he was on leash. I would have loved to get a picture of this but it was so misty and wet out, no way I was taking my iPhone out of my pocket.
Getting ready for work I was determined to try and improve my mood so I piled on the pink. Just call me Andie today…And I just got my bracelet back yesterday from being repaired. So I have my pink bracelet back too!
But the day is still sucking. Not entirely sure why my mood is horrible. Lots of stuff racing through my head but that’s normal. Really is unlike me to stay down. Even when I am in a bad mood – I can box it up and away to be happy about other things going on around me. But today seems immune to that.
As I type this, I am eating my lunch so hopefully that will help my mood? But since it’s not macaroni and cheese or a cheeseburger with fries – seems unlikely. But the reduced fat Filet of Sole frozen entree from Trader Joe’s is pretty tasty – I’ll give it that (for what it is…it’s no City Hall mac&cheese…) I’ll be hungry in an hour or so (190 calories? Yeah, starving in an hour!) but that’s pretty much the case no matter what I eat. One of the girls that works here saw my lunch and said “that’s a small-sized lunch” and giggled as she made her big bowl of noodles and Chinese food. Yeah…thanks….
I didn’t even want to window e-shop while I ate. I should probably be checked for a fever or a tumor…:) I did see these beauties thanks to @shoesmitten on twitter – HOT! I SO need these:
Christian Louboutin Candy Lace & Patent Spike Pump - HOT!
…well, “need” might be the wrong word…but DESIRE, COVET and the ever popular DROOLING OVER all seem to work ;)
Ok, done eating. Sometimes think just writing out (like in a diary when you were a kid!) can help. We’ll see! Back to work…
