Easy Homemade Mac and Cheese

My kids LOVE mac and cheese. They could seriously eat it everyday for lunch if I'd let them. I get tired of the "out of the box" mac and cheese, so decided to try my hand at making my own. Here's how it went....

1. Start boiling some noodles. I had Rotini noodles on hand, so that's what I made. Follow packages directions and cook until al dente.

2. In a skillet, turn up the heat and throw in a little over 3 tablespoons of butter. Give the butter time to melt.

3. After the better is melted, toss is a little over 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Turn the heat down to medium. 

4. Using a whisk, make sure the butter and flour are mixed well. This is the base for your cheese sauce. 

5. Next, you'll add 2-3 cups of cold milk. Now you'll turn the stove back up to high and whisk together the butter/flour mix and the milk. This sometimes takes awhile, but be patient because you'll want to make sure that you get all the lumps out. If you're having problems getting lumps out with your whisk, you can always use a fork or I sometimes throw it into my blender for a minute or two. After you've got everything mixed, turn the heat back down to medium. You don't want to scold the milk, you'll want your sauce at a nice low boil. 

6. Now for the cheese! This is where you can go off in any direction you like...adding American cheese like I am. Or adding any type of cheese that you're family enjoys. I think some Swiss and Gouda sounds awesome together or Fontina. My hubby and my oldest boys are not cheese snobs like my baby and I are...so, it's good old American cheese for them. 

7. If you were using block cheese, I would suggest using at least 8 ounces and testing it out from there. For the slices, I'm using 8 slices. (This picture didn't turn out so great for some reason.)

8. With your sauce still on a medium boil, let the cheese melt down and stir as needed. This is also the time to season your cheese sauce. You'll want to season it, taste it, season it, taste it...until it's just right. You can always add more season, but it's a pain the try to take it out. I used sea salt, pepper, basil and garlic powder to season mine. 

9. Once the seasoning is right, and the cheese is all melted - go ahead and pour your sauce on your drained noodles. You're almost done!

10. Mix well and that's it. Go ahead and give it a quick taste again to see if it needs any more seasoning. 

You did it! You made Mac and Cheese from scratch, your family will love you (even more!)

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