TO DIE FOR MAC AND CHEESE

 

MAC AND CHEESE

This has to be the best mac and cheese recipe I have ever put on my lips, which now are on my hips. My daughter who is in the Navy, found and cooked this recipe for a group of sailors on Thanksgiving day. She said it was a huge hit, and so I too wanted her to make it for us while she was home for Christmas. It's true, it is a big hit! Plus it is soooo easy to make!

 

Cook a box of Rigatoni noodles. Follow the instructions. Be sure and don't over cook them so they won't get mushy. Drain and keep aside for a few minutes.

 

1 stick butter

2 cups milk

add about 1/3 cup flour

Melt the butter in the same pan that you just emptied out all the pasta from. Add the 2 cups of milk, then whisk in the flour making sure you have no clumps in it. Heat on medium until it slightly thickens. Now throw back in your well drained pasta, then start adding your cheeses.

1 cup mild Cheddar

1 cup Sharp Cheddar

2 cups Mozzarella

1 cup shredded Gouda Cheese

Stir these all together, make sure the cheese is well stirred throughout the pasta. Place into a buttered pan.

Layer the top with bread crumbs. I used Panko bread crumbs. Then I sprayed the top with the "I can't believe it's not butter" spray. This is to help it brown up better.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

 

 

Hope you enjoy this as much as we have.

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Food Gift

 I love making and giving food and gifts to those who I love, and want to show my appreciation for. As I have been lucky enough to spend time volunteering in a first grade class I wanted to do something special for my little ones.

  I bought these little Chinese takeout boxes then stamped and embossed them . I then placed a little felt red nose reindeer on the back, added red tissue paper inside, then filled them with M&M's, Kisses, and Christmas pretzel's.

To finish it off, I added curly ribbon to the handles and when all was counted, I had twenty-six boxes total.






 

 

 While  making these boxes for the 25 students  and one for the teacher, I realized that this was the number of people killed Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary in CT. These are 1st graders I work with, same grade as the ones killed in CT. My heart and mind struggled with thoughts of those little lives at Sandy Hook, and I kept thinking that it could have been here in this class room, this teacher. I thought about  how those teachers took such heroic care of those students. As I filled each box with treats, I couldn't quit thinking of those 1st graders in CT,  and the ones I love volunteering to help every week.

The kids in the class I volunteer in always say "You're the best Mrs. Skousen", they want to tell me about their pets at home, about their brothers, sisters, and parents. They make me smile, they make me giggle, and I always leave that class every week feeling better than when I walked in. So as I give these little boxes of treats to my little class of 1st graders, I hope they will know it has also been filled with lots of love just for them.