I have a three-year-old who simply adores macaroni & cheese for lunch. We used to by the boxed kind (you know the one I mean), and after several months of eating it on a regular basis for lunch I had enough!
I wanted to make an easy, cheesy pasta dish for me and my toddler that was a quick fix for lunch but that was also healthier and better-tasting than the boxed variety. Here’s my recipe for DIY Quick Mac and Cheese that I’ve come to love and that my little girl loves too! Once you’ve made it a few times, you’ll find it takes almost the same amount of time to make as boxed macaroni & cheese and it’s much tastier.
DIY Quick Mac and Cheese
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp butter or hard margarine
- 2 Tbsp flour
- Salt & pepper
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or experiment with different cheeses!)
- 2 cups macaroni pasta noodles
Directions:
- Boil a large pot of salted water and add the macaroni pasta noodles.
- In a medium saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter/margarine. When it’s melted, add the flour and stir to create a paste. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, then add the milk and stir. The sauce should start to thicken in about 5 minutes. Keep stirring it periodically.
- Once sauce has thickened, add the shredded cheese and mix it in to melt it. Keep the sauce on the lowest heat until your noodles are ready.
- Drain your macaroni noodles when they’re done (check your package directions, but most take around 10 minutes) and pour the cheese sauce over the noodles.
- Mix together and you’re ready to enjoy some DIY Quick Mac and Cheese! Leftovers can be refrigerated for a couple of days or even frozen for a quick meal later.
Christina Dennis is a mommy to two adorable girls, a wife to one adorable husband, and they live on an acreage in a teeny cottage west of Edmonton. She is the owner and designer behind indie baby fashion label, Golly Gee Baby, and (instead of cleaning her house) she blogs about her craft-geek adventures at www.thediymommy.com.
