A Fit Mom's Life

Fitness, Health & Well-being

Recipes, Savory

Baked macaroni and cheese

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving I decided I wanted to add something to the menu.  I just wasn’t sure what.  Then it hit me.  Duh!  Mac and cheese!  We doesn’t like macaroni and cheese?  No one, that’s who. 😉

Mac & cheese is the epitome of comfort food and was the perfect addition to our Thanksgiving menu. I will definitely be making this one again throughout the year.

This baked macaroni and cheese is the epitome of comfort food.

 

This was my first baked macaroni and cheese and I was so happy with how it turned out.  So was the rest of the family.  I wish I had gotten photos of everyone going back for seconds.  And it reheated so well the next day!

There are no fancy ingredients and it’s a quick one to put together.

*sorry for the weird spaces.  I’m told WordPress does this for some reason and I can’t figure out how to delete the spaces in the recipe.

Baked macaroni & cheese

Ingredients:

– 1 lb macaroni pasta

– 4 tbsp unsalted butter

– 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
– 1 tbsp salt + 1 tsp
– 1 tsp ground pepper
– 1/4 tsp garlic powder
– 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
– 1 cup milk (I used 1% but 2% would be fine as well)
– 4 cups sharp cheddar, shredded
– 2 cups colby jack cheese, shredded
 
Directions:
– Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 9×9 baking dish.
– Cook macaroni in large pot until noodles are al dente (pasta will continue to cook in the oven).  Add in 1 tbsp salt. Drain and set aside.
– In medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat.  Once melted, sprinkle in flour and stir to combine.
– Mix in 1 tsp salt, pepper and garlic powder.
– Slowly add in cream, mixing constantly to combine.  If there are still little bits of flour in the mixture that is fine.
– Add milk and stir to incorporate.
– Bring mixture to almost a boil, reduce heat and cook about 5 minutes, or until mixture is thick.
– On low heat, add 3 cups of cheddar and 1 cup of colby jack cheese and mix until cheese is melted.
– In a large mixing bowl, add the pasta then the cheese sauce and mix until fully combined.
– Add mixture to greased baking dish.
-Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of macaroni.
– Bake 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and golden in color.

Printable Recipe

RELATED  Saving Time In the Kitchen

 

It really doesn’t get much better than that.

Enjoy!

by  

Comments

  1. Kelli {A Deeper Joy} says: December 3, 2014 at 6:07 am

    Have I told you how much of a mac n cheese fanatic Kevin is?! He’d love this!

    • Tiffany says: December 3, 2014 at 7:19 am

      Oh man. Too bad he’s not going to be on an airplane with you today. 🙂
      You’ll have to make it for him I suppose.

  2. Biana @Blovedboston says: December 3, 2014 at 6:36 am

    I dont think you know how much I love Mac & Cheese!! It’s seriously my favorite!! I’m pinning this recipe – thanks for sharing!!

    http://www.blovedboston.com

    • Tiffany says: December 3, 2014 at 7:20 am

      Girl, Mac & cheese is my daughter’s favorite food as well. But I guess that’s not surprising; she’s 3.
      But yes, it is the bomb.com. Love it!
      Thanks for pinning!

  3. Paige Allison (@anuncomplife) says: December 3, 2014 at 6:45 am

    YUM! And you’re spot on – nobody doesn’t like mac and cheese! My mom used to make a “grown up” baked recipe, but I haven’t had it in years… I need to give this one a try!

    • Tiffany says: December 3, 2014 at 7:22 am

      I know right?! Nobody. My mom never made homemade mac & cheese. I had to take that torch on. Luckily she made other good things. Hope you like it!

  4. makingmrsm says: December 3, 2014 at 7:28 am

    Uhh… Can you make this for me right now? YUM-O! I’m going to have to try this.

  5. Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom says: December 3, 2014 at 11:59 am

    Comfort food?! Ummmm, yes indeed!

    This sounds and looks fabulous Tiffany!

    Thanks so much for sharing.
    xoxo

    • Tiffany says: December 3, 2014 at 12:23 pm

      Thanks Jennifer! I love comfort food this time of year. Probably why I always put on a few lbs. 😉

      Hope you’re having a great Wednesday!
      xoxo

  6. Cindy Hasko says: December 3, 2014 at 5:15 pm

    What’s with the weird spaces!?!??? LOL!! I’m so kidding! I just had to type that 🙂 xoxo This looks sooo good. I will make this. My hubby and son will love this!!!! Thank you! You always put the yummiest recipes on your page. I’m STILL thinking about those Molasses cookies!

    • Tiffany says: December 4, 2014 at 8:14 am

      Ugh. I asked the designer and she said it’s just a WP thing. Maybe I’ll figure it out sometime.
      I bet you hubby and son will for sure love it. We ate it for a few days after and it was still so good.

      • Cindy Hasko says: December 4, 2014 at 11:03 am

        🙂 lol, I was just teasing ya since you typed about the spaces in your blog. It still looks good. You have a pretty site!

  7. Carly Blogs Here says: December 3, 2014 at 6:49 pm

    YUM! I was always just a kraft mac & cheese kind of a girl, but my husband will only eat the real stuff…aka this! Looks so good!

    • Tiffany says: December 4, 2014 at 8:15 am

      We didn’t even get Kraft as a kid, only generic brand. I know, so sad.
      My daughter love box mac and cheese and she really liked this. I bet your hubby would love it.

  8. Chelsea @ The Contented Wife says: December 5, 2014 at 11:55 am

    I’ve been looking for a good baked mac n cheese recipe, so I’m definitely pinning this for later! Thanks for sharing – can’t wait to try it!

  9. Brittnei says: December 7, 2014 at 11:54 pm

    I used to love making this with my mom. I actually make mine on the stove now when I do it. I always use whole wheat pasta and cheddar cheese. It’s Alton Brown’s recipe basically from the Food Network. 🙂

    • Tiffany says: December 8, 2014 at 7:37 am

      I think you could have just done the mac & cheese on the stove without the baking and it would have been really good still.
      OOOHHHH….love Alton Brown! I actually think I’ve seen that recipe before. Yummy!

  10. Amber says: December 12, 2014 at 1:52 pm

    I know what I’m making for dinner tomorrow night! That looks amazing-thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
    Cheers, Amber at OurCharmedLife.net

About

About Tiffany

Recent Posts

Subscribe to the Blog via Email

  • Last week we hung hearts to show our support for all those on the front lines, living this crazy time day in and day out. But we can’t forget all the truck drivers, food workers, delivery drivers, and and all the folks that are keeping our country turning while we #stayhome2020. . And although our lives haven’t changed much, things do feel a little bit slower since we can’t go explore as much. But I’m not mad about it. ❤️
  • Yesterday we celebrated our busy boy turning 4. I never knew what people meant when they said boys have a lot of energy. Until him. Now he puts all those other crazy busy kids to shame (according to my friends) with his wild antics and insane amount of energy. But even though he is wild and savage nearly all the time, that 2% of the time he’s not, he’s my snuggle bug, still calls for me in the morning to snuggle with him and get him out of bed, and occasionally lets me hold him like my baby. 😍 I’ll take it until he will no longer fit in my lap....which will probably be soon.
  • This guy, keeping me sane and grounded since 2008. 👫 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ To stay this travel life has tested our marriage would be very accurate. 😂 Learning to work, play, and school all in the same 430 square feet each day has its challenges for sure. Luckily we don’t tire of each other easily. ❤️ Right now we’re just living each day waiting to see what happens in the coming weeks. Not sure if we should stay in Florida or hightail it out ASAP.
  • During this time of uncertainty, it’s human nature to try to control the things we can, because everything else feels so out of control. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I encourage you to use this time to reflect, read, exercise, sleep and get some sunshine. We don’t know what the next few weeks hold, but we can control how we respond. If you have kids, they are looking to you. Don’t show them that we panic and fight over toilet paper in situations like this. Show them that we remain calm, do our best and what we are asked to do for the betterment of humankind. #socialdistancing ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We’re all in this together friends. ❤️
  • My people. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ They make me feel so happy, overwhelmed, insane, like I want to pull my hair out, and so loved all at the same time. 🤣 Anyone relate?
  • The kids busted out a 5 mile hike a few weeks ago. It was what my soul needed and we had the best time exploring the hill country of Texas. . Although I love the San Antonio area, the humidity would kill me over the spring and summer. We’re still leaning toward Spokane, WA when we finally settle down. That’s our plan....for now. ❤️ . If you could live anywhere in the US, where would it be?
  • We clean up pretty well. ❤️ Our first Mardi Gras experience was pretty awesome. Partying with the most welcoming locals, seeing the best of the parades (Bacchas if you ever go), and having a bit of adult time. Thanks for the hospitality NOLA. I think we will be back.
  • “We see the world through the lens of all our experiences.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My lens of experience has been loss. I have experienced so much loss in my life, and today I felt it again. Loss of friendships, loss of people I thought gave a crap. I felt lonely and frustrated and defeated. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It’s hard to change how you see the world when you have lost so much. I find myself getting easily in a funk when I know it’s doing me no good. Changing how we view things takes work and time. I have put in so much damn time to change how I view things, but sometimes it’s exhausting. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ All that to say sometimes people just need a listening ear, or a phone call or text, just something to let them know they haven’t been forgotten. Reach out to someone you haven’t in awhile and show them that you care. ❤️

Follow Me @afitmomslifeblog