Not so Barenaked Mac and Cheese

I'm the lunch supervisor at the kids' school, which means that I spend 50 minutes each day in two of the primary classrooms and outside on the playground.  During my most recent jaunt through the Grade One class, my daughter, having seen her friends' lunches, told me she wanted Kraft Dinner (Kraft Mac and Cheese for all you Americans who haven't listened to "If I Had a Million Dollars").  I told her that we didn't have any, so she asked if we could buy some.  I don't really like the stuff and I'm not willing to buy it when it's not on sale, so I said no, not this week.  She humphed and I decided to compromise.  We needed a side dish to go with the leftovers for supper and I was certain we would have more of this casserole remaining for kid lunches the next day.  So, after some searching I think I have finally found the best Homemade Mac and Cheese out there!

I found this creamy mac and cheese on Allrecipes.com, but I've changed it to suit my tastes.  It seems like the sauce is too runny, but trust me, it really does bake up very nicely so don't try to thicken it up any more than the recipe causes it to.

Ingredients:


8 ounces (1 ¾ cups) uncooked elbow macaroni
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (or half and half mixture of mozzarella and cheddar)
3 cups milk (I used 1% and it worked great)
1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
(you can also add garlic, mustard powder, tobasco sauce, according to your tastes.  I put mustard and garlic in, but I think I'll try without next time.

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup bread crumbs
sprinkle of paprika
(I used smoked paprika and it was too smokey.  I think I'll omit the paprika next time.

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cook macaroni according to the package directions. Drain.

3. In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to make a roux. Add milk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses and other seasonings, and cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is slightly thickened. Put macaroni in a large casserole dish, and pour sauce over macaroni. Stir well.

4. Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and brown. Spread over the macaroni and cheese to cover. Sprinkle with a little paprika.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.