Homey Mac 'n Cheese

I know, I know, kids LOVE Kraft macaroni and cheese and its SO easy to make but here's a recipe to make a homemade version sans the preservatives and icky chemicals that are in the blue box.  No offense to Kraft and I know sales will remain constant probably forever despite what I say here, but I do like making healthier homemade versions of things and that packet of orange powder sort of freaks me out.  That is not cheese, people.  I admit, we do keep it in stock but my goal this year is to make more homemade foods.  Remember I'm the one here that likes pain in the ass recipes.  Mel is the more practical and realistic one (and she has a few more kids than I do).

I do have fancier mac 'n cheese recipes that are super good but the other night I was searching for a quick side dish, thought of mac 'n cheese, didn't see any blue boxes in the cupboard, so looked over some recipes on the interwebs for a basic recipe with as few ingredients as possible, and no Velveeta (another thing I definitely grew up with but am trying to avoid).

Easy Homemade Mac 'n Cheese

Revised from Simply Recipes

Ingredients
2 quarts water
1 T salt
2 cups uncooked pasta of choice
2 T butter
2 cups grated cheese
1 t corn starch
2 T flour
1 cup milk, warmed

Instructions
In a bowl, coat the cheese with the corn starch to help stop it from getting stringy.  Boil the water with salt added.  Cook the pasta al dente (2 minutes less than instructions).  While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce.  Melt the butter in a large saucepan on medium heat.  Whisk in the flour.  Slowly add the milk while whisking, creating a smooth sauce.  Slowly whisk in the cheese until melted.  Do not overcook.  Mix in the cooked pasta.

So of course the real test is when your kids try it.   Mine were excited by the shell pasta I used and it looked really cheesy.  The 6 yr old thought it was too cheesy after tasting it so next time I'll add less cheese.  I used cheddar and a little bit of pepperjack that we had.  We could really taste the pepperjack.  Studmuffin loved it.  Next time I may use colby or add some Gruyère to the cheddar.

Give it a try and see what your family thinks!