Rainy Day Comfort Food

If you're looking for a good rainy day comfort food, I've got your fix. Who doesn't love a good bowl of mac & cheese? However, there's just something about all those artificial colors, preservatives and wanna-be-food ingredients in the store bought boxes that hasn't been making my mouth water as of late. I had seen some homemade recipes online, but they were all so labor intensive and required lots of ingredients (not to mention lots of cream, butter and other fattening things). But then one day, I came across this recipe. It sounded so easy, and had very few ingredients. It beckoned me to try it. And the result was very successful! So creamy, and it took about the same amount of time to make as a box you'd buy from the store. So are you ready for the recipe?

Easy Mac & Cheese
2 & 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta
3 cups milk*
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of favorite shredded cheese

*I also add 1 cup of water, because I've found that the sauce thickens too quickly before the pasta is done cooking.

In a sauce pan, put the pasta, milk (and water) and salt. Cook on medium/high heat. Stir almost constantly once it's boiling. (If you don't stir almost constantly, the pasta will clump together and you can scald the milk.) When the milk has thickened to a consistency you like, stir in the cheese. If the pasta isn't quite cooked all the way by the time you add the cheese, just put a lid on the pot and let it sit (not on the burner) for about 5 minutes. And there you go!

I've found that I like to add a few other things to the basic recipe--a little pepper, mustard powder, and Parmesan cheese. Try adding more than a cup of cheese if you like yours extra cheesy. And experiment with the type of cheese(s) you use. Enjoy!