Whole Wheat Macaroni & Cheese

Macaroni & Cheese has always been one of my favorite things to not only eat, but make!  I do not like it made with onions, eggs, or with any other added ingredients accept noodles and creamy cheese sauce.  There is something so comforting about eating a plateful of homemade mac & cheese.

This time when I decided to make it, I opted for whole wheat noodles.  I also always use elbow macaroni, but this time I used shells.  Hmmm, I supposed I should have titled this "Whole Wheat Shells & Cheese". ha!  Anyway, I used as much "organic" ingredients as I could, which was only the milk.  I didn't count the calories, but, I'm sure that it could be "low cal" or "low fat" by using the appropriate ingredients.  Unfortunately the ingredients I will be listing below will not reflect that.  It is a very simple recipe that can be altered to your cheesy tasting by adding less or more.  The original recipe I followed called for 12 oz. of cheese, but I added 8oz. instead.  Also, in the past I have always microwaved the cream/cheese mix so that it would go faster and so that the milk would not burn.  But, this time I decided to try the stove to be healthier (haven't done the microwave study, but common sense tells me it may be better for us....not sure?).

Ingredients

• 8oz of uncooked macaroni (or shells)
• 8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar 
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2.5 cups of milk
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Boil water and cook pasta to al dente.  Melt butter over medium heat and stir in the flour to make a roux.  Add milk to roux and continue stirring until the milk mixture thickens.  You must stand at the stovetop and stir constantly or else the milk will burn.  It may take a while for it to begin thickening, but be patient.  (This whole process is what I have typically done in the microwave in the past).  Once the cream sauce has thickened, add the shredded cheese and stir until completed melted.  Take off heat and pour cheese sauce over noodles and mix together. After the noodles and cheese have been combined, pour into an un-greased casserole dish and bake @350 for about 20-25min.  I also sprinkled parmesan cheese on top before placing in oven.

Below are photos from my cooking adventure today. :-)

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