A Saturday Special ~ Homemade Mac & Cheese

This Saturday was filled with early morning errands and now hunkering down for another snow storm.  We are expecting nearly a foot of snow on top of the several inches still on the ground from earlier this week.  We were supposed to go out for Chinese food but instead I have pulled pork cooking and fresh cole slaw chilling.   And since the diet is pretty much shot after all the indulging during these storms, I am making home-made macaroni & cheese.   To me, this is the ultimate comfort food and I am re-sharing last year's post of my lower calorie version of this tasty treat!

My Ultimate Comfort Food - Homemade Mac & Cheese

Let's face it, Mac and Cheese is just not meant to be a low fat, low calorie dish.  I found an online recipe with the total cholesterol being 160% of the daily allowance and there was 60 grams of fat per serving.  So I doctored it up to reduce as much cholesterol and calories as possible without losing the taste.  If you are watching your cholesterol and fat closely, you may want to skip this one. 

I start with my favorite Vermont Cheddar from Grafton Village Cheese Co in Grafton, VT.

Homemade Mac & Cheese

8 oz cooked pasta

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour 

salt

pepper

1 cup of milk (I used 2% milk)

1 cup cream (I used 1/2 and 1/2

2 cups of shredded cheddar (I cut small squares of Grafton Village Cheese Co. Cheddar Cheese from Vermont)

Buttered Bread Crumbs (I used seasoned Panko bread crumbs, no butter)

Buttered baking dish (I sprayed with Pam)

Cook the pasta as directed and set aside.  

Preheat Oven to 400.  

Melt butter in large saucepan and then stir in the flour, salt and pepper.  Keep stirring until smooth.  Slowly add the 1/2 & 1/2 and the milk, constantly stirring to keep the mixture smooth.  Bring to a boil, boil 2 minutes, then lower heat and cook for 10 minutes stirring constantly.  Add the cheese a little at a time, stirring until cheese is melted.  Remove from heat and stir in the pasta, thoroughly coating with the cheese mixture.

Pour mixture into a baking dish liberally sprayed with Pam Non Stick Cooking Spray.  Sprinkle the seasoned Panko bread crumbs on the top.

Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until bubbly.

I don't know what the final fat & cholesterol counts are, but they are bit lower than the original recipe - ENJOY!!!