Baked Mac & Cheese

Sorry for the lack of posting over the last week, it was Homecoming Week at school and I didn't cook so much as forage.

This recipe is one from Clean Eating that I make at least 2-3 times a month. It takes only slightly more prep time than traditional boxed mac and cheese, is super easy and is amazingly delicious. I will never make mac and cheese from a box again.

2 cupped handfuls of whole wheat pasta, something like shells, elbow macaroni, or spirals

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 pinch of sea salt

1.5 cups milk

grated sharp cheddar
grated low-fat Swiss
1/8 cup dried breadcrumbs

1/8 cup grated parmesan

Cook the pasta, drain it and set it aside. Preheat the oven to 375 and spray olive oil in a medium size casserole dish. In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, warm the milk, flour, and oil. When the milk mixture is warm, add the Swiss cheese and stir until smooth (1-2 minutes). When the Swiss is completely incorporated, add the cheddar cheese and stir until smooth (30 seconds-1 minute). It is really important to stir the sauce constantly, and it comes together really fast, so don't try and cook the pasta at the same time. When the sauce is done, add it to the pasta, and mix it together. Put it in the casserole dish, mix the parmesan and breadcrumbs together, and sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture on top of the pasta mixture. Bake it covered for 10 minutes, remove the top and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes.

In the original recipe it calls for panko breadcrumbs and brown rice flour, but I only had regular breadcrumbs and can't find brown rice flour, so I replaced them.

Rating - 5/5
Why? Once I tasted these, I will never eat boxed macaroni and cheese again. This is almost as easy to make, tastes better, has so many fewer calories and a tenth of the sodium, and no chemicals.