Creamy Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese

HIII. I have a new recipe. It's a miracle, I know. Having a kid is hard, and I am in awe of the bloggers who do this thang with their tiny humans running around. They're the real MVP. I have a hard time but when I can get something for you I will! And here it is!!

There are two camps of macaroni and cheese lovers: baked or stovetop. I'm a baked mac and cheese fan myself, I like the crisp top and thicker center. But Michael is firmly team stoveop, so when I saw this recipe I thought it looked like it would be right up his alley (and I certainly wouldn't kick it out of bed either)!

It's quick and easy, uses only one pot (hi hi hi have I mentioned I'm a busy mom? All important facts for me!) and is seriously creamy and flavorful and just downright tasty. And you can absolutely jazz it up with different seasonings, or by mixing up the kinds of cheese, or mixing in veggies or a protein (OMG NOW I WANT TO DO BEEF AND CARAMELIZED ONION MAC AND CHEESE BECAUSE I HAVE AN ADDICTION TO THAT COMBO). Am I still #teambakedmacandcheese? Yes--but this recipe comes a close second! And it makes my boys happy so...I'm really #teamfamily. 

Creamy Skillet Macaroni & Cheese {Max Brenner's Copycat}

First of all...saying this recipe is a copycat is a smidge misleading. It's not actually a copycat-it's the actual recipe via Max Brenner's website. So it's like super legit. Whenever I would go to Max Brenner's restaurant in NYC, my favorite savory item was their skillet macaroni and cheese. It's creamy and flavorful with a gorgeous, slightly crisp, crust, and there are little bites of tomatoes studded throughout. It's crazy good.

I'm having flashbacks to many many wonderful times in NYC back at Max Brenner's restaurant--with the macaroni and cheese today, and that hot chocolate I shared last week (which is the closest hot chocolate I've ever had to their Italian Thick Hot Chocolate, which is my mostest favoritest), my 2 favorite things to order there! It's like I never left. :P

The mac and cheese is super creamy and flavorful and there's yummy little bits of tomato in there and the most perfect cheesy crumby-y crust. It's just....the best macaroni and cheese in the world, guys. I'm for serious. 

French Onion Macaroni and Cheese

erm...so....hiiii.

I'm sorry guys. I know it's been like 2 months since I posted any new recipes for you and I'm seriously sorry-between this whole buying a house thing, various summer activities, and my brother visiting....I've just been sort of insanely busy. And I can't even say it won't happen again. We're still dealing with the house/moving situation (although we're officially going to be in possession of it on Sept. 16th!!) and life is just kinda crazy, ya know? So I'm just going to try not to worry about it and take it one day and one recipe at a time. I hope that's cool?

Cuz I love you guys.

Now-on to food.

I just feeeeel like....onions make everything better? That's my opinion, anyway. They're so darned flavorful and delicious and make everything they're in taste amazing too.

I also want to like french onion soup, for this reason, but for some reason it never really quite works for me. But french onion MAC AND CHEESE? Yeah. That I can get on board with.

And, shockingly, Michael really liked this recipe!! I'm shocked because 99% of the time he's not a huge fan of my macaroni and cheese recipes (he just wants velveeta....*sigh*). But--it's a miracle, he liked this! I loved it! And everyone in the kingdom was happy :D

It's just insanely flavorful macaroni and cheese (don't be scared of the gruyere-it's subtle. But also feel free to sub in a different cheese if you really want) that's creamy and has yummy yummy onions and is topped with buttery toasted breadcrumbs. Yessss.

Baked Gnocchi & Cheese

Sorry about these pictures, guys. It was all gross and rainy and fall-like outside when I made this yum yum yummy side dish and it impeded my light. But I had to share this recipe with you soooo we shall have to muddle through these photos! Remember, it tastes much better than the pics look!

I absolutely love homemade ricotta gnocchi-it's insanely easy to make. However, I hadn't really had anything to make the gnocchi for UNTIL I SAW THIS RECIPE! You can totally use store-bought gnocchi, but really...it takes nothing to make the homemade. And I just adooore the pillowy texture and perfect flavor of it. Regardless, let's chat about the dish as a whole and not just the noodles!

This is essentially a recipe for a small mac'n'cheese-like dish (which is actually lovely because so many of my mac and cheese recipes make way too much for me to eat on my own!) You make a lovely sauce with delicious gruyere (sorta like fancy cheddar?) and fontina (sorta like Parmesan) cheeses. Then it's topped with some Parmesan cheese which-when baked-becomes wonderfully golden brown and a bit crisp-a much needed contrasting texture from the soft gnocchi and rich sauce. It's cheesy and flavorful and like an Italian'd up macaroni and cheese! I absolutely loved it and I think you will too :) A great recipe to serve when having people over for dinner!

White Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese with Truffle Sea Salt

It's finally happened. Michael didn't complain about a macaroni and cheese recipe. STOP THE PRESSES!

You see....that crazy boy of mine is always all whiney about my baked mac n cheese recipes, saying they're not real mac n cheese and asking me why I can't just buy him Velveeta. #firstworldfoodbloggerhubbyprobs

I suppose I shouldn't have been SO surprised, this is a stovetop mac n cheese recipe, which means it's creamier and more what he's used to. And...well....it IS delicious!

....and maybe there's some truffle flavor in it for me. But not so much that Michael got overwhelmed by it (or...even noticed it, for that matter).

You know what another benefit to the stovetop mac n cheese is (aside from silencing crankypants fiances')?

IT'S SO EASY. And quick. I used one pot to make the entire thing. (hooray minimal dishes)!

You make some of your favorite shaped pasta, then whip up a super creamy, super dreamy cheese sauce (that I healthified a bit by subbing in fat free half and half, instead of the original recipe's heavy cream. The downside was the sauce needed some thickening via a cornstarch mixture. I'd take that over the calories any dayyy though!) with a healthy dose of addictive truffle salt. It's lovely. Mmmmm. Get yourself a bowl a-tothe-sap!

Cheez-It Macaroni and Cheese

Just when I'm getting over all my nervousness about Michael's job interview on Friday, TODAY is his grad school interview. Sooo much presssuuuure. *deep breaths* Anyway. So. We're gonna keep the comfort foods rollin'. Mac n cheese=ultimate comfort. Cheez-its: one of my favorite snacks. PUT TOGETHER!

Now, I cannot take ownership for this idea. I got it from my girl Ashley over at Wishes and Dishes. But...oh MAN! How brilliant! Crunchy, cheesy crackers on top of your beloved macaroni and cheese! Now...I might have changed the recipe just a smidge in that....I...sort of browned the butter...I KNOW! I couldn't resist! I have a problem guyyssss!

But anyway. So. Let's chat. This mac n cheese is super tasty BUT very thick. It is 100% best eaten the day it is made. This is not a dish where it makes good leftovers. So, I suggest you make this yumminess if you're entertaining or have a decent sized family unit. 2 people is not enough. Nopes. Especially because Michael will forever be loyal to Velveeta, it seems. *martyred sigh*

Anywayyy, give it a try! All those other people you feed will def. be grateful!

Roasted Garlic Macaroni and Cheese-Guest Post at A Zesty Bite

Hello you all! Today I wanna talk a little bit about Meagan, from A Zesty Bite. Meagan is SUCH a sweetheart, and she keeps tempting me with offers of moving to Texas and being best friends and baking and letting me pinch her adorable little baby girl, Olivia's, cute chubby baby cheeks! Not to mention, she makes super delicious food and has a super fun, super gorgeous blog. Today I have the amazing honor of guest posting for her while she spends some very needed, very important family time. My heart goes out to her and I am so happy to help out in this way.

Roasted Garlic Macaroni and Cheese-there's nothing not awesome about this dish. You have an amazing roasted garlic, cheesy sauce mixed with the pasta and topped with a toasty breadcrumb and scallion topping. Super flavorful, super delicious. And you can get the recipe by heading on over to A Zesty Bite!

Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

Sooooooo good.

This recipe is courtesy of a random clipping of a recipe I had in my old recipe box from my pre-food bloggy (AKA food obsession) phase. I have almost thrown this recipe out a million times but something always stopped me. THANK GOD! I love love love love this. It's a new favorite. I'm 99% sure you'll love it too.

The onions and garlic add a really delicious flavor to the rich and creamy cheese sauce, I adore penne and the addition of chicken makes this a nice easy casserole kind of meal! And don't get me started on the buttery, delicious, soft crumb topping! It's a perfect combination of flavors. Michael loved it. I love it. You'll love it. Your family...will....wait for it..

love it.

Brown Butter Macaroni and Cheese

Ok. I know. I'm obsessed.

You've seen so many recipes with browned butter from me. But what can I say? It makes everything tastes so amazing! Extra buttery and just so...just...you know? Adding the wonderousness that is browned butter can only elevate everything to the next level-and that is exactly what has happened with this macaroni and cheese.

You brown the butter. You add flour and milk and cheeses to form a delicious roux (I think that's the word? Cheese sauce. It's essentially cheese sauce). You add it to your macaroni (or other noodles, whatever. I particularly like to use extra healthy noodles here, since the flavor of the sauce is so strong it helps mask anything I would maybe not love in the pasta if it were plain). Put some buttery cracker goodness on there. Bake/broil it up a bit and KAZAAM*! Delicious mac'n'cheese! I kinda wanna make some now. Food blogging makes you hungry-fact.

*Do you guys remember Kazaam? It had Shaq as a genie who like...rapped and acted ridiculous? Anyone? Did you love it even though you knew it was absolutely a train wreck? ME TOO! I'm pretty sure the only reason I ever knew anything about basketball was thanks to Kazaam and Space Jam. I was all "Oh yeah, I know who Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan are. No big." But I digress. (You guys...I still have that movie! I know! Let's watch it! Buahahaaaa!)

Quick and Easy Mac and Cheesey

Since on Monday we talked about easy--this recipe is the ULTIMATE in easy. Like, it's kind of shocking how quickly you throw this together. This takes no more time than the boxed stuff, and it's a lot more...real.

It's not the most amazing, gourmet tasting, macaroni and cheese. But, it's better than the boxed stuff and just as easy.

So get yourself some Mac and Cheesey!

I'm spending today running around from Penn Station (I get back to NY from Maryland this morning) to home to get ready, then an audition, then recording my Voice Over Demo. I should prob. whip some of this up today, actually.

Quick and Easy Mac and Cheesey

From Picky Palate's "5 Minute Homemade Mac and Cheese"

Superior Macaroni and Cheese

There are certain recipes you will always find a million versions of, everyone's got their own kind. This applies to (for example) chocolate chip cookies, chocolate lava cakes, spaghetti and meatballs, and macaroni and cheese. For a recipe-o-phile like me, this means you end up with a looot of different recipes, for one thing (don't even get me started on how many chocolate chip cookie recipes I have). The hope is, once I try them out, I will be able to narrow it down to one recipe (or...at least less). After the first time I made this macaroni and cheese, I deleted all other mac'n'cheese recipes, and no longer even look at others. It is unnecessary. I know I will not like anything more than I like this. I am in a monogamous mac'n'cheese relationship, and I have no desire to cheat. It is a "healthy" (ish) version, it is full of flavor, is thick and creamy, and makes you happy!