Thursday Recipe Swap Meet ~ Family Style Macaroni & Cheese

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OK... we know you have all these recipes that you love to make. You got them from your mother, your grandmother, a magazine, or maybe you made it up, perhaps you don't even remember where the recipe came from. Well, how about sharing them with all of us? We are going to share ours with you every Thursday!


My good friend and (according to her husband) excellent cook, Dolly over at XmasDolly and I are now doing a recipe swap; we want to share ours with you and wold LOVE to get some of your favorites as well... So, Welcome to Thursday's Recipe Swap Meet, here is all you have to do:




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Post a recipe on your blog, sign the linky on either blog (they will be linked), grab our new button - isn't she cute - hubby says she looks like me... TeeHee? (above, on my sidebar and on my Co-Chef Dolly's blog) and check out the recipes. Don't forget that each week you actually will be getting at least TWO for the price of ONE because both Dolly (Hi, my dear friend!!!) and I will post a recipe on each of our blogs. How simple is that??

Family Style Macaroni and Cheese

2 Cups elbow macaroni cooked according to pkg. directions (Barilla is the best, IMHO)
2 1/2 Tbls. butter, divided (don't use margarine, real butter makes it taste best)
1 1/2 Tbls. all purpose flour (King Arthur unbleached is my favorite)
1 1/2 cups milk (whole milk gives the best flavor, but you can use 2% if you MUST)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (Sargento Fancy Shredded works/tastes really good)
1/4 cup dried unflavored breadcrumbs (I only use Progresso)

~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; spray casserole dish with Pam non-stick cooking spray.

~ Melt 1 Tbls. butter in a small skillet on medium heat; add bread crumbs cook and stir until toasted slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

~ In medium sauce pan, melt remaining butter; add flour, cook over low heat stirring constantly for 1 minute. Gradually add milk while continuing to stir constantly. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened; add salt and pepper.

~ Remove pan from heat; add cheese, stirring constantly until melted and smooth. Stir macaroni into cheese mixture; spoon into prepared casserole dish and sprinkle toasted breadcrumbs over top. Bake in preheated oven for 7-10 minutes until bubbly and top is crusty.


Enjoy with steamed broccoli or green beans. You can add protein to the meal by adding cutting up pieces of smoked sausage or kielbasa right before you mix the pasta into the cheese mixture and then baking. YUMMY ~ This received 6 out of 6 puppy tail wags (with and without the sausage) because my doggies LOVE pasta and cheese.  Hope you try it and like it, it is total comfort food and is great for the coming fall weather. Of course I don't have any photos of it because it has been too hot for me to make it down here in Florida, but as soon as the weather cools down, I will be making this for all of us: me, Bill and the puppies. =)



So now all you have to do is sign our linky so we all can find your recipes. You check out all ours and we will check out all yours. If you don't want to write it all down and you know of one on line just post a link to it on your blog or leave it in a comment if you prefer!


Let's get cooking..... Bon Appetit!


{Disclosure: I have not been paid by any of the companies who's links I have included. I have found that they work best in my recipe and wanted to share them with my friends. However, if any of these companies want to contact me to do any reviews or giveaways, I am more than happy to oblige!}


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