…And called it Macaroni.

I was having an inkling for making homemade Macaroni and Cheese, which is totally weird because I don’t like Macaroni and Cheese, but I really want to like it.  My boys love it though, so I try to find easy but good recipe’s that they will like better then the gross, stinky “out of the box” stuff. 
My sister had some really good Mac and Cheese at a deli in New York, and her husband asked the waiter for the secret.  They discovered that they used really simple (yet totally fattening…no surprise) ingredients.  Well,  I remembered my sister told me the ingredients, but I didn’t remember EXACTLY when I was out shopping. 

side note: Does anyone else try to figure out their weeks dinner menu AS they are cruising down the aisles of the grocery store?  I’m a procrastinator. So, often I’m guessing recipe ingredients on the fly.

I remembered something about Velveeta, Cream and Butter (who could go wrong with that combo).  It was the cream where I went wrong.  I debated between cream cheese…yum-o, or sour cream…pretty yum-o.  I went with sour cream because it seemed like the lighter choice. I was way off, I needed whipping cream (no figure friendly ingredients in this recipe).  It was not until I started making the mac and cheese today that I called my sister to find out the specifics and discovered my mistake.  Well, I decided to proceed with the sour cream…I mean really, how different can it actually be? 
It turned out quite good! And even I, the pickiest of pickiest eaters liked it.  My six year old said it was better then the boxed stuff (his usual favorite).  It is a mild, very creamy macaroni and cheese.  So if you are curious and want to try it yourself, here is what I did… (I used all the reduced fat ingredients possible, so I am going to pretend it is somewhat low-fat, you can pretend with me. Kay? Kay.)

1 lb. reduced fat Velveeta cheese, (the stuff that looks like an orange brick), save 1/4 of the brick to slice and put on top for later.

1 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup (1 stick) of butter, cubed
12 ounce bag of elbow pasta

1. Boil the pasta according to directions.
2. Save one cup of pasta water.
3. Drain pasta, and return to saucepan.
4. Pour back in saved pasta water. Return to stove on low heat. Add cubed butter, stir until melted. Add cup of sour cream, stir until creamy. Add cubed Velveeta, stir until melted. 
5. Once everything is melted and looking yummy creamy, pour into 13 x 9 inch dish.
6. Top with slices of remaining Velveeta cheese.
7. Put under broiler until the top slices are melted.
8. Take out from oven and let it sit to thicken and cool.  You can stir in the melted slices like I did, or leave as is.
Then, enjoy!

In case you were wondering, I was supposed to use 1 (14oz.) can of evaporated milk or whipping cream.  Next time, maybe :)