Some may not call this a recipe. But hey, whatever gets me through the day, right? 😉 Anyway, whenever we went to grandma’s house, she made this mac and cheese. All of us girls adored it. There were 5 of us by the way. I wondered for years how on earth she made it since there wasn’t a box around.
I also wanted to post this recipe because it has so few ingredients – cheese and pasta – that one may overlook the simplicity. One of them, of course, is cheese. Something so simple, but somehow made slightly more complicated by the government regulations. Take a look at your American cheese in the fridge. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Does it say “American Cheese” or “American Cheese Product”? These are two distinctly different things. One is cheese and the ingredients will list “Cheese” as the first thing. One is not really cheese but a “cheese product” and you will probably find milk as the first ingredient because milk protein concentrate is cheaper than real milk and real cheese. Well, buy what you want. The real stuff is used here.
The other ingredient is pasta… people debate up and down over processed, whole grain, processed with stuff added, processed without stuff added, etc. You eat what you like. I try to go the whole wheat route when I can.
Grandma’s Mac and Cheese
serves 4
1 and 1/2 cups macaroni noodles (I used Ronzoni’s Smart Taste b/c the kids hate the whole wheat one and won’t eat it)
4 slices of American cheese
1. Boil a bunch of water. Okay, boil 2 qts of water in a large pot if you need a number.
2. Cook noodles until al dente. For me that is 7 minutes. I think whole wheat takes a little longer.
3. Drain the macaroni and put it back in the pot. Keep the pot off of the heat.
4. Tear the pieces of cheese up into 2″ pieces and lay on top of the hot pasta. Stir until melted. The end.
I never knew that about cheese, I will have to look now. And this sounds so good!
My husband told me about it. At Costco, they sell Tillamook cheese made in Tillamook Oregon. I actually got to go watch them make cheese there at their factory, so I know their cheese is real! Full fat…. but that’s okay. 🙂
We do that with spaghetti noodles a lot…well, put a slice of cheese (real cheese) on top of the pile of spaghetti, microwave for about 30 seconds or until melted and swirl 🙂 Yum! Have you tried gluten free pasta? I’ve been using the Hodgson Mill brand and even the kids and Jason eat it!
When you say American Cheese… do you mean Kraft slices or cheese from the deli counter??
Okay, the second half of my comment isn’t here… My computer must have taken over. could you use another cheese since I can’t stand American??
I know that you can add about equal parts milk and shredded sharp cheddar cheese to a cooked pasta and some people make a fast mac and cheese that way. I haven’t tried it because my family is weird and won’t eat the made from scratch kind I like made with cheddar cheese. But I’ve read that in several places. I would probably start with melting 1/4 cup of milk with 1/2 cup cheese in with 1/2 cup pasta. I like my mac and cheese kind of thick. You can always add more milk, but it’d be hard to take out. I don’t see this in the magazines, but I know melting pot and other places mix the shredded cheese in a little flour to coat the shreds and this makes them melt instead of curdle.
It doesn’t matter which one. They are both yellow American.
Sounds awesome!! Thanks!
Wow, how easy is this! My homemade mac and cheese recipes are never quite satisfying no matter which recipe I try. We all like the American cheese slices though so I’ll have to try this one.