The Best Ever Creamy Stovetop Mac and Cheese

How do you even start a blog called "For the Love of Cheese and Bacon?"  

Really, there are endless possibilities, but I thought I'd start off with a story and a recipe.

When I was a kid, my family was fairly poor.  We got food (called "Commodities") from the government, most of which was TERRIBLE for you!  I never really understood their philosophy of nutrition, unless of course the plan was to give you nutritionally poor foods in order to make you die off, thereby removing you from the list of people who needed help from the government.  I don't know.  Just a theory.

Anyway, one of the best foods we got was cheese.  GIANT. BLOCKS. OF CHEESE.  I blame the government really for my cheese obsession.  I can't blame them for my bacon obsession. They didn't give us bacon (bologna, yes . . . bacon, no).

So yeah, that's where it all began for me.  My love of cheese.  This love I have passed down to my children, and I am sure, in turn, they will pass it down to their children after them.

There are so many recipes I could begin with, but I decided I would begin with our all-time family favorite: Creamy Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese

First off, I should tell you that I am a southern cook, which translates to "I mostly don't measure stuff, and I use way too much butter and black pepper."

So you might have to do a little finagling with this recipe to get it exactly how you want it.

But here's how I make it.  And I want to assure you that I never, ever, ever have any leftovers, no matter how much I make. It's that good.  And so easy!  (You're welcome in advance)

CREAMY STOVETOP MACARONI AND CHEESE

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups Small Elbow Macaroni (don't get other kinds - it's my recipe!)
1 cup of cubed Velveeta (yes, I know it's not really cheese, but let's pretend okay? Later on you can modify if you like!)
1 cup Milk (I use 2% because clearly I'm concerned about calories! And DON'T USE IT ALL AT ONCE!)
1/4 stick Butter (not margarine, not fake butter.  Butter.)
Salt and Pepper

Instructions

Boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan.  Once boiling add about 1 1/2 cups of macaroni with a pinch of salt.  Boil until done, or a little less than done depending on how you like it. Drain and put noodles back in pan. Add 1/4 stick of butter, 1/2 cup of milk and about 1/2 cup of cubed Velveeta. Stir over low heat until completely melted.

Here's where the southern part comes in.  You will have to decide for yourself if you want it cheesier and/or creamier. If you want it cheesier, add more cheese.  I dice about another 1/2 cup cheese and keep adding it until it gets to the cheesiness that I like.  Sometimes this requires me to add more milk because I also like mine with lots of extra cheesy juiciness. (Pretty sure that's a technical recipe term)

NOW, once you have it to just the perfect amount of creaminess and cheesiness, THEN add your salt and pepper to taste.  I tend to go heavy on the pepper.  You do what you like.  But if you add your salt and pepper before this stage, you're just going to have to do it again because the cheese and milk you added (see above paragraph) are going to change the taste!

Serve it while it's hot!

Total time from boiling water to serving?  Oh, about 15 minutes.  That's all.  Unless of course you want to add some crumbled up bacon to the top.  That'd be pretty amazing too.

For the love of cheese and bacon, you've gotta make this tonight.  It'll pretty much make you wife/mom/girlfriend of the year.  (No guarantees of course. I just like to end with grandiose statements like that!)

I'm That Carol Jones. Enjoy! (and if you make this, please come back and tell me what you thought, what you changed, etc.! I'd love to hear from you!)

(BTW, when my son was reading this, he said, "You know what makes your mac and cheese so good?  It's the way the cheese gets up inside the noodles, and then when you bite into it, it explodes into warm cheesy goodness.") - an unsolicited testimonial.