my favorite baked mac & cheese

About 5 years ago this was on Allrecipes, I'm glad I printed it off when I did because Kraft pulled it (was a Kraft recipe). It's also not on Kraft's website, they have one with the same name but different measurements/ingredients.

Down Home Macaroni and Cheese
6 servings

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1/4 lb Velveeta, diced up into cubes
8oz shredded cheddar, divided
2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked & drained
2 Tbsp seasoned dry bread crumbs

Preheat to 350.

Melt 3 Tbsp butter in large saucepan on low heat. Blend in the flour & salt; cook and stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add prepared Velveeta cheese and 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheddar; stir until melted. Stir in macaroni.

Pour into lightly greased 1 1/2 qt casserole. Melt remaining 1Tbsp butter and combine with breadcrumbs. (optional, I've just sprinkled the breadcrumbs straight with the cheese). Sprinkle casserole with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar and bread crumb mixture.

Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes, or until thoroughly heated.

vodka sauce

Tonight for dinner we had tomato vodka sauce with cheese tortellini, Abby's Chicken Rollantini, Easy Focaccia, and steamed zucchini/summer squash.

Everything was pretty good, I overdid the garlic a bit on the chicken, and even though there's only about 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes in the sauce it has some kick. Will see how the tortellini is leftover tomorrow ;)

Crockpot Lasagna

This was from a cookbook my Mom worked on right before she passed away. It was for the Clarkston Chamber of Commerce, so I doubt I will be arrested for copyright infringement for sharing it with you. It originally called for 12oz cottage cheese (gross) so I sub ricotta. You can change it back to cottage if you prefer.

Crockpot Lasagna

ingredients:
1 1lb of ground turkey or beef
1 medium onion, chopped (I used a couple shakes of dried minced onion, and a few tsp of minced garlic)
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce, approx 26 oz. (I used a 3lb jar of Prego)
15oz ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
12 oz lasagna noodles (not cooked)
12 oz shredded mozzarella (reserve 1/2 cup)

Brown meat and onion (and garlic) in skillet. Drain off fat. Add spaghetti sauce (and I added additional spices) and simmer for 5-10 minutes. If sauce is too thick add about 1/2cup of water to thin it (I did). In a separate bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese (reserving 1/2 cup) and the egg (I also threw in pesto here). Mix thoroughly. Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of the slow cooker. Add 2 layers of uncooked lasagna noodles (broken into pieces to make them fit). Top with cheese mixture, then sauce, then 2 layers of noodles, then cheese, then the remaining sauce. Sprinkle reserved 1/2 cup of mozzarella on very top. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for approx 3 hours.