Tuesday: Chili and Mac and Cheese

They don't seem to go together, do they? You're right. That's because I had White Chicken Chili for lunch and Mac and Cheese with chicken burgers for dinner.

The white chicken chili was great this time - I used chicken thighs instead of breasts. It adds a flavor that is hard to describe but is yum. I had to cook it for many hours in the crock, because I did not pre-cook the beans at all. I highly recommend using dried beans in this recipe as I think it would be way too wet otherwise. Don't forget to rehydrate overnight before use. I made my changes to the recipe linked above.

Jaime's Grandmother's Mac and Cheese

Taken from and linked to Jaime's Kitchen.
*****This could easily be beefed up with some veggies to make it even better. As is, it is tasty and not as bad for you as you might expect. I got 7 servings out of it. I can honestly say that I will never eat boxed mac n cheese again.

Ingredients: 2 cups elbow macaroni (regular or whole wheat) 2 Tb reduced-fat butter or margarine 1 Tb flour 2 cups skim milk ½ lb (2 cups or 8 oz) shredded Kraft 2% Sharp Cheddar or Sargento Reduced-Fat Mild Cheddar ½ of a small onion, grated or finely chopped 1 tsp salt 1/3 cup breadcrumbs

Directions:
Cook macaroni, drain, and set aside.

Jaime's instructions:
Melt butter or margarine in saucepan. Add onion, flour and then milk. Add salt. (Don't forget the salt!) Heat on medium-high while stirring constantly. When mixture is at a rolling boil, add ¾ of the cheese. (save the other ¼ for the top.) I recommend adding the cheese a little bit at a time so it melts nice and soft. Also be sure to keep mixture at rolling boil while adding cheese or it may not melt correctly.

How I did it:

I basically made a Roux. I cooked the onion in butter until it became soft and translucent. Then added the flour and browned a bit before adding the milk, SLOWLY in about 1/2 cup increments. Bring to a boil between additions of milk. The mixture thickened on it's own while stirring, and then I added the cheese in 1/3 cup increments or so until fully melted.

Jaime's instructions to finish up:
Put macaroni in large bowl or casserole dish. (I use a 2L round glass dish.) Pour cheese sauce over mixture; stir. Top with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake uncovered in 400º oven for 35-40 minutes.