Cheesy dinner pleases the crowd
When it comes to meals, I’ve discovered that you can’t please
all of the people in your family all of the time.
In my house, if I can please at least two family members
occasionally, I consider myself lucky.
Ever since my kids and I moved in with my mother, cooking has
become a bit of a challenge. Part of the challenge is knowing when
I’m expected to cook
– Tuesdays and Wednesdays are usually out, since those are late
days for me here at the Pinnacle. Sometimes I’ll cook on Monday,
sometimes Friday, but for the past few weeks, my cooking days have
landed on the weekend.
Cheesy dinner pleases the crowd
When it comes to meals, I’ve discovered that you can’t please all of the people in your family all of the time.
In my house, if I can please at least two family members occasionally, I consider myself lucky.
Ever since my kids and I moved in with my mother, cooking has become a bit of a challenge. Part of the challenge is knowing when I’m expected to cook – Tuesdays and Wednesdays are usually out, since those are late days for me here at the Pinnacle. Sometimes I’ll cook on Monday, sometimes Friday, but for the past few weeks, my cooking days have landed on the weekend.
The other challenge is fixing dishes which are quick, healthy and will receive the least amount of complaints. Notice I say complaints, not compliments. Compliments in our house are typically reserved for baked goods or desserts. At our house, the trick is finding a dish that will get me a “That was pretty good, Laurie” as opposed to a “what are you fixing now?” comment.
When we had our own home, I could pretty much fix whatever I wanted. I was the mom, after all, and no one could overrule my dinnertime decisions. For the record, I rarely made anything that wasn’t a general crowd pleaser – if three of four kids were OK with the dish, it was considered a keeper.
Now, the only thing which involves more debate than what to fix for dinner is what we are going to watch on television. (Although to be honest, my sister tends to watch what she wants; those of us who want to sit in the living room with her just accept that fact. If she’s watching “Bridezillas,” I leave; if it’s “The Office” I stay. Sporting events I watch in my room.)
But my mother and I don’t like cooking three or four separate dishes each night, so the television solution doesn’t work when it comes to meals. And it’s hard to find a dish to please everyone. One of my sisters doesn’t eat red meat or ham; the other hates spaghetti, tater tot casserole (one of my kids’ favorites) or anything with seafood in it, so I’m always threatening to make a spaghetti-tater tot-seafood casserole, which while fun to say sounds pretty disgusting.
When you think about it, though, it really is curious how people related to each other can have such different tastes. Even fixing a quick dinner of store-bought ravioli is difficult – I don’t like Alfredo sauce, my kids prefer beef and spinach ravioli while my sister eats only chicken or four cheese and my daughters like theirs without any sauce at all.
This weekend, however, I finally found something everyone agreed on. My 13-year-old daughter had been asking for macaroni and cheese. I was going to buy her a box when I went shopping, but then my sister decided homemade macaroni and cheese would be a good rainy weather meal.
The recipe I used is one I adapted from a Betty Crocker standby. The original uses sharp Cheddar cheese and Worcestershire sauce. For my kids, I changed the cheese to a combination of mild cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses and eliminated the Worcestershire. It’s one we’ve enjoyed often during the Lenten season. With a light crumb topping and rich cheesy sauce, it’s a yummy yet simple dinner to make any day of the week. This time around, I served it with a loaf of chewy rustic bread from the local grocery store and some sliced Gala and Grannysmith apples. And I actually heard two “pretty good, Laurie” comments, which makes it a keeper in my book.
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
16 oz. package elbow macaroni
¼ c. butter
¼ c. flour
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
¼ tsp. ground mustard
4 c. milk
2 c. shredded mild Cheddar cheese
2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 tbsp. butter
½ c. bread crumbs
Cook pasta in large pot as directed and drain. As pasta is cooking, in separate 12-inch skillet, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and mustard. Cook over low heat until smooth, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.
Stir in milk. Heat to boiling over low heat; boil one minute. Stir in cheese. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted. Pour over pasta and stir gently. Pour into a 13×9 pan sprayed lightly with cooking spray.
Melt remaining butter. Add bread crumbs and sprinkle over top of casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until lightly toasted. Makes 10 servings.
