What The Heck Mac & Cheese
I almost, maybe, possibly, potentially might have finished the name change process.
Right after returning from our mini-moon I started a crusade to get my last name changed. I heard the process was, to quote my grandpa, a ruzzabuzza. Thankfully this blog post by a fellow married Grand Rapidian outlined the process easily. I was in and out of the social security and secretary of state offices in record time.
My biggest hurdle, surprisingly, was getting my name changed at work. They needed a copy of our marriage license, which was then lost. They needed Ben’s social security number for non-benefit reasons that I still don’t understand. I was passed off to five different people including the one woman who flips the switch right before she went on vacation for over a week. Meanwhile coworkers kept asking me, “are you ever going to change your name?!” Sigh.
The whole thing was making me feel spicy, so I ventured home and channeled the feeling into dinner. The result was spicy mac and cheese. Not only was it hot enough to match my attitude and speedy enough to make mid-week, but it’s yummy enough to become a favorite. Even my cool as a cucumber husband has requested it again and again. Also in terms of mac and cheese, this one is not all that terribly awful for you—thus preventing a future I-can't-fit-into-these-pants frustration.
I’m filing this recipe away as a cure for the next what-the-heck moment—right next to a Lifetime movie and cold glass of wine.
Spicy, Speedy Mac & Cheese
3 cups cooked pasta
1/2 a small onion, sliced thin
1/2 a small red bell pepper, sliced thin
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cup milk (I use skim)
2 triangles of creamy spicy pepper jack Laughing Cow cheese
Directions
1. In a saucepan over medium high, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add onions and bell pepper, season with salt and pepper and cook until caramelized—8-10 minutes. As the pan dries out, add a splash of water.
2. When peppers and onions are done, remove them from the pan. Add the butter and melt. When butter is melted, whisk in the flour. Cook, whisking over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add milk to the butter/flour mixture and cook over medium low heat until milk thickens and bubbles slightly.
4. Add the triangles of cheese, and onion/bell pepper mix. Cook over medium low heat until cheese melts.
5. Stir pasta into cheese sauce and season with salt and pepper.
Notes
Sometimes I skip the onion/bell peppers, sometimes I add chicken sausage. I have fresh basil growing on my deck right now so I’ve been tossing that in too.
Right after returning from our mini-moon I started a crusade to get my last name changed. I heard the process was, to quote my grandpa, a ruzzabuzza. Thankfully this blog post by a fellow married Grand Rapidian outlined the process easily. I was in and out of the social security and secretary of state offices in record time.
My biggest hurdle, surprisingly, was getting my name changed at work. They needed a copy of our marriage license, which was then lost. They needed Ben’s social security number for non-benefit reasons that I still don’t understand. I was passed off to five different people including the one woman who flips the switch right before she went on vacation for over a week. Meanwhile coworkers kept asking me, “are you ever going to change your name?!” Sigh.
The whole thing was making me feel spicy, so I ventured home and channeled the feeling into dinner. The result was spicy mac and cheese. Not only was it hot enough to match my attitude and speedy enough to make mid-week, but it’s yummy enough to become a favorite. Even my cool as a cucumber husband has requested it again and again. Also in terms of mac and cheese, this one is not all that terribly awful for you—thus preventing a future I-can't-fit-into-these-pants frustration.
I’m filing this recipe away as a cure for the next what-the-heck moment—right next to a Lifetime movie and cold glass of wine.
Spicy, Speedy Mac & Cheese
3 cups cooked pasta
1/2 a small onion, sliced thin
1/2 a small red bell pepper, sliced thin
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cup milk (I use skim)
2 triangles of creamy spicy pepper jack Laughing Cow cheese
Directions
1. In a saucepan over medium high, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add onions and bell pepper, season with salt and pepper and cook until caramelized—8-10 minutes. As the pan dries out, add a splash of water.
2. When peppers and onions are done, remove them from the pan. Add the butter and melt. When butter is melted, whisk in the flour. Cook, whisking over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add milk to the butter/flour mixture and cook over medium low heat until milk thickens and bubbles slightly.
4. Add the triangles of cheese, and onion/bell pepper mix. Cook over medium low heat until cheese melts.
5. Stir pasta into cheese sauce and season with salt and pepper.
Notes
Sometimes I skip the onion/bell peppers, sometimes I add chicken sausage. I have fresh basil growing on my deck right now so I’ve been tossing that in too.