Don't mess with a good thing.

I had a lot to say about this mac 'n' cheese. It's fabulous. There were some really intelligent things about this stuff vs. cafeteria macaroni, and all the reasons I like it, and a facsinating rant about how people shouldn't try to make classic lunchroom foods into 'gourmet' delicacies. There was a good joke about ladies in hairnets, too.

Then my computer alt-deleted my entire post. And now all of that is gone. I am filled with rage.

Since I'm too lazy to try and recreate all that brilliance, let me give you the bullet points instead.

• This is a 'light' recipe. One serving has 403 calories, 11 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, and 36 mg cholersterol. Pretty good, compared to the original.



• Since it's light, the sauce doesn't taste so... heavy. That pun was just as bad in the first draft.



• It's super easy to make. Only five ingredients, commonly found in most kitchens, and 20-25 minutes of prep time. Much of that is your basic pasta-cooking stuff. Boiling copious amounts of water takes a while.



• Kids will eat this. It tastes very normal. I promise.



• If you're making it as a side dish to chicken nuggets or something, I would half the recipe. It keeps well enough, but it does make LOTS.

I got this out of my mom's Healthy Cooking magazine, which is a quarterly off-shoot of Taste of Home magazine. However, they don't like you looking at the recipes from the magazine on the website, unless you're paying for them (like you would be if you bought the hard copy) so I can't link you directly to the source. I did throw the link in here, though, because it is a great resource if you're trying to cook for a family and be calorie-conscious at the same time.

Makeover Macaroni and Cheese (from Healthy Cooking magazine)

16 oz. elbow macaroni

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

2 cups fat-free (skim) milk

16 oz. reduced-fat (mine was called 2% milk) Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided

1. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine flour and milk until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in processed cheese and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese until smooth. Drain macaroni; stir into cheese sauce.

2. Remove from the heat; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Somehow, my Fridays have a tendancy to turn out like this.

Not that this is a particularly tragic occurance in my life. Trust me, I have been in far, far more socially painful situations. The sort that I will not be telling my children about, not even at gunpoint.

In the grand scheme of things, being home alone on Friday night with a batch of chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookies is not so bad. Not by half. Especially when the cookies are as tasty as these happen to be.

My research (and by that I mean the myriad comments on a food blog far more trafficked than my own) tells me that one of the few challenges of no-bake cookies--because let's face it, these are the pastries of my people, Missourians, who sometimes don't know how to turn on their ovens--is getting the things to set properly. Boil too much and you end up with a chocolatey version of your morning oatmeal, boil too little and you end up scooping them off the wax paper with a spoon. I mostly have trouble with the latter, as no one has ever accused me of being too patient, if you know what I mean.



I borrowed this recipe from the wonderful browneyedbaker website, which is just littered with all sorts of easy-to-make goodies just like this. And though I had just a bit of trouble getting them to pull away from the paper, I blame my own ignorance, not the recipe.





Hop on over to her site if you'd like to try them. I sincerely recommend it. But bring a friend so you don't eat them all by yourself. =)



P.S. : I'm new to this and still discovering the ins and outs of the 'food photography' setting on my semi-cheap camera. So don't hate too much on my botched pictures.