Category: Sides


Grandmother McNeil’s Classic Macaroni & Cheese

Filed under: Comfort Food, Dinner, Leftovers, Munchies Mind, Sides — 1 Comment
December 20, 2012

I love macaroni and cheese, but had never made a good one from scratch. I know there are lots of recipes online, and several of them claim to be “the best” ever. I’m sure I’d enjoy trying some of them, but maybe another time. I love the classic macaroni and cheese and wanted a “tried and true” recipe.Classic Macaroni & Cheese

We were talking about food at work and somehow the subject landed on macaroni and cheese. My friend Stephanie said her Grandmother McNeil in Topeka makes great mac & cheese, and she offered to share the recipe. Well I jumped on that offer and I’m glad I did!

This is the classic macaroni and cheese. No foo-foo here. No bacon, peas, pickles, truffles or other creative ingredients. Just a basic white sauce, elbow macaroni, and lots of delicious, gooey, sharp cheddar cheese.

Bottom line: this is exactly what I was looking for!

I served this with a nice ham when all the kids and grandkids were home Thanksgiving weekend. I made a double-batch to make sure there was enough, and was very happy to find I had leftovers! Note: If you’re re-heating your leftovers, you might want to add a little milk before you heat it up so it’s still creamy.

A huge Thank You to Stephanie and Grandmother McNeil for sharing this recipe! It’s delicious and will be one of my favorites for years to come.

Grandmother McNeil’s Classic Macaroni & Cheese

Stuff you need:

2 cups uncooked macaroni (I used the classic elbow macaroni)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cups milk

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

Now what?

Cook macaroni according to directions.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add flour, salt and pepper. Stir until the consistency is smooth.

Slowly pour the milk in while stirring. Continue to cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens, stirring frequently.

Once the milk mixture is thick enough (to your liking), add the shredded cheese and stir until fully melted.

Add the drained macaroni to the pan and stir until nicely coated.

Pour mac & cheese into greased casserole dish.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 30+ minutes until golden brown. Can take up to 45 minutes if you like it really brown on top.

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Baked Sweet Potatoes & Apples

Filed under: Easy, Healthy, Munchies Mind, Quick!, Sides — Leave a comment
January 17, 2012

Here’s a quick dish I threw together last night. I wanted sweet potatoes but I don’t like plain sweet potatoes all that much. I considered a mashed sweet potato, then decided to try something new. As much as I hate to admit good things come out of those frozen meals, one of my favorite things from the frozen diet dinners is a sweet potato and apple mixture with craisins. It’s slightly sweet, the apples and craisins hide the sweet potatoes just enough for me to eat them, and it’s a good flavor alongside turkey, ham, pork or whatever that frozen stuff is next to it. 

You’ll be surprised how easy this is! It’s a very versatile dish. There are no exact measurements to it, so don’t stress about that. Instead, follow the guidelines in the recipe and adjust for what you have available and what you like. It can be scaled up or down by changing the amount of sweet potatoes and apples. It’s fairly healthy as I made it, but you can make it healthier by reducing the sugar and the butter, although I really didn’t use too much. Click for recipe.

This dish put out a wonderful smell while it was baking, the type that is particularly enjoyable on a cold evening. I’m sure I’ll make this again, and will probably make a few adjustments. For instance, I’ll probably throw some chopped pecans on top during the final baking period. I think the contrast of the crunchy nuts with the smooth sweet potatoes would make this even better. Adding craisins to the mix could add some good flavor as well. I may add a dash of salt or a bit of pepper, depending on what I serve it with. I’ll kick up the spice a bit if I’m eating it with something that’s not very spicy; and on the flip side of that, I’ll keep it somewhat sweet if I’m serving it with something that’s highly seasoned.  

I’m already looking forward to the next time!

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When Contrasts Combine: Strawberry Jello Pretzel Salad

Filed under: Dessert!, Easy, Fruit, Munchies Mind, Sides — Leave a comment
January 10, 2012

I first had this at a progressive dinner party for our youth group’s Christmas celebration. It was love at first taste! I instantly fell for the contrast of sweet & salty flavors and creamy & crunchy textures.

This can be served as either a salad or a dessert. It’s sweet enough for a dessert, but is also a nice cooling food if you’re serving something spicy. It makes a good compliment to a simple cook-out menu such as brats & burgers, and is a good buffet item. The slightly salty pretzel crust, sweet cream cheese middle, and fruity topping might seem like an odd combination, but it works! Click for recipe.

I’ve only made this with strawberry jello and strawberries, but one recipe I found calls for strawberry-banana jello. I’ve been wondering about making it with chopped frozen peaches and peach jello instead of all the strawberries. I’ll have to try that variation one of these days - I think it sounds like a good summer treat!

I made this last weekend for a family dinner and was surprised that only my daughter and I liked it. The Cutie Patooties and The Pretty One didn’t want anything to do with it, unless you count TPO scraping the jello layer off the top and eating only that! Once Tish and I got over the surprise of being the only ones who would eat it, we quickly decided that was good news for us — because we had it all to ourselves!

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