Our Five Ring Circus: Culinary Skills

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Culinary Skills

While I would love to wow you with my super culinary skills, I just don't have it in me today.

Last night, we had some friends over for dinner. It was a spur of the moment thing, so I had to make a side dish using ingredients we had in the house. Luckily, I had everything I needed for a favorite dish:

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It may not be the healthiest dish, but it's quick, easy, yummy, and able to feed 8 people!

It's Kraft's One-Pan Mac & Cheese Bake.

It really is easy to make! Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray your casserole dish with cooking spray. Boil 4 cups of water. Put the noodles from 2 boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in the casserole dish. Pour the boiling water over it and cover with foil.

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Bake for 15 minutes, stirring after 7 minutes.

Pull dish out of oven, and stir in the 2 packages of cheese sauce mix from the macaroni & cheese boxes, 1 cup milk, and 1/2 cup cut-up butter/margarine. (I use margarine.)

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Sprinkle with 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese and 24 crumbled Ritz crackers.

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Bake for an additional 5 minutes. I prefer to bake a few minutes longer, so the top gets crunchy!

While you're preparing the dish, it's best to keep the kids busy so they're not in your way. A DVD and some toys at the kitchen table is the way to go.

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This is the end result:

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The mac and cheese casserole was delicious paired with the hot dogs and salad that our friends brought. The kids had fun with their buddies, and we had fun with our friends. Dinner was followed by "Glee."

It was an unexpected evening, but so much fun!

10 comments:

  1. I don't think I've every heard of macaroni casserole made from boxes of Kraft mac n cheese, but I know my kiddos would eat it up! I bet the crackers on top make it so yummy! Thanks for sharing:)

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  2. I laughed a bit at this.

    But seriously this is all my kids want to eat..EVERY DAY! Every day they ask for mac an cheese from kraft.

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  3. I'm officially in love with this meal for our playdates. And ugh I haven't gotten to watch Glee from my DVR yet but everyone keeps saying it was amazing last night!

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  4. never heard of that in my life. . . interesting something my husband and daughter might like!

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  5. That looks really yummy! I will definitely try that one of these days!

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  6. Oh wow - this is a yummy dish!! Thanks!!

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  7. I have never heard of this. Sounds good.

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  8. Yumm...looks good...and a handy recipie to have since we always have those ingredients on hand!!

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  9. oooohhhh! that looks yummy! I am definitely going to try that! And thanks for the helpful tips for keeping the kids busy! LOL

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