The is a current thread on shameful culinary practices which has sidetracked into mac & cheese practices. So what are yours? Extra butter? Everything from scratch? Half & Half instead of milk?
If I am making a “meal for the day” out of it, I’ll nuke a couple of Velveeta Shells & Cheese, dump them into a big bowl, add shredded pepperjack, chopped hot dogs, hot sauce, pickle relish and BBQ sauce. Disgusting to most folks but comfort food for me. You?
I like it best made from scratch, with a cornflake and cheese layer on top. But mostly I make it from a box, and for that I like the Annie’s aged cheddar one.
Either way, I like it with extra shredded cheese, a hefty dose of worcestershire sauce, and sliced cherry tomatoes sprinkled on top.
Boxed mac-n-cheese, when fully cooked, then add a can of tuna (drained). Et voila: Instant tuna casserole. If you want to fancy it up, add some frozen peas or frozen broccoli.
Chopped onions and peppers (already chopped frozen store brand is only about one dollar), chopped ham (also available already chopped in small, inexpensive packages), and, of course, Tabasco sauce (or the much cheaper store brand which tastes almost, if not exactly, the same).
An inordinate quantity of applesauce on top of Kraft blue box mac and cheese. My daughter stumbled upon it as a toddler, and I have to agree with her. Delicious.
I am also a fan of cheddar on apple pie, so I suppose there’s a parallel.
My adornment to mac & cheese is one of those trivially simple things that works: about 6 or 8 slices of smoky garlic sausage. The garlic sausage comes from a small local outfit that has been producing authentic sausages for many years. I use freshly made refrigerated mac & cheese from a great local supermarket, throw on the sliced sausage, and nuke the whole thing. Makes for an aromatic and greatly enhanced mac & cheese. Trivially simple, and a nice comfort food. A decent keilbassa also works, as long as it’s nicely aromatic and garlicky.
Yeah, you can add almost anything to boxed macaroni and cheese. My usual hacks include pesto, ham, a can of crushed tomatoes, a good shake of white pepper, some real cheese. Mushrooms and chopped spinach seem like good additions as well.