looking for a good, basic mac and cheese

[daney]

Anybody have a good one? Nothing fancy. DH decided he'd like to have a baked mac and cheese and I don't have a light recipe that doesn't involve lots of more exotic ingredients than he's really looking for in his comfort food.

[Gracie]

Here's a great light one for you and it's really easy too:

Loren's Almost Fat Free Macaroni and Cheese

16 oz uncooked macaroni, your choice of shape
16 oz fat free cottage cheese
2 10-oz bars reduced-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
16 oz fat free sour cream
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Topping:
¼ cup breadcrumbs
¼ teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon reduced calorie margarine, melted

Cook macaroni and drain well. In a separate bowl, combine all the rest of the ingredients except for the topping. Mix well. Mixing well is a key to this recipe's success. Add cooked macaroni and mix really well again.

Pour macaroni mixture into 13 x 9 pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over macaroni.

Bake at 350 for an hour, covered with tin foil. Remove foil and continue baking about 10 more minutes so that the bread crumbs become golden brown.

Enjoy!

Loren

[little_bopeep]

Mine's way basic, but not baked. Although, I suppose you could bake it if you wanted to.

All amounts are strictly by eyesight and taste

Cooked elbow macaroni
Velveeta
margarine
milk (I like evaporated milk to give it an extra creamy texture)
sour cream
black pepper

Cook your macaroni til al dente; drain. While draining, use the same saucepan to make the sauce. Melt a tablespoon or so of margarine along with some milk....as it gets hot, add diced Velveeta and melt it all together. Add a tablespoon or so of sour cream and black pepper to taste. Combine with drained macaroni. So, SO much better than the boxed stuff with neon orange "cheese" powder.

[funnybone]

I made the one from CL not too long ago, and really liked it. Here it is:

Creamy Two-Cheese Macaroni

The two cheeses in this favorite are extra-sharp cheddar and Velveeta Light.

This recipe can be found on page 225 of Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2002.

Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided
6 ounces light processed cheese, cubed (such as Velveeta Light)
6 cups hot cooked elbow macaroni (about 3 cups uncooked)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray


Directions
Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat; add flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook until thick (about 8 minutes), stirring frequently. Stir in 2/3 cup cheddar cheese and processed cheese; cook 3 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in macaroni and salt.

Spoon the mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup cheddar cheese. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until bubbly.


Preparation Time: 8 minutes
Cooking Time: 36 minutes
Servings/Serving Size: Yield: 9 servings (serving size: 2/3 cup).

Nutrition Facts (per Serving):
260 calories; 33.7 g carbohydrates; 24 mg cholesterol; 7.5 g fat; 478 mg sodium; 13.7 g protein; 290 mg calcium; 1.6 mg iron; 1.3 g fiber

[laughsandlaughs]

Check out this link for more details:

http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17498&highlight=macaroni+and+cheese

Here's my reply:
IT WAS A SUCCESS!!
Well, if I do say so myself, I made a fabulous Mac and Cheese tonight! I kind of combined the recipes you guys mentioned. I took Catharine's Macaroni and Cheese from “The Low-Fat Way to Cook” and made a couple of changes...I used 1 cup of sharp cheese AND 6 oz. of light velvetta (like the Creamy Mac recipe from 8/01) and cut back the amount of butter used from 3T to 1T. I also mixed some breadcrumbs in a bit of milk and used this to top with about 1/3 cup extra cheese for a little crust. OH MY WAS IT GOOD!!

Macaroni and Cheese
“The Low-Fat Way to Cook” Oxmoor House, 1994, p. 112

1 (8 ounce) package elbow macaroni, uncooked
Vegetable Cooking Spray
3 T. margarine or butter
¼ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups evaporated skim milk, divided
1 ½ cups (6 oz.) shredded reduced-fat sharp Cheddar Cheese
½ t. salt
½ t. dry mustard
¼ t. pepper
¼ cup egg substitute
Paprika

Cook macaroni according to package directions, omitting sale and fat; drain well, and set aside

Coat a medium saucepan with vegetable cooking spray; add butter or margarine. Place over medium-high heat until butter melts. Add onion; sauté until tender. Combine flour and ½ cup milk; stir until smooth. Add flour mixture to onion, stirring well. Add remaining 1½ cups milk to flour mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat; add cheese and next 3 ingredients, stirring until cheese melts. Gradually stir about one-fourth of hot mixture into egg substitute; add to remaining hot mixture, stirring constantly.

Combine macaroni and cheese sauce; stir well. Pour mixture into a 2-quart casserole coasted with cooking spray. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes until bubbly. Yield 10 servings (223 calories [29% from fat] per serving.

Fat 7.3 g (Sat. 2.7 g, Mono 2.5, Poly 1.4 g.) Protein 12.8g, Carb. 26.3 g, Fiber 0.7g Chol. 13 mg, Sodium 350mg

[Angela]

I'll vouch for the Creamy Four-Cheese Macaroni I made it last night for the first time and it was a great hit!! I had always wanted to make home-made baked macaroni and just had never done it (those boxes are just way too easy to open and make :eek: ) I'm really looking forward to lunch so I can enjoy the leftovers!

[HARRYET]

Another vote for the "creamy 2 cheese" and "creamy 4 cheese" mac n cheese.

If you need either recipe, just ask and I'll post them for you.

Ann :)

[KathrynY]

Another vote for the Creamy Four-Cheese Macaroni. :) If you need the recipe, here's the link: http://cookinglight.recipes.aol.com/pls/details.jsp?searchString=macaroni+cheeses&partner=Cooking+Light&firstOffset=1

Angela - how funny that we both made Creamy Four-Cheese Macaroni for the first time this week. I had leftovers for lunch yesterday, and they were great!

[Mary G]

Here's my two cents...if you have the Joy of Cooking, there is a low fat mac and cheese recipe there...yummmmm

[daney]

I tried to do the creamy 2 cheese and it flopped! the sauce separated - watery on top, sorta curdled at the bottom. It was gross looking. Tasted okay, but not quite what I was hoping for.

Followed the directions precisely, so I am not sure why my sauce failed. Normally I don't have any cooking problems and this one seemed so simple!!!

Thanks for all the great suggestions, everyone!

[vbak]

I made the CL 2 cheese mac last night and it was great. I served it with CL oven fried catfish, except I used tilapia. I think those 2 recipes are on opposite pages in the CL Annual. Anyways, DH and friends loved it. A very homey Friday night meal. Vicky

[BethR]

Our favorite is still the Macaroni and Cheese from CL October 1999. There's the extra step of steeping a few ingredients in the milk, but we think it's worth it.


* Exported from MasterCook *

Macaroni-and-Cheese

Recipe By :Cooking Light Magazine. October 1999. Page: 180.
Serving Size : 5 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Pasta

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 slices (1 ounce, each) white bread
2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk, divided
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 parsley sprigs
2 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, minced
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
4 cups hot cooked elbow macaroni (about 8 ounces
uncooked)
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp
cheddar cheese
1/3 cup (1-1/2 ounces) shredded smoked Gouda or
Gouda cheese
Cooking spray

Directions.
To gain an extra measure of flavor, I like to steep the milk with onion and herbs before making the sauce. Smoked Gouda works great for the second cheese.

1. Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form to measure 2/3 cup. Set aside.

2. Combine 1-1/2 cups milk and next 6 ingredients (1-1/2 cups milk through garlic) in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 30 minutes. Strain milk mixture through a sieve into a large bowl; discard solids.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Place flour in a small bowl; gradually add 1/2 cup milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Add flour mixture, mustard, salt, and red pepper to milk mixture, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in macaroni and cheeses; spoon into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Yield: 5 servings (serving size: 1-1/2 cups).