Simple Shortcut to Great Macaroni

I am all about the shortcuts - especially when I can find a good one. Tonight, I definitely found a good one for you guys.

Everyone loves some homemade macaroni and cheese. There is nothing like having that bowl of cheesy cheddary pasta. But it can be so difficult to get just right. The boxed stuff ends up being salty and they don't really taste like they have real cheese in them even when they say they do on the box. Making a cheese sauce is really the way to go, but if you're always multitasking like I am - cooking two or three things all while handling the intricate negotiations of situations like "he took my toy" and "don't lay on your little brother" - then making the sauce from scratch might not be the easiest thing to do. Enter the shortcut.

Believe it or not this can of "soup" makes a mean cheddar cheese sauce, and can be easily kicked up or customized to your liking. If you like it a little cheesier, you can simply shred in some more cheddar cheese. If you like more of a blend of cheese, it is also easy to add some swiss, gruyere, or Colby Jack with the same grater. I like to add some extra sharp cheddar, and then use spices to bring more flavors to the dish. I normally add about 1/2 tsp of paprika to my mac and cheese, along with about a 1/4 tsp of onion powder and garlic powder, and about 1/8 tsp of black pepper. This gives just enough of a flavor boost, and everyone in our home loves it.

If you are into it - or your kids are old enough to let you cook in peace - the method for making cheese sauce from scratch is not difficult. I do still do this often enough to mention, and it does leave room for greater customization. Start by melting one tbsp of butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. When the butter is melted and starts to sizzle a little bit add one tbsp of all-purpose flour and use a whisk to mix everything together. This is known in cooking terminology as a roux and is used as a thickening agent in sauces. Add one cup of milk to your roux and stir to combine. This is where making the sauce from scratch gives you greater flexibility, as you are not limited by the canned cheese sauce and can use whatever cheese you want to make your sauce. Once the milk is warm add your desired cheeses and stir gently. After the cheese has fully melted into the sauce, mix it into your cooked pasta noodles and consume voraciously.

I know this is not the only "hack" that people use in the kitchen. What are some shortcuts you use in the kitchen? Share them with me in the comments below or on Facebook!

One of my favorite shortcut tools

One of the things I like to make up for us on summer nights is a nice salad. One easy way to make the salad look super nice is to include some really nice and thin julienned carrots. Now, I HAVE been working on my knife skills, but I am nowhere near being able to julienne that much carrot in that short a time. For this, I go to one of my little shortcut tools - the julienne peeler. This little guy just takes a pull down a carrot and BOOM! You have a nice line of nice thin julienne cut carrots. 

The trick is the little barbs

The trick is the little barbs. As the peeler cuts the slice of the carrot the barbs take the slice and cut it further into strips. These you can leave long, or cut them further and get them into nice bite sized pieces that are great for salad. This cutter is also great if you want to include carrots or some other hard vegetable, like turnip or parsnip, for a stir fry or other cooked application. They would look really nice in a soup, or as a topping/garnish for a steak or pork chop. You could even cut some potatoes and fry them up for some tiny french fries.

Salad with julienne carrot

There really is no limit to how you could use this except your imagination. How do you think you could incorporate some nice julienned vegetables into your nightly meals? Let me know on Facebook or in the comments below!