(no subject)

[axelrod]

I am looking for an easy, made-from-scratch mac&cheese recipe.

I'm also open to more complicated recipes with more than the bare minimum of ingredients, but the priority is something that is dead easy, for those times when everything seems overwhelming and just too complicated - not that physical tiredness isn't a problem for me sometimes, but it's the mental-level stuff that really becomes the obstacle, you know?

I strongly prefer something made from scratch, because that works out to be cheaper and I want to make mac&cheese one of my staples, but if there's a mix that you adore feel free to toss that out (I like Annie's, myself) since sometimes it is a choice between something premade and just not eating an actual meal.

I do not like cheddar cheese-based mac&cheese. Monterey jack cheese is already one of my staples but I am all about the dairy products and am not opposed to regularly buying another kind of cheese as well.

Ways of adding animal protein which don't make the recipe much more complicated would be awesome too. I don't think of mac&cheese as something you put meat in, but I'm willing to experiment.

I'm also interested in different ways of seasoning mac&cheese - I've used nutmeg and paprika in the past.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

ETA: I, personally, do not eat pork, though including recipes and variations which do for the sake of other members of the comm is fine with me. 

Comments

[highlyeccentric]

You could try acquiring pre-diced chicken pieces, the sort that sandwitch bars put in sandwitches? Alternatively, slice your own chicken fillets, grill or fry them all in one batch, freeze them. Then defrost and chuck them in cheesy pasta as needed! (Only thing is you can't freeze them more than once after the first cooking, or badness happens.)

[axelrod]

I shop at Trader Joe's, and they do sell pre-cooked pre-sliced chicken. But that's not the most economical way for me to buy chicken there. I didn't realize you could freeze cooked chicken with no bad effects. The texture is fine, after the first thawing? I guess my issue there would be planning ahead (not my greatest strength), though I guess sliced or cubed chicken would thaw pretty quickly in a hot oven.

[highlyeccentric]

I freeze meat all the time! You shouldn't thaw and re-freeze it repatedly, but a sequence of:

-buy meat
- freeze meat
- defrost meat
- cook meat
- freeze meat
- defrost meat
- reheat meat

is fine :D. And sliced chicken would defrost in a couple of minutes in a microwave, and maybe five or ten in an oven. Long enough for you to have cooked the pasta to eat it with, basically.

[jesse_the_k]

I have a broiled chicken breast every AM for my protein base layer. I buy boneless chicken breasts $9 for a 2.5 lb package. I trim 'em so they're pretty much all 112g (1/4 lb). Squash 'em together to fill a broiler pan, broil 'em for 6 minutes a side (a little underdone), transfer to a cookie sheet and freeze for four hours. After I nap, they go in a big zipper bag in the freezer.

Every morning I take one out and put it to thaw for tomorrow. I use a sharp knife to cube the thawed one from yesterday & stir into breakfast for 35g of protein. (I can also defrost it with 75 secs in the nuke at 30% power.)

If I couldn't handle the knife, it's also quite doable to just nibble on a chicken breast -- they have enough internal structure that they don't fall apart in my hand.