My Go-To Mac and Cheese

I love experimenting with different recipes so I have very few "go-to" meals that I can make without following some type of instruction. However, along with pasta in meat sauce, egg burritos and grilled cheese sammies, I can whip out some mac and cheese any night of the week! I grew up eating the stuff out of that cute blue box (and don't get me wrong, there's NOTHING wrong with that!) but nowadays I find that it takes about the same amount of time to make it from scratch. All you do is melt some butter (1 Tbsp for every serving), whisk in the same amount of flour for a couple of minutes. Then you add some milk or cream (a cup for every serving) and stir until the sauce is slightly thickened. Next you melt in some cheese and add the pasta...DONE! Nowadays there are so many gourmet cheeses out there and I love using Gruyère, Monterey Jack or Smoked Gouda, just to name a few! (They're also very inexpensive from Trader Joe's!) I also like to jazz up my mac and cheese with some beef or chicken and of course, mushrooms! I always take that extra 20 minutes to top the dish with some breadcrumbs and bake it in the oven. It's SO worth the effort for that yummy crunchy topping! Tonight, my mac and cheese featured Italian sausage and a mixture of Mozzarella and Cheddar. It's also topped with homemade Sourdough breadcrumbs and a sprinkle of fresh basil! Now we're full and ready to watch some House and 24!