Healthier and Happier!
It's hard to find a person in this world who doesn't love (or at least like) mac & cheese.
It is, I believe, the ultimate comfort food, right up there with chili and grilled cheese sandwiches.
When I was a wee one my sister and I had mac-&-cheese-offs. Back then it was the big brand in the blue box full of sodium and artificial colors. I preferred mine with full cream and butter while she insisted it was best dry as a bone with clumps of cheese powder sticking to the noodles (guuuh!).
Over the years I've come across hundreds of varieties based on the old favorite with all sorts of gourmet renditions and fancy additions such as smoked gouda, apple bacon, caramelized onions and sweet potatoes, just to name a few. There are even vegan versions using creative options like cashews to make that perfect savory "cheese" sauce. While those are all BEYOND AMAZING, there's still the ease factor of that blue box that can not be denied.
Thanks to Annie's Homegrown, I can throw together mac & cheese with all the finesse of my 9 year old self without having to succumb to tweedle-yellow-5-dee and tweedle-yellow-6-dum. However because I am no longer 9, I thought the fancification of this boil-and-eat delight was in order.
My Quest: Maximum flavor with minimum effort.