A Tasty Way to Beef Up A Box of Mac & Cheese

I am not a fan of Mac-and-Cheese.  My kids like it and even my husband likes it, but I could live an extremely happy life without it.  But it is an easy meal to make and quite cheap.  This past fall one of our grocery stores in town was selling this brand for 4 for $1.00.  Now, tell me who could pass that up?  And so I am always looking for different ways to use Mac-and-Cheese. One of my favorites is a sausage and broccoli bake.  I hope to make that sometime soon to be able to show you, but this week I browned up some hamburger with onions, added some cheese and baked it.  So easy and yummy.

Ingredients:
1 lb. Hamburger
1 Box Mac-and-Cheese
1/2 Chopped Onion
Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder
2 C. Shredded Cheese




First, chop a half onion and add it to a pound of hamburger and brown it.  Once fully cooked, drain the grease.  Season with freshly ground pepper and garlic powder.  Also, you may want to use some salt, but I wait until I have added the Mac-and-Cheese as some brands are quite salty.  After you have mixed it all together, take a taste to see if you need any more seasonings and add accordingly.

While you are browning the hamburger, cook the Mac-and-Cheese according to directions.  Once cooked and drained mix in the milk and cheese.  I never add the butter as the hamburger always has some grease left in the pan.  Another thing I like to do is to add more milk - usually 1/2 cup.  Your Mac-and-Cheese will be extremely runny, but return it to the burner and stir vigorously until the cheese begins to bubble and thickens.  This makes a nice rich and creamy Mac-and-Cheese.

Before it is baked.

Once your hamburger is browned and drained and you have mixed up your Mac-and-Cheese combine the two.  I just pour the pasta into the pan I browned the hamburger in.  Now, don't forget to give a taste test and add more seasonings if needed.  Last add a good handful of shredded cheese.  I always have Colby-Jack in the fridge, but whatever your favorite cheese is will work well.

Once the cheese is melted it is ready to eat.  

Stir all together and place in your oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees.  Bake until warmed through.  My favorite is the edge as it gets a bit crunchy, but my youngest likes the center as it is so gooey from the melted cheese.

This is really a nice way to add some protein to your kids diet, but also a great way to literally "beef" up the plain mac-and-cheese.