Mexican Style Macaroni

I love Mexican food and I love macaroni, so it was only natural that I pair the two together!

- 1/2 bag elbow macaroni

- 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper

- 1/4 cup diced green bell pepper

- 1/4 cup diced yellow bell pepper

- 1/2 cup chopped jalapeños (I used from a jar if you use fresh I would maybe try using only 1/4 cup)

- 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese

- 1/2 cup mild cheddar cheese

- 1/2 cup queso blanco

- 1/4 cup milk

- 1 tbsp dried Mexican oregano

- 2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine

- 1 tbsp flour

- 1/2 tbsp Cholula(tm) sauce

- Cotija Cheese

- water

- salt and pepper to taste

ring a pot of water to boil. Add salt to the water. Drop in elbow macaroni and cook for 7-9 minutes or until the macaroni is al dente. Once macaroni is finished cooking, drain and set aside.

In a sauce pan begin making your cheese sauce. Heat pan on medium-high heat. Add margarine or butter and allow to melt fully before adding flour. Once you add flour, use a whisk to make sure all flour is incorporated with the melted butter. Add milk Turn the heat to low and allow milk to heat up for about a minute or so. After about a minute or so return heat to medium and add cheddar cheese, monterrey jack abd queso blanco . Whisk to quickly melt. In a small dish, crush dried Mexican oregano so it's fine. Add oregano and Cholula to cheese and whisk. Add peppers and jalapenos and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes to soften the peppers.

Once peppers are soft, Add the macaroni directly to the sauce pot Fold in macaroni with cheese and peppers until it is fully incorporated. Add salt and pepper.

Remove from heat and serve. Using a fork, scrape Cotija cheese on top of each dish so it's nice and crumbly. Then eat and enjoy!

Garden Vegetable Mac

This week I decided to keep it simple, a nice Garden Vegetable Macaroni with Sharp Yellow Cheddar and Mild White Cheddar. It was simply amazing! A creamy delight. It's very pungent and sharp in flavor and gives a subtle surprise of sweetness thanks to the addition of the grated carrot The best was reheating the next day, the sauce didn't break and it was just as creamy as the night before. :

- 1/2 bag elbow macaroni
- 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
- 3/4 cup chopped brown mushrooms
- 1/2 cup zucchini julienne
- 1/4 cup grated carrot
- 2 1/2 tbsp fresh fennel
- 1 1/2 cup sharp yellow cheddar shredded
- 1 1/2 cup mild white cheddar shredded
- 1 tbsp dry mustard
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 garlic clove grated
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
- 1 tbsp flour
- water
- salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add salt to the water. Drop in elbow macaroni and cook for 7-9 minutes or until the macaroni is al dente. Once macaroni is finished cooking, drain and set aside.

In a sauce pan begin making your cheese sauce. Heat pan on medium-high heat. Add margarine or butter and allow to melt fully before adding flour. Once you add flour, use a whisk to make sure all flour is incorporated with the melted butter. Add milk and grated garlic. Turn the heat to low and allow milk to heat up for about a minute or so and the garlic to flavor the milk. The reason i'm using such little milk is because this will allow the sauce to be really thick and also prevent it from breaking the next day when you want to re-heat. After about a minute or so return heat to medium and add cheddar cheese. Whisk to quickly melt. Then add White Cheddar and continue whisking. Once there are no lumps add dry mustard, fennel, salt and pepper, zucchini, broccoli, carrots and mushrooms and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes to soften the vegetables.

Once vegetables are soft, I like to add the macaroni directly to the sauce pot so I can ensure that everything is covered in cheesy goodness, after all it IS the star of the dish. Fold in macaroni with cheese and vegetables until it is fully incorporated.

Serve immediately