New Year's Resolution

My New Year's Resolution this year is to cook at home more.  When I got morning sickness in the first trimester I didn't want anything to do with food, let alone cooking.  My husband took over a lot of the grocery shopping and cooking responsibilities (and I love him so much for that).  Now that I am in my second trimester and am feeling much better, I want to get back in the habit of cooking more at home.  Once baby Norman is here I imagine we will be eating at home the majority of the time, just out of pure necessity (and exhaustion). 

I'd like to try one new recipe each week.  I have over 300 recipes pinned to my Food & Drink board on Pinterest, so that should keep things interesting...and hopefully easy.  This week's new recipe is homemade Mac & Cheese.  I often have cravings for it and rarely make it.  This recipe surprisingly didn't come from Pinterest.  I just googled "Homemade Mac & Cheese" and found it.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)

8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni

2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 cups milk

1/4 cup butter

2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 pinch paprika

Directions

1. Cook macaroni according to the package directions. Drain.
2. In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to make a roux. Add milk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses, and cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is a little thick. Put macaroni in large casserole dish, and pour sauce over macaroni. Stir well.
3. Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and brown. Spread over the macaroni and cheese to cover. Sprinkle with a little paprika.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Serve.

We didn't have elbow macaroni.  I made it with bowtie pasta.  I also don't like breadcrumbs on top of my mac & cheese, so I skipped that step.  If I make this again, I won't use as much milk.  It was pretty runny when I took it out of the oven.