Homemade Mac 'N' Cheese

I have a confession to make: I am twenty seven years old and up until a few weeks ago,  the only mac and cheese I've ever made came from a box. As in, Kraft Mac 'N' Cheese.

Now, some of my Betty Crocker friends might be extremely disappointed in my lack of cooking ambitions, but I've really never seen the point in it. Honestly, the homemade stuff seemed like way too much work when the box could satisfy my craving.

Fast forward to the day I got my March edition of Everyday with Rachael Ray which featured a "Tex-Mex It Up!" section and I knew it was finally time for me to conquer homemade mac 'n' cheese.

Here are the ingredients:

{note: I left out the serrano chilies, as I was making this for a work event and have a co-worker who doesn't like spicy things... plus I wasn't sure where they were in the store!}

Start by bringing a pot of water to boil and cook the noodles according to the direction. While those are going, heat the olive oil  and cook the jalapenos and garlic until tender.  {at the point, the magazine says to add these items to the pasta. I waited and added it into the sauce at the end.} 

In a sauce pan, add the milk, cream cheese and dried onion over medium low heat. Cook, stirring until smooth, about 5 minutes.  Pour over the pasta, stir in the cheese and season with salt and pepper. The magazine also suggests putting into a baking dish and broiling until brown, but I skipped this step.

Y'all, this recipe is GOOD! And honestly, it wasn't that much harder than making my normal box mix. I got rave reviews from all of my co-workers and Cody and I enjoyed several servings of left overs.  Next time you're craving mac 'n' cheese or need a good recipe to take to a party, try this one!

{Just a heads up, I scrapped out all of the seeds with the jalapenos and the leftovers progressively got more and more spicy each time I had it!}