Crock Pot Mac and Cheese

Lately, my crock pot has not been getting much use. It has had the sole purpose of being my veggie broth brewer. This is mainly because lots of crock pot recipes revolve around meat, which can withstand the long and slow cooking process. While I am not a vegetarian, I have been trying to cut down on my meat consumption. I have not had many veggies from my CSA that would hold up in the crock pot. The only vegetarian dishes I know of for the crock pot are a variety of bean chili's. While I love chili, it is not the season. If you have any ideas for vegetarian crock pot dishes, please comment!! I do not receive nearly enough comments and I really enjoy reading them.

There are loads of pasta crock pot recipes out there, but this is the first time I tried one. Basically, they do not take enough time to be considered a weeknight meal. Does that even make sense? I love the idea of the crock pot, because you can set it before work and have dinner (or broth) completely cooked when you get home. If you tried to do this with pasta, you would come home to a big pot of mush. Most pasta recipes take about 2-3 hours to cook on high. This just seems highly inconvenient, since I can't run home at 4 to set it up for my arrival home at 6 and we would be eating way too late if I had to set it once I was home from work. The only reason I wound up making this was because I had some cheese that needed to be used and i was having  a very lazy Sunday (aka I had a rare Sophia free evening on Saturday, so I was hurting a little from my night out). It also helped that pasta was on sale!

• 1/2 lb uncooked pasta. Any kind should be fine, but I used shells.
• 4 cups milk
• 4 cups cheese. I used 2 cups mozzarella and 2 cups cheddar. Mix and match, or use whatever you have/prefer.
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

 In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Add salt, pepper, and mustard then whisk again. Grease crock pot with cooking spray. Put all ingredients in the crock pot. Fold together, making sure everything is evenly mixed. It will be very liquidy (yes, I make up my own words). Set to high and cook for 90 minutes to 3 hours. Around 90 minutes, you want to start sporadically checking your pasta. Mine took 2 hours to complete. All crock pots cook different and you want a nice al dente texture that will hold up to the cheese.

We loved this crock pot concoction! I think it will definitely be on the menu again for a lazy weekend dinner. The texture is definitely not that of the boxed macaroni and cheese. It has a bit of a gritty texture from the real cheese. This reminded me of the mac and cheese that an ex boyfriends mom used to make in the oven. She would toss some extras in there sometimes, like sausage or mushrooms. Maybe next time Ill jazz it up with some extras. Maybe I'll mix in some fresh broccoli from my CSA. The possibilities are endless, everything tastes delicious smothered in cheese!

Sophia really liked this as well, which is always a total plus! She asked for seconds AND wanted me to pack some for her school lunch. I love when I can send leftovers for her lunch, because finding solutions for a wholesome lunch is a major challenge. Sandwiches everyday seems so boring, but with a school change for kindergarten next year, I believe it is the only option we will have. At least the school she is in now will refrigerate and heat up leftovers that I send. I may have to invest in a good thermos or two.

You may think half a pound of pasta won't be enough for your family, do not be fooled by the numbers! This makes a lot of mac and cheese. Sophia and I both had seconds at dinner on Sunday, we both brought some for lunch on Monday, and there's enough left for me to have it for lunch again today. The pasta seems to swell as it cooks. Especially if you accompany it with some chicken breast and greens, that half pound will go very far!