EZ Microwave Mac N Cheese

I'm sure many of you are familiar with this:

My best friend thinks they are the devil.  For some reason she can never get them to turn out and ALWAYS has to resort to opening up a box of the real thing.  Not much of a time saver there!

I'm not big on them because macaroni and cheese is pretty cheap to make, and the little containers are so pricey for what you get.

Normally, I'm a pb sandwich or salad kind of girl when it comes to lunch.  Sometimes, just sometimes, I want something warm.  Today was that sort of day.

Except I didn't have anything.

Well, I did have Ramen.

But I didn't want that.

So I made the homemade version of "instant macaroni and cheese."  I found the recipe over at Just a Pinch.

Now I could have made myself a full batch of macaroni, but it was just me at home today.  I didn't want to deal with leftovers.  (Let's face it, mac n cheese never tastes quite as good the second day.)

I'm sure there are some of you who are saying to themselves, didn't she already make a microwave macaroni and cheese for one? Yup.  But that one used leftover precooked noodles, which I didn't have.

Here's the cooked up cheese-y noodles in my Giant Tinkerbell Mug:

There's a lot more in there than it looks like.  Probably about the same as the single serving pre packaged containers.

The noodles aren't really that milky-soupy.  It's actually quite cheesy.  It just looks soupy because I used Mexican blend and pepper jack cheeses.  I had to reduce the amount of milk and cheese called for in the original recipe, or it would have been macaroni soup.

Overall, this was OK.  The noodles were a bit more "dente" than I'd have liked, but it did the trick for having something warm for lunch.  It's no where near as good as a batch of mac n cheese from scratch, but it will do in a pinch.  I'll most likely make this again when I'm alone and the macaroni craving strikes.

EZ Macaroni adapted from Just a pinch
1/3c uncooked macaroni noodles
1/2 c water
2 T milk
1/3 c shredded cheese of your choice (I used part pepper jack and Mexican blend)

Put noodles and water in large microwave safe bowl or mug. Be sure to put a microwave safe plate with a lip to catch the water when it boils over...and it will.  Nuke the water and noodles for 2 min.  Stir and repeat.  My noodles took 6 minutes for a very al dente.  Each time I took the noodles out of the microwave, I poured the water from the plate back into the mug.  When your noodles are at their desired "bite" add milk and cheese.  Stir until everything is all melty goodness.