iCrave

Pregnancy cravings. Yep. When I was pregnant with Wesley, I craved summer sausage, cheese, Wheat Thins, Jimmy Dean sausage biscuits, and red gatorade. I'm pretty sure I ate no less than 8 pounds of Wheat Thins through that pregnancy. No less.

This time, it's very similar. I've been craving turkey bacon like MAD, Club crackers (again, I've eaten lots and lots of those. Wesley and I share), and anything sweet and lemony. Lemon curd, lemon cheesecake, lemon pudding, lemon yogurt... For the past few days I've really been wanting delicious baked macaroni and cheese. One night when Eric was out of town I made some Kraft box stuff for Wesley and I and it did NOT hit the spot. Quite the opposite really, and it only fueled the craving more.

Generally I can't really cook when Eric is out of town because Wesley barely touches anything I cook and I certainly can't eat a whole dish of something on my own. What usually happens is that after 2 days straight of eating the leftovers I'm so sick of it that it just ends up spoiling in the fridge and I can't stand the thought of making it again, even if it was good the first time.

Fortunately, Eric was in town last night and I finally could give into my homemade baked mac & cheese craving. All the recipes I found online were basically the same-- the standard flour+butter+milk, add cheese, toss noodles and bake. HOWEVER. I saw one that mentioned bacon and I realized it must be. The online recipe looked kinda weird-ish though so I figured I would just throw crumbled bacon into my standard recipe UNTIL I saw the very next recipe in my book.

I cannot NOT share this. It was so so yummy! I know it's bad form to brag about stuff you cook and I usually don't but this realllllly worked for me. Maybe it was because of the craving that I was finally able to satisfy, plus the bacon, plus caramelized onion... who knows. All I'm saying is it was the perfect dish to serve to your hungry family while watching a crazy ice storm fall on the 2 feet of snow outside your window.

Without further ado, I present you:


Macaroni and Cheese with Caramelized Onions
4 strips bacon (I use turkey bacon)
1 large sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups dried elbow macaroni
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese or crumbled bleu
  *I used sharp cheddar, monterey jack, and Parmesan because it's what I had on hand and like I said, it was delicious. Plus, I have a thing against Gruyere in general so I wouldn't have used it anyway. I'm pretty sure whatever 2 1/2 cups of cheese you use will be great. 
1 cup half-and-half or light cream (I used 2% milk because again, it's what I had in my fridge).
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

*Cook bacon in microwave until crisp. Crumble and set aside.

*Cook onion in about 1 T. olive oil over med heat for 5-8 min until onion is tender and golden brown. Set aside.
Side note: The real recipe says to cook the bacon in the skillet, then cook the onion in the bacon grease. That's all fine and good I guess but a) that grossed me out and b) with as much as I love bacon right now, I still hate how it stinks up your whole house and entire wardrobe when you cook it. Therefore, I microwave it so I don't have to smell it forever.


*While bacon and onion are doing their thing, cook macaroni according to package directions. Usually about 1 min less than the full time is best since you'll be baking it. Make sure it's right at al dente and not much more.

*Drain macaroni and return to pan. Stir in crumbled bacon, onion, 1 1/2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, the Gruyere, milk/cream, and pepper. Toss gently to combine. Spoon into casserole dish. (Mine fit in an 8x8 pyrex nicely).

*Bake uncovered in a 350 F oven for 20 min. Stir gently. Top with remaining mozz. cheese and bake about 10 min more until top is brown and bubbly. Let stand 10 min.


So that's that. I just finished off the leftovers for lunch and I'm not sure if I can wait very long before making it again. Let me know if you try it!

Another thing that I loved about this recipe, is that it really only takes as long to prepare as the time it takes to boil water and cook macaroni. I preheated the oven, put the water in the pot to boil, started the onion on the stove and the bacon in the microwave all at the same time. Once I threw the noodles in the water, I had 6 minutes to grate the cheese and crumble the bacon which was perfect. Ample, even. Then drain, stir, and dump. You then have 20 minutes to play with your toddler. Add more cheese, then 10 minutes to clean up the dishes and set the table. Perfect. Ok, I'm weirding myself out now... toooo obsessed with this recipe. :)