Macaroni and Cheese is a favorite of kids everywhere. This kid favorite is often made using store bought box mixes but it is very fast and easy to make from scratch. Using only a few simple ingredients, kids can create homemade macaroni and cheese that does not have any of the preservatives of boxed macaroni and cheese and tastes delicious.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dry macaroni noodles
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

Basic Macaroni and Cheese: Step 1

Cook the macaroni noodles according to the directions on the box.

Shred 2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese. It is important that you use sharp cheese when making homemade macaroni and cheese because when you mix the cheese into the sauce it mellows out the taste of the cheese quite a bit.

Basic Macaroni and Cheese: Step 2

The base of macaroni and cheese is called a white sauce. A white sauce can be made by melting equal amounts of butter and flour in a small pot and adding milk. The milk is what makes the sauce white.

In a small pot, place 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour. Turn the heat on medium and let the butter melt. Use a wooden spoon to stir the butter and flour together as the butter melts. The butter and flour will turn into a thin paste. Let the paste cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly so it will not burn. This lets the flour cook and prevents your macaroni and cheese from having a raw flour taste. The flour paste will begin to smell liked toasted nuts.

When the paste has cooked for a few minutes, slowly pour in 1 cup of milk. Whole milk will make the macaroni and cheese creamier but you can use any type of milk that you have.

Basic Macaroni and Cheese: Step 3

Continue stirring the white sauce until it starts to thicken. Turn the heat down so that the milk does not burn. Burnt milk has a very strong taste and will ruin the final product. When the white sauce starts to thicken you should be able to see the bottom of the pot as you stir it with the wooden spoon.

Slowly stir in the 2 cups of sharp shredded cheese. You can add up to 1 cup of extra cheese if you want your macaroni and cheese to have a cheesier taste but be careful not to make your sauce too thick.

Basic Macaroni and Cheese: Step 4

Drain the cooked macaroni noodles using a colander. Do not rinse the noodles. This will rinse the starch from the noodles. The starch helps the cheese sauce to stick to the noodles better.

Add the noodles to the pot containing the cheese sauce and stir the noodles in slowly. The macaroni and cheese may seem thin at first but it will thicken after standing for a few minutes.