Mac and Cheese done right!

Lately, besides finding craft ideas and unique things to make my house more like me, I've been using Pinterest to come up with new dinner ideas using less meat.  While I've not gone vegetarian I have made a huge and quite successful attempt at reducing the amount of meat in my life.  I have had great success in the recipes I've attempted thus far with the exception of a couple of duds.  Nothing outright gross, just meh.  Perhaps I just need to tweak the spices a bit, who knows.  Anyway, the one I thought I'd share with you came from a night of both success and dud.  I made homemade Mac and Cheese Bites and Falafel Burgers (as shown in the photo below). 

Mac and Cheese to the left, Falafel Burger step to the right!

So here's the recipe for the Mac and Cheese Bites (the original appears to have been taken from the Deen Bros.)

Mac and Cheese Bites

Ingredients:

12oz of elbow macaroni noodles
2 cups of bread crumbs
3 cups of shredded old cheddar cheese
6 tbsp of butter or margarine melted
1 package of herb and garlic cream cheese
2 tbsp of cold butter or margarine
2 large eggs
3/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of sour cream ( or plain greek yogurt for less calories)
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes (for a little kick but not too spicy)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Cook the elbow noodles so they are just shy of 'al dente'.  Drain well.  During this period, lightly grease a metal muffin/cupcake pan with margarine or cooking spray.  In a medium bowl mix together the bread crumbs, 1/2 a cup of cheese and melted butter.  Mix together with a fork until crumbly.  Spoon a bit of the mixture into the bottom of each muffin basin.  Tamp it down with the bottom of a small cup or your fingers. 

Once the pasta is cooked and drained, add it to a large mixing bowl with the remainder of the cheese, the cream cheese and cold butter/margarine.  In another bowl combine the eggs, milk and sour cream.  Whisk together.  Add the liquid mixture to the bowl with the pasta and mix together stirring in the salt and red pepper flakes.  Make sure everything is evenly combined. 

Divide the macaroni mixture into the muffin pans.  Sprinkle any leftover crust on top of the mixture if you like extra crunchiness.  Leave out if you don't.  Bake until golden, approximately 20 -25 minutes depending on your oven and how crunchy you like things.  It's best to let them sit in the pan for 5 minutes or so before trying to remove them. 

This recipe makes approximately 18 Mac and Cheese Bites. 

As you can see, we had ours with the burgers and a salad.  They were filling enough to have them with some fresh bread and only a salad.   So if you're looking for a new twist on an old comfort food that you're pretty sure your family (kids) will eat, give these a try.  I am pretty sure you won't be disappointed.  They were pretty  stellar.