Barefoot Bloggers: Grown Up Mac ‘n Cheese

It is a good thing that I don’t love mac ‘n cheese because, otherwise, I could outgrow my clothes very quickly.  Our first September recipe for the Barefoot Bloggers is Grown Up Mac ‘n Cheese chosen by Heather of Randomosity and the Girl.  And grown up it is.  My kids would have none of it.

The recipe is supposed to include bacon, gruyere, cheddar and blue cheese.  I made a couple of substitutions.  Vegetarians we be so no bacon for us.  I considered using soy bacon and decided it wasn’t worth the extra dirty dish.  I also had (futile it turns out) hopes that my kids would eat it so I skipped the blue cheese and went for feta.  Some of the other bloggers mentioned that it smelled when cooking.  I don’t really like blue cheese and didn’t want to deal with the howls, whining and smirky faces that would inevitably result from stinky mac ‘n cheese.  I also need to avoid yeast for one family member so I used club crackers instead of bread crumbs.

I am not, in fact, a big mac ‘n cheese fan.   I can pretty much guarantee that I did not taste mac ‘n cheese until adulthood and I have never eaten the boxed kind.  Not that I am a big food snob.  I just think there are some foods you can’t start as an adult (spaghettios, cheez whiz, and fun dip come to mind).  We weren’t a cheese eating family so there you go.

There is a LOT of cheese in this little recipe and, for once, I was glad to be making something rich where I wasn’t tempted to lick the bowl or eat half the pan.  (No way is this two servings).  My husband and I both liked it.  I can only imagine that it is a million times better than the powdered cheese version.  IF you are a big mac ‘n cheese fan, I would definitely recommend it.  The feta was a great substitution if you can’t handle blue cheese.  We likely won’t be having it again but only because it was a lot of work for two people, only one of whom is really enthused about the dish to begin with.