Crock-Pot Mac 'n' Cheese (Christmastide's Final Fatbomb)

Happy 2014, everyone!  Time to eat right, exercise, and make ourselves better than we were last year...

                                                             but not juuuuuust yet.

See, I'm still smack dab in the throes of Christmastide (shut up, I know it ends tomorrow - WAH!) so I've decided we're still in vacation/EAT ALL THE THINGS mode.

Plus, I somehow ended up with a whole lot of leftover cheese from Christmas recipes, including a block of good ol'e Velveeta. Yes, I know it's not really cheese.  No... no, I don't really care.  It's delicious.  But all I know how to make with it is queso (darn GOOD queso, but that's for another day) so I decided to scan the internet for something easy and cheesy to make, preferably a recipe that utilizes my all-time favorite kitchen appliance: le Crock de la Pot.

Recipes are more like GUIDLINES to me than actual rules, but mostly the inspiration came from here.  I just added the stuff I know my family likes.  Feel free to do the same!

Whatcha Need:

16 oz box of noodles (I used shells, you can use whatever you prefer!)
1 lb Velveeta, cubed
1/2 - 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (again, any kinda cheese you like, but I had this on hand)
1 1/2 - 2 cups milk
salt, pepper, mustard powder, garlic powder, dash of hot sauce (really, whatever you prefer)
non-stick spray

Whatcha Do:

Cook the noodles about halfway (they keep cooking in the Crock).  Spray your slow-cooker, put half the noodles in the bottom of the crock, then layer on half the cheese.  Repeat.  Mix all your seasoning into your milk - I would start with 1 1/2 cups and then add more later if you think your mac is too thick.  Pour milk over noodles and cheese, then cook on LOW for about 3 hours.  If you like the crispy cheese edges of baked mac 'n' cheese, then try not to stir it to much.  The noodles up against the edges will get OH so yummy!

We're mega-fatties, so I didn't even bother to get a pic until Hubs and I had plowed through over half of the shells and cheese.  Whoopsie!



This is what it does to babies.  It basically does the same thing to adults, but Hubs and I don't look nearly as cute whilst in a food coma.

Oh, people.  It was cheesy.  It was decadent.  It took at least a year off my life (pretty sure.)  Tomorrow, I'm eating nothing but vegetables, I swear.

What am I saying?  I deserved it!  Hubs and I got some kind of strange motivation and decided to clean/organize the main areas in the house as well as his office.  Tomorrow is laundry and bathrooms.  Then it's back to work for Hubs on Monday, and back to a regular routine for the girls' and me.  Starting off with a clean house will make the transition back to "real life" a little easier.

For real though, I need to go lie down.  The cheese is starting to take it's toll...



7 Quick Takes, No. 1: That Time We Spent Christmas On the Beach

 

 

 

 

Okay, peeps.  First "Quick Takes" from yours truly.  I could tell you what's been goin' on around these parts, but since Hubs is still home on Christmas break, it's really just a lot of pajama-wearing, dirty dishes, snuggling, staying up late, and being a family of dirty hermits.  PS Can I just say how fun it is that Hubs works at a University?  We still get breaks like we were in college!  Except now, we have two small children and are finding it really hard to justify eating Taco Bell for every meal, but whatevs. 

 

SOOOO, instead of all that mess, I thought I'd share some pics and revelations from Christmas week, which I have dubbed the "HUFFMAN THOMPSON BEACH CHRISTMAS SAND AND FISH EATING EXTRAVAGAAAANZA!"  Totes cray.  Enjoy.

 

-1-

WE SUCK AT FAMILY PICS

 

Since both grandpas fancy themselves amateur photogs and there are literally no pictures of the four of us in existence and Rosie is about to turn ONE (ohmygosh, no STAHP GROWING) and I couldn't live with myself if I let a whole year go by without taking a family pic -- behold, the results.  Ok, so there was like, ONE, that wasn't terrible, but the rest were just flippin' hilarious (look at my face here - what is happening that I need to look like that?!)  Olivia just wanted to throw sand and Rosie snarled and I realize now that leggings are not my friend.  Just... wow.

 

-2-

OLIVIA REALLY LIKES THE BEACH 

 

For real, though.  This is all she wanted to do for a whole week.  Like, live in the sand and water and become a "mermabe."  Do all kids do this?  Aren't some kids afraid of the water and stuff?  I have some serious water babies on my hands.  Ridiculously CUTE water babies, that wear sunglasses directly above their eyes, but not over them.  LIKE A BOSS.

 

-3-

MY KIDS ARE SPOILED BLESSED!

 

Look at those cuties in their matching Christmas jammies, playing nicely with their new glockenspiel... Fast forward two minutes and you'd see Rosie grabbing the mallet out of her sister's hand, leading to a mucho meltdown by Olivia and eventual "putting up in the closet" of poor Mr. Glockenspiel.  Not that it mattered, as there were HEAPS of toys for them to fight over play with.  These are two of the most loved children in the history of the world. 

 

-4-

LEAVING GRANDBABIES ALONE WITH PAPA BEAR RESULTS IN HILARITY

 

^^ 'Nuff said.

 

-5-

SEVEN MONTHS IS WAAAY TOO LONG WITHOUT THIS LADY

 

 

Oh, goodness - how I missed my mother!  She is kind, loving, a little wacky, full of wisdom, and all those other nice things.  She lives way up in the land of snow and wind, so our visits are few and far between.  I'm a sad panda when she's not around.

 

-6-

MY BABY TURNS ONE IN FIVE DAYS

 

I just, I can't... WAAAAHHH! *fits of sobbing*

 

-7-

FAMILY ROCKS

 

Here's the whole gang on the boardwalk outside the lovely house we rented on Saint George Island.  Daniel's parents drove all the way from Oklahoma, and mine came all the way from Chicago with my little sisters in tow.  To spend Christmas with us and our littles.  How awesome is that?  This has been a hard year for me.  Our family is super important to me, and moving so far away from everyone has really done a number on my emotions.  However, I've learned that distance doesn't divide or diminish, it strengthens and confirms.  I *knew* we were blessed, loved, and supported before, but now I really feel it.  Our family does everything they can do help and support us on our adventures, and there's not a day goes by that I don't thank God for every single one of them.

 

Happy New Year, everyone!  Have a fantastical, awesome, rockin' weekend!

 

More Quick Takes and other awesomeness found at: http://www.conversiondiary.com/