Recipe: Chase Away Thoughts of Cold With a Plate of My Special Nippy Stove Top Mac and Cheese!

 With a plate of my Special Nippy Stove Top Mac and Cheese, you heat up in record time!

As you might know, I am not a fan of winter or laboring too hard in the kitchen when there is no need. Today, I want to share a quick way that you can heat up after you come in from the cold with this easy quick dish. Though you may think this is just another plain, old mac and cheese recipe, I assure you that it is not.  My Special Nippy Stove Top Mac and Cheese may have the creamy, velvety texture and cheese, but I doubt it has red pepper flakes, onion, garlic, fresh mushrooms for extra protein, and my secret ingredient until now of just a little salad dressing to heighten the flavor.

What else I think that you’re going to love about this delicious change from your standard macaroni and cheese recipe is how simple and extra filling it is with adding a cup of onion, two cloves of garlic, and a half of pound of fresh mushrooms. 

You also may notice that this recipe has less cheese and milk instead of the richer half-and-half or evaporated milk to make it a bit more diet friendly with less calories and fats.  Trust me, I am a cheese fanatic, but you will not feel deprived of that cheese once you taste this.  In fact, I used 2-percent milk over whole milk and no one suspected. 

The most difficult part of making this recipe is probably cleaning and chopping the mushrooms, onion, and garlic.  Other than that, you will just be cooking up my special cheese sauce on your stove as well as boiling your mac and then throwing it together.

Here’s a helpful cooking tip that I also want to give you when dealing with any pasta.  Before you drain your pasta, you should save about a cup of that boiled water that the pasta just cooked in and set it aside.  If your macaroni starts to get a bit dry because the family didn’t report to the kitchen yet or there’s an unexpected delay keeping you from eating on time, then pour in some of that reserved boiled pasta water because its extra starch helps moisten nicely to freshen it up.

I hope that you try my Special Nippy Stove Top Mac and Cheese because eating it heats you up as it helps chase away thoughts of cold in a most delicious way!


My Special Nippy Stove Top Mac and Cheese

1 cup of onion 
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1-1/4 cups of milk 
1 cup of Velveeta cheese
½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon of salt
1 heaping teaspoon of cornstarch
1 teaspoon of salad dressing
½ cup of grated Cheddar cheese (sharp or mild) whatever you have 
2 cloves of garlic
8-ounce package of fresh mushrooms, sliced
1-pound package of elbow macaroni, sea shell pasta or your favorite 


Clean and chop your onion, garlic, and mushrooms.  Set aside.

Brown your onion and garlic in the olive oil until golden before adding your sliced mushrooms.  Continue browning until the mushrooms shrink.

Mix the cornstarch in the cold milk until it is smooth before pouring into a pot along with your browned mushrooms, onion, and garlic.  

Now add the Velveeta cheese, red pepper flakes, salt, and salad dressing to your milk mixture and melt until you a creamy texture.

At the same time, you might want to be boiling up your macaroni.  Remember to reserve that cup of boiled water for later before you drain.

Combine the drained mac elbows to your pot with the cheese and veggies, mix through and then add the grated Cheddar.  If you start with the grated Cheddar and Velveeta, you can curdle the sauce.  By adding your Cheddar cheese last prevents curdling.

ENJOY!