Home Made Sunshine!!!

A favorite of my hubbies since he was a kid, home made mac n cheese was something I was going to have to learn how to make if I was going to marry him. I never even saw the real stuff till I laid eyes on my mother in laws, which BTW is is ranked an 11 out of 10 on our scale (and I'm really not just saying that). I've always thought of hers as her "special dish", you know the kind of recipe that shouldn't be shared with anyone... and still to this day I have yet to ask for it. Needless to say I jump on the net and searched for a few days for something similar. I had no idea that there were different styles of mac n cheese! I had always just thought of it as this creamy bright orange kids dish that really didn't fill 4 little bellies from just one box.
After looking at a few southern, east and west coast style recipes I ended up blending a few different recipes into one. In fact I think its one of those recipes that you kinda play with every time you make it. You see my husband has this obsession with a certain brand of cheese "Tillomook" and let me just warn you now, I do make my HM Sunshine with a unhealthy amount of it. I stared off just using 1/2 of a baby loaf but now I hesitate to say I'm up to a hole loaf. I have to agree with the hubby now, the cheesier the better. Nothing quite beats that slightly crunchy cheese on top...yummy my favorite part. So here you go...



Home Made Sunshine

6 cups cooked Elbow Macaroni (Whole Wheat or regular)
3/4-1 whole baby loaf Tillamook M. Cheddar Cheese grated
2 Eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
2 cups milk
1/2tsp Salt and Pepper (to taste)
1 pk. of Bacon cooked
1-3 tsp. Butter (to grease pan)

Preheat oven at 350
Cut bacon into an inch (or smaller) pieces then cook, drain and set aside. Grate cheese and set aside. Cook elbow macaroni while mixing the following: beat the eggs, sour cream, 1 1/2 cups of milk, salt and pepper in large bowl for 2 minutes. Then add all but 2 cups of grated cheese slowly while stirring. Butter your baking dish (including sides). Once macaroni is finished drain and add 2 cups to egg mixture and mix for a minute (this will temper it, so eggs don't become scrambled). Then mix remainder of macaroni in and pour into casserole dish. If needed add remainder of milk till it reaches 3/4 of the way up the casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, then top the macaroni with remainder of cheese and broil till brown and bubbly.

Note: Make sure you keep an eye on it when the broilers on, you don't want to burn it. I have made this with and with out the bacon and even made it with a package of ham lunch meat (didn't want to go to the store.. lazy lol) which was yummy to but who doesn't love bacon (its the hubby's fav)?

TIP- For an easy portion size and shorter cooking time I split it between a mini loaf pan and a smaller casserole dish. (as the pix show)

Hope you enjoy.
Laura