Stouffer’s has nothing on this yummy homemade favorite!
Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
Yield – 4 servings
Preparation Time – 10 minutes
Cooking Time – 25 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 box elbow noodles ($.97), use rice pasta for GF variety
- 3 T butter ($.25)
- 3 T flour ($.02)
- 1-2 cups milk ($.35)
- 1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese ($1.25)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Leftover butternut squash, cooked and mashed (Free!)
- 1 large zucchini ($.09) Catch that! $.09 Went to my favorite farmer’s market today to pick up some pumpkin for DS’s fall party tomorrow! Got 2 zucchinis for $.18 and some more goodies that I’ll tell you about tomorrow!!!Option: Add 3/4 lb of cooked ground beef into the pasta. (adds $1.29)
Directions
- Cook pasta as directed on package instructions.
- To make sauce, melt butter in saucepan. Add flour and whisk together. Add milk and whisk, whisk, whisk. Turn heat to medium and let sauce thicken. Add more milk to thin it out or more flour to thicken. Whisk so sauce doesn’t clump up.
- Add cheese and let melt. Add squash or other cooked vegetable of similar color. Whisk sauce together.
- Place pasta in baking dish. Pour sauce over pasta and stir through. Top with any remaining cheese and bake 10-15 minutes until top begins to golden.
- NOTE: Add the cheese just after whisking the milk in to achieve a creamier texture!
- Steam broccoli in microwave or steamer.
- Serve veggie enhanced pasta with broccoli!
Cost $2.93 (or $4.22 if add ground beef)
Kroger Run
Not pictured: GF cereal, GF panckake mix, and rice pasta from Trader Joes and 4AA batteries from Kroger. *Note: the boys are on a 2-week trial for Gluten Free Diet.
Total Spent: Kroger $39.09
Total Saved: $34.94 (47%)
Trader Joes: $14
Weeks Total: $53.09
Free items from Kroger this week: 2 Herbal Essence Shampoo (sale + coupon + Shortcuts), 2 Muir Glen tomato pastes (sale plus coupon), Box Active Lifestyle Oatmeal (Cellfire), 2 Cottonelle 4 packs (paper coupon + Cellfire + Shortcuts) and $.25 for Pint of PS Ice Cream (sale + Shortcuts)…a quarter for ice cream for an “at home date” with Hubs is my kind of frugalness! Load your Kroger cards folks! It really pays off, as evidenced here!!!
Shama-Lama Mama says
Hey there! I saw your login name on another blog where we both were commenting for a giveaway. With 5 dollar meals, I just had to pop in and see what you were all about!
See, you don’t even HAVE to have a bloggy giveaway to pick up new readers! Go YOU!
Sherry says
Yum! Macaroni and cheese is always a winner in our book. 😀
iheartbowheads.blogspot.com says
so amazing!!!! Great job.
Sortin'ItAllOut says
Hi, Thank-you for another great idea. That pumpkin really seems to make the mac and cheese have a “store bought” color, too.
Are your boys doing well off of gluten? I have been off gluten for about 3 years now. My kids are now also gluten free. If you need any ideas you can visit my personal blog:
A Queen, etc.
It is a little rough, ok a LOT rough, but I do have some simple, inexpensive meal ideas up there.
Thank-you for a great website!
Sortin'ItAllOut says
Hi, Thank-you for another great idea. That pumpkin really seems to make the mac and cheese have a “store bought” color, too. BR/BR/Are your boys doing well off of gluten? I have been off gluten for about 3 years now. My kids are now also gluten free. If you need any ideas you can visit my personal blog: BR/BR/A HREF=”http://queenblog7.blogspot.com/2008/10/recipes-i-want-to-try-from-around.html” REL=”nofollow”A Queen, etc./ABR/BR/It is a little rough, ok a LOT rough, but I do have some simple, inexpensive meal ideas up there. BR/BR/Thank-you for a great website!
Minimalist mommy says
I have mac and cheese on my Nov. menu but yours looks better. I am switching my link to yours. Yum.
Evelyn says
Can you tell me about Cellfire. If you don’t want calls to your cell phone can you still sign up for the coupons? I do not have internet or text message on my cell.
Andrea @ Mommy Snacks says
This is probably the only homemade mac and cheese recipe my kids would eat. I am trying this next week!
Andrea @ Mommy Snacks says
Erin, I made this tonight and I though it was delish! I added some chicken and broccoli while it was baking, and a few breadcrumbs on the top. I’m guessing it was under $5 from stockpiling.
It made enough for two servings for our family so I froze one (hopefully it turns out OK).
Tiffany says
New to the site & gathering some new menus to use! How much butternut squash do you use? The recipe doesn’t specify.
Thanks!
Rebecca Hosea says
If you or anybody else is interested I have a great MAC & CHEESE SOUP recipe ~ GREAT comfort food! Here is the link http://tinyurl.com/or5pgn
Kristen says
I love your website but I wonder if this is cheaper than the boxed mac n cheese. I’m sure it’s tastier and healthier but is it that much cheaper than homemade? I live in Florida and it’s so ridiculous for food down here but of course they always have the ready made cheap bad for you stuff on sale it seems. We pay 3.99 for a pound of ground beef on sale and forget about produce on sale but we can get a honeybun that’s about to go out of date for 17 cents! And they wonder why most Americans are over weight.Not saying that to offend anyone I’m a part of that statistic! But they practically give bad food to you for free. We don’t get much mark downs where I live. I wish I had your luck and knowledge of getting the great and healthy deals you do but I love your site. Hopefully your ideas will rub off on me! Thanks again!
Shaunda Holmes says
I was on my way to check out your Taco Soup recipe and had to stop here to tell you that I looked up this recipe last night and tryed it tonight ……..and……….. My really picky kids and fiance loved it ……LOVED IT …….. THANKS SO MUCH!!!
Shaunda
Candace says
I sprinkle crushed corn flakes on top with the remaining cheese, and my husband just loves the crunchy result!
GolubevArsenij22 says
металлочерепица и профнастил в Киеве
Tokio says
Самые полезные и вкусные блюда с фото и рецептами.
loo says
Думаю продвижение неизбежно будет нам помогать.
Amanda M says
Tried this out tonight and my husband actually said, “I would much rather make mac & cheese this way every time”…good bye artificial boxed stuff! We have been trying to eat as little processed food as possible and this simple recipe is just what we were looking for! We used half mild cheddar and half sharp and it was delicious 🙂 Thanks!
Mahendra says
Thank you for clarifying with your reeards Okanagan Gluten Free Consulting. We take great precautions in making sure CheeCha Puff fans can always tell the difference and there is no chance for cross contamination in our production facility. Simple steps for buying Gluten Free CheeCha Puffs: They are clearly marked Gluten Free on the front of each bag around the CheeCha Puff logo. Also the packaging is different between the two lines where the gluten free flavours are always in a natural colour matte finish bag and our regular Low Fat CheeCha Puffs are always in a brightly coloured glossy bag. So your reeards know as well we batch test each batch produced and the test is at 5ppts/million. The North American standard for testing is 20ppts/ million. Feel free to contact us at if anyone has further questions or concerns.Best Regards,Tracey CadrinCadCan Marketing & Sales Inc.
Rosemarie Groner says
I just realized that I’ve never left you a comment despite being a HUGE fan and making this mac and cheese every week. I came here just to tell you about it. But then I saw the trackbacks from my blog in the post and thought, well, guess that’s kind of the same thing. Thanks for everything you do! I give your cookbook as a gift all the time!