30 Days of Me: Day 5


Day 5 - Your favorite recipes

I’m so spoiled; my husband is the main cook in the family. This started back in 2000, when he took early retirement from his very high stress job. I told him that, while he had the option to retire, that wasn’t an option for me, so we were going to have to renegotiate household chores. I suggested he take over either kitchen or laundry duty, and he chose kitchen. I’m so glad he did; he’s a much better cook than I ever was. Which is why I have such a hard time losing weight.

But I do have a dish that the kids always ask for when they’re home from college. So I will share it with you.

Crunchy Macaroni Casserole
This was my mother’s standby dish, for whenever she really didn’t want to cook anything elaborate for us ungrateful kids. We ate this a lot when I was growing up. It also became my own easy-to-fix meal choice when my own kids were growing up. Now it's a "must make" when they visit.

Ingredients:
1 lb elbow macaroni
1 can SPAM
1 cup (more or less) grated Parmesan cheese
MAGGI liquid seasoning (usually available in the imported food section)
Dried bread crumbs (either plain or Italian), about half a cup or so
About a stick of butter

Preparation:
Cook the macaroni until just barely al dente; you don’t want it mushy. While it’s cooking, cut the Spam into small cubes and toss it in with the cooking macaroni.
Grease a casserole pan with the butter and shake some breadcrumbs into it to coat the pan.
Drain the macaroni and return it to the pan. Add the Parmesan cheese and a few shakes of the Maggi. Mix well and pour into the prepared casserole pan.
Sprinkle the surface with bread crumbs, then some more Parmesan, then a last layer of bread crumbs. Dot the top liberally with pats of butter (be generous).
Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until the top is crusty and golden. My kids like to sprinkle additional Maggi on top but be careful; the stuff is very salty.
Leftovers reheat very well in the microwave.
 

Comments

  1. Macaroni and cheese...my favorite childhood dish. My mom used to do some pretty clever things with Spam.

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