View Full Version : What do you put in your mac and cheese?
domestic goddess
4-7-13, 9:49am
Besides mac and cheese, that is.
Dsil sometimes asks me to put cut up hot dogs in my mac and cheese. Does anyone do this with homemade mac and cheese for adults?
I personally don't like the chemical taste this adds to my good homemade mac and cheese. I don't want to ruin the whole dish because one person wants chemical laden meat added, so I'm thinking of picking up a box of mac and cheese and adding hot dogs to it. Am I the only person who doesn't like this? I mean, I make my own mac and cheese because I don't like all that chemical flavor in the boxed stuff anyway, so why would I want to add it back? Dsil tells me that I"m nuts and it doesn't have a chemical taste. Personally, I think he has just eaten so much fast food that he doesn't even taste it anymore. He and I have radically different taste in everything from food to comedy, to everything else. But I just can't see adulterating a perfectly good mac and cheese with hot dog chemicals, especially when I will heat and eat it for a couple of days. He is always welcome to add a sliced hot dog to his portion, especially since he eats up all the hot dogs I buy anyway. I do enjoy a hot dog occasionally, but not in my mac and cheese, but I have to be quick to get one.
We had a thread about mac and cheese add-ins awhile back -- you can find it here:
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/showthread.php?6867-Mac-and-Cheese-Add-Ins&highlight=cheese
But to answer your question about the hot dogs -- nope, never. But then, I'm a vegetarian so it would never occur to me to add hot dogs to anything! :D
I like my mac and cheese plain. No added stuff.
Went to Maine and there was lots of offered lobster mac 'n cheese. That sounds delish, expensive, but delish. I make my mac 'n cheese unadorned to savor the qualities of simple ingreds taken to a heavenly place!
In the previous thread I mentioned I do a luxury version with local langoustines. Delicious, but expensive!
My mac and cheese is homemade with a parmesan cheese base. Kids like it best with cut up hot dogs and peas. Quick one dish meal.
That thread had lots of good ideas. I've never made mac and cheese, oddly enough, but I'm going to use some of the ideas to make a cauliflower casserole. And I had hot dogs for lunch, so I've covered all the bases.
Sometimes green peas. Ham is a possibilty, too. That's it.
Ma used to put slice of tomatoes as a layer in it. If you like grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, you'd probably like that. I have to wait til home grown tomatoes are ready!
Ma used to put slice of tomatoes as a layer in it. If you like grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, you'd probably like that. I have to wait til home grown tomatoes are ready!
I love grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, which I've not made in a long time. I can actually see putting some very well-drained diced tomatoes in mac & cheese.
I love grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, which I've not made in a long time. I can actually see putting some very well-drained diced tomatoes in mac & cheese.
And some bacon.
Jane, that is just a yummy suggestion. :)
Tussiemussies
4-7-13, 5:29pm
We like very small chopped up freshly steamed broccoli in our Mac and cheese. Where my family is from, the north central PA, everyone eats Mac n' cheese with stewed tomatoes on top. I always eat it with that too. :)
Lobster is the only thing that will make me adulterate my mac and cheese. Otherwise I'm a purist. :)
domestic goddess
4-7-13, 6:51pm
Although I love grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, lobster, and have been known to snarf down a hot dog or two, I like my mac and cheese plain. I have spent time finding the cheese I like in it, and don't see any need to adulterate that flavor, especially not with the chemical taste of hot dogs.
dsil and I sem to have a lot of conflict around food, and I think at least part of it is a control issue, and I am equally to blame, as I just will not be controlled by someone the same age as my child. Especially when I see how he controls her. It is so easy to just add what you want to your portion, which I've suggested to him time and again, and not force it on everyone, yet it comes up over and over. Next time I think I'll make the mac and cheese from the box and add hot dogs to that, just for him.Then he can have his mac and cheese the way he wants it, and I will not have ruined perfectly good ingredients with that chemical taste of hot dogs. But it is nice to see that I am not alone.
...... Love! http://freeemoticonsandsmileys.com/animated%20emoticons/Love%20Animated%20Emoticons/heart%20beating.gif
sorry, couldn't resist.
caramelized onions too.
My hubby used to make ,elbow mac,cheddar cheese,carmelized onion,and corned beef hash,called it NE baked macaroni,it sounds kind of gross but it grows on you,LOL
Miss Cellane
4-8-13, 4:50pm
Although I love grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, lobster, and have been known to snarf down a hot dog or two, I like my mac and cheese plain. I have spent time finding the cheese I like in it, and don't see any need to adulterate that flavor, especially not with the chemical taste of hot dogs.
dsil and I sem to have a lot of conflict around food, and I think at least part of it is a control issue, and I am equally to blame, as I just will not be controlled by someone the same age as my child. Especially when I see how he controls her. It is so easy to just add what you want to your portion, which I've suggested to him time and again, and not force it on everyone, yet it comes up over and over. Next time I think I'll make the mac and cheese from the box and add hot dogs to that, just for him.Then he can have his mac and cheese the way he wants it, and I will not have ruined perfectly good ingredients with that chemical taste of hot dogs. But it is nice to see that I am not alone.
No, Domestic Goddess, you have that wrong. You can buy the boxed mac & cheese and the hot dogs. DSIL (what exactly does that D stand for anyway?) can make it and add in the hot dog himself.
Or, just make the food the way you want. When he asks you to combine the hot dogs and mac & cheese, look him in the eye and say, "We've had this discussion. My answer hasn't changed. You can mix your hot dog in if you like." Then move on and do not engage in any further conversation about it.
It bothers me, and I don't even really know you, that you are taking all these extra steps for someone who is rude to you, insults your cooking and doesn't seem to understand that he is living in *your* house and therefore should be thankful for the roof over his head and the food you are buying and cooking for him. In my world, ungrateful complainers do not get special dishes made just for them. In my world, they are pointed towards the kitchen and told to cook for themselves.f
You are not "to blame." It is your house. You get to make the rules. When SIL gets enough money, he and your daughter can move their family out into their own house and make their own rules. You are not "to blame" for cooking the food you want, the way you want it, in your own house.
You are not "to blame" by refusing to let someone else control you in any way.
Every time you change a dish to cook it the way he likes it, you are letting him control you. Every time you buy something special for him, you are letting him control you. Ordinarily, if someone bought special food for a family member, I'd say they were being nice in buying that person a treat. But the way your SIL treats you and your cooking--he doesn't deserve a MIL as nice as you.
awakenedsoul
4-8-13, 5:30pm
Yeah. I think it's really rude that he expects you to add hot dogs to the macaroni and cheese. I would say, "There's cereal in the cupboard, if you would like something else." I wouldn't buy or make anything else. I think it's really nice that you buy hot dogs and let people have them on the side to add to their portion, if they want it. (I wouldn't do that, though.)
I usually make mine with sliced organic tomatoes on top. Once in a great while I'll add chunks of ham, if I need to use it up. I make mine from scratch, too.
I definitely believe food issues are all about control.
I prefer mac and plain only. Without adding any additions. The taste becomes awful when I add something.I prefer mac and plain only. Without adding any additions. The taste becomes awful when I add something.
decemberlov
5-2-13, 9:40am
Just plain mac & cheese with dried stovetop on top with a spritz of olive oil to brown it...I add it the last 5 mins or so of cooking. Yes, I know stovetop is junk but its so yummy :)
Tonight I made country style egg noodles, broccoli and ham with hand grated cheddar. Nothing else. Delish.
Ham or bacon. Sauteed onions. Anything else is fine, veggies, carrots, zukes, peas, beans and so on, but when that starts happening it's not mac and cheese anymore. It's a cheesey pasta veggie casserole.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.