Can't. Stop. Eating. This.

Warning: This is NOT by any means a healthy recipe but it does make excellent use of leftovers, not very expensive to make and overall god damn delicious. Please, stop yourself after two helpings to be sure you have enough for the next day, because you will shed some tears after it is all gone.

Who doesn't like a good ole' box of Kraft macaroni and cheese once in a while? Minus all the crap they put in it...I've graduated from that and moved on to the real deal with real ingredients and no artificial coloring or flavoring.

Macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food and I like to feel comforted ALL the time.  The homemade mac and cheese I'm used to is my Noni's. She bakes it in the oven, adds lots of milk, uses American cheese and a variety of noodles, usually spaghetti and elbows. The best part is the few slices of cheese she puts on towards the very end that get all brown and crispy. We all usually fight over that part, in addition to the "coolie" end of the loaf of Italian bread.

A few years ago I began making my own mac and cheese, starting with a bechamel sauce then throwing it in the oven. I tried to make it a bit more "healthy" by adding broccoli or peas but it just took away from that comforting feeling I get in my belly when I eat a whole bowl of creamy, oozy, unable to move, deliciousness.

I started using my crock pot to make mac and cheese, after coming across a recipe for it, which I cannot remember from where.  It's quick and easy and requires the least amount of steps.  As incredible and easy as it was, it was missing that toasty almost burnt cheese on the top that I love from my Noni's.

I got home late the other night and had my heart set out on eating some crock pot mac and cheese but now I just didn't have the time. It usually takes about 3-4 hours on a low setting for everything to melt together. So I figured I'd go back to the traditional way of putting it in the oven, solving my cheese crisp dilemma as well.  Have I mentioned that this recipe is for BUFFALO CHICKEN mac and cheese?!  We have a slight addiction to anything edible with the word "buffalo" in it.

We had cooked an entire little chicken on the grill the night before and had leftovers. Frank's Red Hot Sauce is always in our fridge. I knew I wanted to make mac and cheese soon, so the last time I went to the grocery store, I picked up a package of mixed cheese from the deli. They usually toss the "scraps" from the ends of different cheeses and sell it that way for only a few dollars. This is the secret to a good mac and cheese...lots of different cheeses.

I will try to do my best with the amounts since I tend not to measure so here we go....

Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
Serves 2...lol 
Ready to eat in.. not soon enough, but if you can wait 45 minutes, you will be very happy 

About 1 good size chicken breast, cooked and chopped

1 pound of elbow macaroni

What's left from our grilled chicken

2 1/2-3 cups of a variety of cheese (American, Cheddar, Monterrey, Swiss, Mozz, Provolone all work great)

2 cups of milk

1 egg (replaces the need for a the bechamel)

At least 1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Original  (I add more when I'm ready to eat it)

1/2 stick of butter (cut into chunks for easy melting)

6 strips of  bacon

1/4 cup Ken's Blue Cheese Dressing (Ken's is the only blue cheese dressing)

!/2 stack of Ritz crackers, beaten with a rolling pin

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cook you macaroni per directions. Don't forget to salt your water!

While the macaroni is cooking, cook your chicken. I usually do it in a pan. You could also cook your bacon in the same pan afterwards or vice versa if you want to give your chicken some extra bacony flavor. To see other ways to cook bacon check out my post, The Potatoes Have Eyes...

Combine your milk and egg.

In a bowl, throw in your chopped chicken, cheese, bacon crumbles, milk and egg mixture, butter and hot sauce.  When the pasta is drained, toss it right on top of the other ingredients in the bowl and combine until everything is incorporated.

Leftover chunks of cheese from the deli! Only $3.45

Put the ingredients in a large baking dish. Cover with tin foil and bake for about 25 minutes, stirring frequently making sure all the ingredients are fully doused in cheese and hot sauce. You may also notice you might need a little bit more milk if the pasta is too dry. Add some and stir.

After 25 minutes, drizzle on your blue cheese dressing and stir carefully. We wouldn't want any of this to get wasted on the bottom of the oven!  Last, sprinkle your crushed Ritz crackers on top.

Broil for about 2 minutes or until the top is nice and toasty!

If you want to try the crock pot version, I highly recommend it! All you would do is combine all the ingredients in your crock pot and cook it on a lower temp for just a few hours. Like I said, it's super easy and comes out great but lacks the texture of oven baked mac and cheese. I would not put crackers in top. They might just get a little mushy.

If for some strange reason you don't like buffalo sauce...I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't...you can omit it. You can even omit the bacon too and try to make it with veggies but as I also said, for me, it's just not the same. Sauteed onions would be a good addition as well.

When you want to reheat this either later that night for a snack or the next day for breakfast, pour a little bit more milk on it and probably some more hot sauce too. You can never have enough. It will make it nice and moist again.

You're Welcome.