THE BEST @Dreamfield's Mac'n'Cheese Recipe #lowcarb

This is one that I could easily go hog-wild on if I didn't have a lot of self-control. Thankfully though, yesterday was my cheat meal (love the Friday fish dinners at the local eateries, although I got frog legs yesterday) and I'm always craving the low carb foods - meats and vegetables mostly - after a planned cheat meal. So today I ate a heap of pan-fried green beans (the skinny whole ones from GFS, fried quickly over high heat in butter and EVOO, seasoned with sea salt and onion and garlic powders), a couple of grilled Kogel natural casing hot dogs - nice and dark and almost crispy like I like them...and only a small serving of the mac'n'cheese.

Let me say from a "cheap" perspective, this wasn't as inexpensive as my meals usually are. That's because we really splurged on the Kogel's. No other hot dog is the same, so when we have some extra $ left in our food budget we buy a package of 24 for $9.99. At 40c/dog it's pricey...but we think it's worth it!

Back to the mac'n'cheese: I boiled a whole box of Dreamfield's elbows in salted water to which I'd also added EVOO (keeps the pasta from sticking), just until al dente as instructed, then drained it and returned it to the pan. I stirred in 1/4c butter, 1/4c heavy cream, 1/2c shredded colby-jack, 1/2c shredded italian blend, 1/4c parm from the green can, and a half-tsp of nice strong paprika which spiced it up a bit and also gave it a great color.

Obviously we have a lot left, and I will use it tomorrow mixed with ham and asparagus chunks in a casserole, topped with a little more cheese and baked. With a salad on the side it will make an amazing Sunday dinner too!