Cheesy Macaroni Bake

I'm back with another delicious recipe!

My husband and I (and our daughter, actually) loooooove Spam. I know a lot of people think Spam is gross, and that's okay. Stop reading now if that's you. ( :  I don't think about what might be in a can of Spam. I just know it tastes delicious and its super easy to cook and eat. It used to be "poor man's food," but its actually kind of expensive these days. So we don't eat Spam very often. Growing up, I always had Spam and eggs sandwiches - and yum!! That's still a favorite of mine. But I looked a while back on the Spam website and learned there's a ton of other things you can do with that meaty goodness.

I tried a Spam and potatoes casserole a while back and it was a big hit at my house. I think I may have blogged about it, but right now I'm too lazy to look. Sorry.

Last night I decided to try another Spam recipe I had bookmarked: Cheesy Macaroni Bake (with Spam)!

It. was. delicious. Seriously. Actually, DH said it was good but not that good, but we all know I get a little overenthusiastic about my food. ( :  It was super-easy to make, and it only took about 30 minutes of prep before baking for 25 minutes.

You can find the real recipe here. But I'll type it up for ya, too, just in case you're lazy like me.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, divided
• 1 12-ounce can SPAM^® Classic, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 8 ounces elbow macaroni 
•  1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs (1 slice)
• 1 pinch ground red pepper (cayenne)
• 2 cups milk
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 pound processed sharp American cheese, diced I just grated a 1/2 pound of cheddar.
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

 Directions: 

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 2-quart casserole. I forgot to grease my dish but nothing stuck.
2. Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain.
3. In casserole, stir together SPAM® Classic and macaroni.
4. In medium saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Blend in flour, salt, mustard, black pepper and cayenne until smooth. I also added the paprika here because I read the directions wrong. Stir in milk; cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture thickens and boils. Add cheese; cook, stirring, until cheese is melted. Pour over SPAM® mixture; mix well.
5. In microwave-safe bowl, melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter; stir in breadcrumbs and paprika. I did add more paprika in this step. We didn't think it was too much at all. In fact, I think DH would have liked more! Sprinkle over macaroni. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

See? Easy-peasy! I made this dish while tripping over all the toys my daughter thought would be fun to bring into the kitchen...and I didn't mess anything up, so it must be pretty fool-proof! I forgot to take a picture of how it looks out of the casserole dish - whoops. I did have leftovers for lunch today, and it was just as good as it was last night.


I've been a little off of my meal-planning game lately. But I guess that's understandable since we've been under a lot of stress. Which means that tonight we'll likely have sandwiches or bacon and eggs. Can't be super-cooking-mom all the time, right? ( :  Maybe I'll be blessed to have my husband decide to whip up something tonight....oh that reminds me! Sunday for lunch he made some crab cakes that were absolutely divine! I'd love to share the recipe but DH doesn't even tell ME how he cooks things, haha. My man can cook, he's just secretive about his methods. ( :

I also haven't forgotten that I said I'd do a hair bow tutorial this week. I did make another bow over the weekend, but I wasn't happy with the way it turned out. Here's a tip: don't buy satin ribbon for hair bows. It just doesn't look at nice. I'll be making another bow either tonight or tomorrow night, though, because C needs it for her Easter pictures Saturday morning (she'll be posing with a live bunny and I am so excited). So look for pictures and a tutorial soon. And yes, I'll share the bow I wasn't happy with, too. ( :