Leftover Makeovers: Mac & Cheese

Turn Last Night's Mac & Cheese into Tonight's One Pot Dream Meal

I used to dread looking into the fridge and seeing nothing but plastic containers filled with food I'd already had. I crave variety and eating the same thing more than one night in a row would plunge me into tummy despair. I finally decided to do something about and started thinking of ways I could change last night's side dish into tonight's main attraction.

We'll start with my family's recipe for homemade baked macaroni and cheese:

Ingredients:
1 box elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
1 ½ blocks sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
4 tablespoons butter
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoons grated or shredded parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

I know the ingredients list does not list exact measurements for the macaroni or cheese because brands vary in their sizing and it's really up to you how much pasta you want to make and how much cheese you want to use.

Directions:
1.
Preheat your oven to 350®F.
2.
Spoon 1/3 of cooked pasta into the bottom of a deep casserole dish (I use and ceramic dish with 4 inch sides that's 9 inches in diameter).
3.
Spoon 1/3 of the diced tomatoes on top of pasta.
4.
Sprinkle 1/3 of grated sharp white cheddar on top of tomatoes.
5.
Using 1/3 of the butter, put 4 small dollops of butter on top of the cheese layer.
6.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
7.
Repeat steps 2 through 6 two more times using the remainder of the ingredients.
8.
Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top of the macaroni mixture and put in the over for approximately 10 - 15 minutes or until hot, bubbly and golden brown on top.
9.
Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

This is a great, straight forward, few frills version of macaroni and cheese that my family loves! It goes great with baked chicken or pork chops. The down side to this dish is that it does not reheat well in the oven or the microwave. This led to my creative brain storm to reinvent it. I love one-dish/pot meals and think this mac & cheese transforms into one nicely.