Homemade Mac N Cheese

So me and Evan are pretty fortunate this semester and get to see each other a whole lot more than I thought we would!  However, today he had a big huge yucky test that he needed to take so unfortunately I looked forward to a day and night by my lonesome.  How depressing.  Just kidding. It's nice to have some girl time.  Today I ventured into watching the show Parks and Recreation and I like it so far!  Tonight I decided I'd explore a new recipe, homemade mac n cheese.  I was very excited to cook this, because a couple months ago when i was at Target i came across a six piece CorningWare bake set that was on sale for $19.99 (thats a great deal if you don't know...:)).  I haven't had an occasion to use it until tonight!! I think everything turned out splendid.  Evan hasn't tried it yet, so i'll get his feedback tomorrow.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni 5 tablespoons butter, divided 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 cups milk 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 2 ounces processed cheese food (i.e. Velveeta), cubed 2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs

Directions:

1.	Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat. Add the cheeses, stirring until cheese is melted. Drain macaroni.
2.	Transfer macaroni to a greased 1-1/2-qt. baking dish. Pour cheese sauce over macaroni; mix well. Melt the remaining butter; add the bread crumbs. Sprinkle over top. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes or until heated through and topping is golden brown.

This recipe turned out to be a success, and in all reality it is a very simple recipe, yet I wouldn't consider it "unstressful".  At least for a beginner cook like myself.  To begin with, it is one of those recipes where a lot of things end up going on at once.  But I got through it! And i'll happily make it again.  That's right, it's another 2 thumbs up recipe!
So, to begin with the beginning part of this recipe with butter and flour actually has an official name! It is called roux.  This particular mixture is what makes the base sauce thick.  And it's something we should all get really good at doing because it is involved in a lot of recipes (or at least recipes with sauce and gravy). Come to think of it, I've heard my mom talk about it a lot.  It isn't the easiest thing on the planet to do and it needs to be done right.  It can mess up consistency for a recipe (texture and thickness!)  So here is basically a great way of doing it (mine turned out perfect tonight so I think this is worth sharing)
--Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat.  When melted, stir in the flour.  It is better if you have a little more butter than flour (i.e 4 tbs butter to 3 tbs flour).  Stirring constantly is a must!  The next step for this recipe would be to keep stirring for about 2 minutes.  Then remove the saucepan from the heat and pour in lukewarm milk (not hot, not cold)  a little bit at a time while still constantly stirring.  Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes, all the while still constantly stirring.  And viola! You have your basic roux.  Luckily, the ingredients are pretty basic so if you mess up you can just start over.  I think the key would be the constant stirring.
Anyway as said before, because of the sensitivity of the roux it gets kind of hectic with needing to add more things and worry about the noodles, etc. all at once. So my next tip would be
Helpful Hint #5:  When making a recipe where a lot can be going on at once, have your ingredients all ready to go and all measured out!
This really saved me because I didn't have to stop stirring when i grabbed the cheese and added it to the mix. I did have to step away quickly to drain my noodles(so they weren't really soggy) but that was A-OK.  I like things cheesy so I used 2 cups of mild cheddar cheese instead of 1.  Oh and breadcrumbs on top is optional.  And that's about it ! Yum yum!