I find that when I’m feeling happy, I like to cook. There was a large piece of my life that thankfully ended recently that saw take out, pick-up pizza, and heat & eat food every night. I did not have the time, the energy, or the will to devote more than 30 minutes to feeding myself (much less my poor boyfriend) when I crawled in the door at night.

Before I get ahead of myself here and act like I’ve accomplished some great feat, let me just say that this recipe (which I modified to my own liking from this one) took MAYBE 30 minutes to put together.. However, it feels so much more satisfying to gently check a slow cooker every 45 minutes or so than to try to decide if I want pepperoni, meat lovers, or cheese crust tonight.. (usually the answer was 2 out of 3, always choose cheese crust my friends, always).

But enough about me. Enjoy this super easy, (super cheesy) delicious comfort food now that our South Texas weather is finally ducking under 90 degrees…

Slow Cooker Chipotle Cheddar Mac ‘n Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Elbow Macaroni (or noodle of choice) cooked for about 6 minutes
• 4 Tablespoons of Butter
• 1 Cup of Milk (I used 1%)
• 1 Cup of Shredded Gouda Cheese (or any mild, easy to melt cheese)
• 2 Cups of Shredded Chipotle Cheddar Cheese (or again, choose another)
• 1 Cup of Fat Free Sour Cream (or you know, at this point, full fat.. why bother?)
• 1 Can (10.75 oz.) Campbell’s Cheddar Cheese Soup (it killed my soul a little bit to buy this… FYI)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
• 1/2 Teaspoon Dry Mustard

Directions:

Set aside your almost-cooked noodles and make sure you have your slow cooker (and a liner) handy. Spray the liner with non-stick cooking spray.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Once butter is fully melted, slowly add all of the shredded cheese and milk, about a half cup at a time, alternating, stirring constantly (do this at a low enough heat it doesn’t stick, but high enough it keeps fluid).

Add the noodles, cheese mixture, sour cream, cheddar cheese soup (again, gag, why does this stuff make me so queasy? maybe I just feel my inner Paula Deen coming out?), salt, pepper, and dry mustard to the slow cooker and mix evenly.

Cover and cook on low for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Seriously, this is way too good.

Next adventure? Lemon Chicken Orzo soup..