Mac & Cheese.

Busy season is in full swing. {busy season in tax is February-April 15th} I'm working 10+ hour weekdays and going into the city on Saturdays. I don't know what it is about that schedule that makes me want all that is cheesy and salty, but it's a force that sometimes I cannot fight. It might have something to do with the fact that there isn't a lot of time for a hot meal at regular hours. Usually I'm getting home at 7 or 8 and I just want to stand over the sink and eat cottage cheese and stare at the colors on the tv. Sometimes, you just need a cheat day.

Enter my variation on Nancy Reagan's baked mac & cheese recipe. No, that is not a close-up of what my arteries now look like after eating one serving of this baked cheesy casserole deliciousness. Well, maybe. But I'm still not regretting it. Ok, maybe that's a lie. I might as well share the recipe so I can bring all of you down with me.

Ingredients

1/2 pound of elbow pasta or penne {I used trader joe's penne with 6 g fiber per serving...justification?}

1 tablespoon butter

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon mustard

3 cups shredded cheese of your choice, the sharper the better {i used sharp cheddar}

1 cup milk

1/4 cup fine breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Boil pasta and drain. Mix salt and mustard in 1 tablespoon hot water and add to milk. Return pasta to pan {away from heat} stir in butter and egg. Stir in cheese, leaving enough for sprinkling on the top. Pour pasta mixture into a greased 9x9 baking dish. Pour milk over pasta. Top with bread crumbs, and then the rest of the cheese. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until top is golden and bubbly.

Whoa.