Creamy Macaroni

My family, like many others, loves a warm bowl of mac and cheese. Since making the switch to whole foods, mac and cheese, like we used to know it, is an occasion that happens once or twice a year at best. So I have tried and tried recipe after recipe of homemade macaroni, but until we tried this recipe, we had yet to find one we all liked. Enter the Secret Ingredient Macaroni and Cheese.

This dish turned out so creamy, it resembled velveeta-
without the nastiness of that cheese-like substance!

I've made this recipe a handful of times, but can never remember the modifications I've made. So I've decided to copy the recipe onto my blog so I can continue to enjoy the deliciousness just how we like it.

Ingredients

1 box uncooked rice or einkorn noodles (1 lb)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour (we use 1/4 c flour, 1/4 c tapioca startch)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper 
1 1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp dried, minced onions
2 cups milk
a dash of Hot Sauce
2 1/2 cups shredded raw cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.

2. Fill a large saucepan with water, and bring to a boil. Stir in the macaroni; cook until al dente. Drain well. Pour noodles into prepared 9x13 pan.

3. Meanwhile in another large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour/startch, salt, pepper, minced onions, turmeric, mustard powder, and milk; whisk until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, for 3-5 minutes until the sauce is hot and begins to bubble.  Reduce heat to low, and whisk in cheese and hot sauce. Pour cheese sauce over noodles in prepared 9x13 pan. Stir to incorporate a bit.

4. Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes.