Super Easy Macaroni and Cheese

I am a huge fan of macaroni and cheese. It was a childhood favorite that I never seem to stop enjoying as an adult. The difference is that as an adult, I tend a feel a tiny pang of guilt about how unhealthy it can be and how processed it is when you buy it from the store. I mean, cheese that’s been engineered to remain packaged on a shelf? Despite any marketing, that cannot be ‘natural cheese.’

My husband and I will make a baked version of macaroni and cheese from time to time, usually with some fancy combination of cheeses like Gruyere and Swiss and aged Cheddar. It’s delicious, but time-consuming. And it’s more crispy than creamy. So when I crave the creamy kind of macaroni and cheese I remember as a kid, it’s easy to rely on a box.

Now perhaps you can imagine how excited I was when I came across this recipe from Annie’s Eats that looked easy and seemed to turn out creamy based on her pictures. I’ve never eaten the mac and cheese from Panera, so I can’t attest to how similar it may be. But I can say that even with my rather limited cooking abilities, this dish satisfied a craving and was simple to prepare.

I made a small change and used two kinds of Cheddar (sharp and medium) instead of American cheese (which in my humble opinion, doesn’t pack a whole lot of flavor). So instead of 4 oz. of American cheese, I used 4 oz. of medium Cheddar and 8 oz. of sharp Cheddar. I also didn’t have any hot sauce on hand, so instead I added some cayenne pepper with a little bit of paprika.

It was warm, creamy, rich and absolutely perfect for a chilly Sunday dinner. With a salad of course, because you can’t forget your veggies. It’s still maybe not quite healthy, but I do like that I know exactly what’s in it – and that I can pronounce all of its ingredients.

It seems like a pretty flexible recipe, so I look forward to trying it perhaps with different combinations and ratios of cheese, in addition to varying degrees of spiciness. It was so easy and well-worth the effort, I honestly think I’ll have a hard time eating boxed macaroni and cheese again.

What childhood favorites have you re-created?

Play Time

Do you remember play time in preschool and kindergarten? That magical free-for-all time where the teachers let a bunch of kids loose to play however they please. Sure, there were rules (share toys, don’t bite) but for the most part it was anything goes.

While writing was always something I did in some professional capacity, I started writing a blog so that I could have a play time with writing. But then, just like play time wanes, I started looking at my new and fun project as something to improve, to polish, to become better at.

And then I started getting all over-achiever perfectionist on my poor little blog. If I couldn’t write a good post, then why write one? Could I post often enough and if not, then why at all? Was my writing interesting? Were my pictures boring?

That whole line of thinking is silly and for me at least, paralyzing. And led to almost a full year of not writing anything for fun. From a girl who claims she likes to write.

So from now on, anything that inspires, excites, intrigues or simply causes a little light bulb to go off is fair game. Because play time isn’t supposed to have rules, despite what my adult self has tried to impose.

The last year has been a little messy. Which coincidentally, is about the last time I dusted off my blog to write. So perhaps it’s time to embrace the messiness of a play time here to bring focus and structure to other areas of my life. It certainly can’t hurt to try.

So for today’s play time, here’s a picture of my pretty little dog. I promise not to go crazy dog lady and post about her every day. But don’t her big brown eyes and little pink nose just make you smile?

Reward

I would return my new notebook if this were the reward. Would you? ; )

Hi Again

And Happy New Year! There’s something about the start of a brand new calendar year that makes things seem a little brighter, more optimistic and kind of clean slate-ish. Yes, yes, there’s the post-holiday blues, but overall, it’s a fresh start to make your mark on 2012.

So obviously, my little blog has been sad and neglected lately. (My last post was three major holidays ago?? Yikes!) But I’m excited and (mostly) ready to get back at it.

But with some changes. First, I’m going to be less of a fussy perfectionist when it comes to my posts. Not every post will be super awesome fabulous, but they will offer something creative/fun/interesting I’d like to communicate. And that I hope you will like too!

Second, outfit posts….um, yeah. My photographer husband and I haven’t really gotten into a scheduling grove so I haven’t been taking outfit photos. I might do some on weekends or if I’m not totally disheveled by the day’s end, in evenings. But Instragrams in the mirror or snapshots of a notable piece will now be ok with me. I know it’s less interesting, but I’m going back to my first point – I need a creative outlet even if it’s not always perfect : )

And third, I’m allowing myself shorter posts for when I just have something to say. I promise I will not be one of those bloggers who just chatters endlessly without purpose (though there’s nothing wrong if that’s your thing). But sometimes it will be fun to talk about topics related to clothes and baking, not just what I wear and what I bake.

And so with that, something fun to get started. One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to wear a necklace every day. Super easy, fun and totally doable! And now it’s your turn – what will you be starting new this year? How will you be making 2012 a great year?

Sometimes Frosting Doesn’t Get Made

And that’s ok.

My husband and I are in the midst of some big life changes. The kind where you pick up and move your life 3,000 miles away. Which is exciting, when you think about it. Discovering a new city (San Francisco!) and exploring an entirely new part of the country. How lucky are we his job brings him to this new place?

It turns out it’s kind of stressful though. As our moving company rep told us, “No one ever wrote a book called The Pleasures of Moving.” Truth. I love going through my treasures as much as the next girl, but wow, it’s hard.

I can get pretty caught up and sentimental and emotional because there are so many people I’m going to miss. Knowing I’ll go for such a long period of time without seeing such wonderful friends and family makes me want to do everything for everyone. I like seeing my loved ones happy and I like to share. Simple enough, right?

But when I decide I want to share cupcakes, on an evening when I’m preparing for an early morning flight, for a weekend where we need to find a place to live (kind of an important detail, right?), in a city I’ve never even visited, something has to give. Even if my crazy-long to-do list has time scheduled for cupcakes, my sanity occasionally kicks in and puts a pause on all the insane things I’m trying to accomplish.

So tonight, my Chocolate Swiss Meringue frosting is on put on hold. I will frost my cupcakes later, but for now, “normal me sans cupcakes” wins over “stressed-out, sleep-deprived me who gives people pretty frosted cupcakes.” And that’s the way it should be. So I’m told, at least. I’m still getting used to such clarity ; )

Jetsetting Weekend Away

I’m off for the weekend to visit family in New Jersey and celebrate with a very special four-year-old birthday girl. I’ll be back posting next week with more new outfits and baked sweet treats.

For example, like the one below. It’s all about the frosting here. Lavender. Honey. Fluffy Buttercream. Amazing goodness.

Have a lovely weekend!

Hello there!

Welcome to my new blog – where I’ll be chatting about clothes and baking. So here it goes: I’ll be wearing one thing I love every day, just because it makes me happy. It’s my own personal project to make better use of everything I already own, keep a well-edited closet and, I hope, learn some new ways to put pretty outfits together.

And I’ll be sharing things I bake too. When I bake, I like to pay attention to the small details that make things look pretty. I also enjoy trying new recipes and techniques, learning as I go to create sweet things my family and friends will enjoy. I may possibly share things I cook, but to be honest, that just happens far less often 🙂

As I thought about what is interesting and inspirational to me, I realized both dressing and baking help me find creative ways to express myself and display my personality. I’m pretty shy by nature so this is no easy task. My hope is I can reflect on my journey here at Ruffly and Sweet to see how the way I express myself changes over time. And that others can chime in with new ideas and topics to for one big, fun conversation.

So thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoy hearing my stories and get to learn some new things too!