Bacooooowwwn.

Sunday morning, Meg and I had a chat about bacon. She'd visited Blue Tractor for the first time and ordered the mac and cheese with bacon. I commented on how I like bacon but I don't like it IN stuff because I think the flavor overpowers everything else (this is important for later in the story!). I spent the next few hours thinking about bacon, though. So when I hit the grocery store, I grabbed some turkey bacon, fantasizing about the delicious BLTs I was going to make.

In an effort to be frugal and use the tiny butt ends of the french bread in the fridge, I made a handful of mini BLTs, with a little mayo and some baby spinach. Cute, and tasty. I would like to eat another right now, actually.

In the meantime, I'd also picked up a fakie bento box -- miss Lisa has been a lunch-making inspiration for me. It's funny, I've always HATED making lunches. Growing up, I had to make my own lunch. And I hated it so much, I'd just throw a bunch of crap in a bag to satisfy my chore of making my lunch.... And then would pay the price the next day. I started making Brad lunches about a week ago -- ironic timing, eh, now that he kind of has to take lunch. :) But while at Target this weekend, I saw this four-piece box Lisa had recommended and I couldn't resist.

Here Brad is showing off his leftover beet, chicken, and goat cheese filling for a tortilla wrap sandwich. Applesauce and cupcakes to boot.

Brad mentioned yesterday that he's always jealous of the fancy surprise treats his buddy brings in his lunch, so now I must continue to pack more and more creative lunches. I will not lose the cool lunch war!

Another fun foodie surprise this week.... Mini cupcakes! A little pick-me-up courtesy of Lisa Z, lunchbox and mini queen. Lemon strawberry with pink sprinkles... They certainly hit the spot and I can't believe I've managed to control myself -- I still have a few left! I've been rationing us, no more than two each a day. I hope they never end! Hugs hugs, you!

And finally, back to the bacon!

We'd designated Tuesday to be mac and cheese night, so mid-afternoon when I realized I had all the time in the world to make dinner, I decided to look for a new recipe. I make mac and cheese a lot, but I make lazy man's mac -- all in one pot. Cook the noodles, dump in some milk, drop in some cheese, stir, and eat. I remembered my conversation with Meg, remembered I had some bacon in my fridge, and thought, what the hell -- why not try bacon in my mac and cheese, too!?

I settled on this recipe from Food Network. I mostly followed the recipe, but I didn't have any cream and I certainly wasn't using whole milk -- I ended up just using about 3-1/2 cups of skim milk. I also didn't have quite that much cheese, so I used about 4 cups total, then sprinkled a handful of cheddar and parm each on top. The lemon juice seemed weird, so I skipped that step, and I also added a few sprinkles of breadcrumbs on top. Threw it all in the oven... and man, did that smell GOOD cooking. It was still bubbling when I took these pics:

I couldn't wait to dig in and dished out the goods, pairing it with a little creamed corn and some classic white bread -- a little southern WT dinner, ya'll! (PS I'm totally in love with these separated dishes I bought for the kids at Christmas dinner a few years ago). Oh, and FYI, the little green specs? Those are just some tricolor rottini I threw in (we have like 5 open boxes of noodles in the cupboard, sheesh!).

The verdict? I think I am sold on bacon in mac and cheese!! It definitely is a strong flavor element, but I think it worked. It also felt more like a meal and I filled up quicker than I normally do (only one trip back to the pot for more!). I can only imagine how delicious this would be with the whole milk, cream, and real bacon.... Definitely recommendable, either way. And the leftovers? Even MORE delicious. I'm excited I have one last spoonful for lunch again tomorrow.....