My Mom's Macaroni and Cheese

My kids LOVE macaroni and cheese, especially the Kraft kind. There is something about the flourencent orange color that makes me definitely want to limit how much we eat it (they now have whole grain kind, which I am thrilled about). My mom made homemade macaroni and cheese while I was growing up and I LOVED it!

My mom is one of those cooks that doesn't use a recipe very much. She throws in a dash of this and a pinch of that. I however, need a recipe for most things so I have asked her to write down her secrets over the years. This one is so good!

1 1/2 cups of macaroni (I use all sorts of pasta for this)
2 TBS butter
1 1/2 TBS flour
4 shakes onion salt
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped ham if desired

Bring 5 cups of salted water to a boil. Add about 1 1/2 cups of macaroni . Boil until tender.

In another saucepan melt 2 TBS of butter. Take 1 1/2 TBS of flour and stir with 4 shakes of onion salt (that is as exact as we can get, but four shakes should do it :) Whisk in 1 1/2 cups of half and half. Turn down the heat and stir with whisk while the mixture thickens. Add grated cheddar cheese. Take the pan off the heat and let the cheese melt while you stir it in. Tast to correct the onion salt :)

Add drained macaroni and stir all together. If it is too thick for you, add more milk.

I also put about 1 cup of chopped ham into this if we make it for dinner and the kids love it!