Did someone say sausage?

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Tomorrow is my Friday (I think...right now I'm taking the day off Friday, but now I'm thinking maybe I won't...but then I think of all the things I could get done...it's appealing;)  But then oh the work Monday that will be waiting...what to do, what to do!

Anyways, sausage!  Over the weekend when I was perusing recipes I came across this good lookin' recipe http://fruitychicken.com/?p=222.  I had to try it!  It was alittle vague for me, and I had to convert of course, but I was up to the challenge of figuring this out, and also being able to pick out the flaws at the end so the next time could be even better!

You will need:

• macaroni and cheese, made as the box says
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup milk
• 4 tbsp flour
• salt, pepper, and nutmeg, all just a little shake
  
• 1-2 lbs of any kind of sausage you like, uncooked - I used hot italian links, and cut them into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen carrots
• any shredded cheese you would like, about 2 cups total

Okay, so I was very scared to make this!  Kim's photo on her website of this looks exactly how I would like mine to look - a little browned/blackened, but still soft, runny, and warm!  I kinda just went with what I felt I should be doing.

Preheat oven to 425.  In a small pot, melt the stick of butter,  When melted and boiling a bit, add 4 tbsp of flour and stir; then add cup of milk and stir.  This is going to be a sauce inside the Sausage Bake, so make the sauce as thick or runny as you like - more flour for thickening, less flour/more milk for runny:)

While I was making the sauce I also prepared the mac and cheese box and cut up the sausage into bite sized pieces.  Once the sauce had a consistency that I was happy with, I add the shakes of salt, pepper, and nutmeg...and of course I added good ole CRP :)  I let this sit off to the side.

When the mac and cheese was done, and the sausage cut up, I combined those in a large bowl, added the frozen peas and carrots, and then added the butter/flour/milk/seasonings sauce.  I mixed it all up then poured it into a 9x13 baking pan.  I then poured a mixture of mozzarella, monterey jack, and sharp cheddar shredded cheese over the combined casserole.

 

Kim's recipe called for baking this 20-30 minutes.  Mine was closer to 50 minutes.  I have to admit, I started to get alittle annoyed, not at Kim of course, but at me....Kim had used pre-cooked sausage, but I decided to use uncooked sausage so everything would cook together, minus the mac and cheese.  When you get home from work at 6, and start dinner at 6:30, eating at 7:52 is not optimal. 

It tasted awesome, and I would definitely make it again for sure!  My fave part was definitely the sauce, and actually the taste of the peas with the spicyness of the sausage, mixed with the big cheese flavor, worked better than I thought they would together! 

 

I think I may try different versions, for example this recipe but with hotdogs, or chicken with the mac and cheese, with broccoli and rice pilaf.  Endless possibilities!

Cheycancook is quite sleepy tonight so I am out:)  I hope you all have a great evening, and maybe some of you also enjoyed the same shows I did tonight - The Middle, Modern Family, and Cougartown;)

Tomorrow - another new recipe that I came across last weekend that has me shaking in my booties!  Let me know what you think of the above recipe and any other versions you can think of that would work:)  Talk to you tomorrow bloggies!