I freeze mac and cheese all the time. Yes, it helps to cook it al dente, and I also like to use a whole grain version, as it holds up a little better. I love Ina Garten's mac and cheese recipe with the Gruyere, it's wonderful and works well in the freezer. Throw some bread in the food processor with cold butter, and use those as a topping. I also make twice baked potatoes, including broccoli, cheese, sometimes bacon or ham, and slow cooked onions. Crisp the skins before stuffing them, and freeze them individually. I mash the potatoes with all the ingredients until they taste good and the filling is just a little loose. We have those a lot when we don't want to cook, and they're almost a complete meal by themselves. A broccoli, cheese, onion and rice casserole can be frozen and reheated when you're ready. You can also roast broccoli and onions, peppers, carrots and onions, fennel and onions...you get the idea. That's quick and pretty easy. Coleslaw or baked beans would be great with your BBQ! Here is a link that might be useful: Ina's Mac and Cheese

Well Mz Ya Ya...Here's the one that is popular here. Three Cheese Chicken Enchiladas I've used leftover pork, shredded beef or even ground beef. And instead of rolling, to save time and effort I layer the tortillas and filling and sauce like lasagna. Bit of sauce on the bottom, tortillas.. filling, maybe some extra cheese, sauce, tortillas and so on... Cheese sauce I make using a medium white sauce and add cheeses of choice. I don't follow a recipe. If you want to "spice" it up add some rotel or just a small can of diced green chilies. Rough amounts for a 9x13 casserole size amount. 1/4 c butter 1/4 flour couple good pinches of kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper Cook a few minutes on med heat, stiring well until it starts to bubble. Pour in enough milk, half n half or cream to equal about 3 cups. Continue cooking until it thickens. Toss in atleast a cup of grated cheese. (I tend to go with 2 cups.) To give it a little tang stir in a few big dollops of sour cream or a few ounces of cream cheese. Add in the drained chilies or rotel if you are covering enchiladas. I have a from scratch red sauce if anyone wants it. I'll be back in a few hours to check. Terri

Great idea, Woodie: serving it with steak. I have ordered a blue cheese crust before in a steakhouse, it makes sense to have it as a sauce, though it had not occurred to me before. As far as the recipe, I'll answer my own post! I had all the ingredients, so couldn't wait. I have to say, it turned out really well. I have not actually tasted the Trader Joe's version, but mine was good. I have a George Foreman Grill, so cooked the chicken strips on that. A real grill would be good, too, or some other cooking process that is similar to grilling. 2 Chicken breasts, cut up into strips (marinate for 10 minutes or more, in 1/4 cup lemon juice, dash lemon pepper, 1 T Italian seasoning, 1 T paprika). Drizzle with olive oil right before cooking. 2 onions, sliced 2 red or green peppers 1/3 to 1/2 pound sliced Portabella mushrooms (the mushrooms are critical to the flavor) 1/2 lb. Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled or chopped 4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced (if you're not a real garlic lover, use the smaller quantity) 1/4 cup of grated parmesan. Italian parsley, optional, chopped Cooked pasta Grill the marinated chicken on the George Foreman grill. Sauce base: Melt 2 T butter in a shallow pan. Make a white sauce with 2-3 T of flour stirred into 1 cup milk. Cook until thickened: add black pepper, garlic salt, and minced garlic. Simmer on very low heat, adding more milk as needed to maintain a consistence that can coat the chicken. Add the chopped Gorgonzola cheese, and about 1/4 cup of grated parmesan. Let cheeses melt, keep warm. Gorgonzola may not melt completely, but appear chunky in the sauce. Saute the onions in olive oil, until lightly caramelized; after them the peppers: remove to a plate. Saute the mushrooms until browned. Put them all back in the pan. Put the cooked chicken in a large shallow serving bowl, add the onions/peppers/mushrooms. Pour the cheese sauce over, and toss to coat all lightly. Or toss them all together in the larger of the saute pans. Add chopped parsley. Serve over Pasta.

This is the white sauce I use from my college cookbook: For a medium sauce: 1 cup milk, 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons flour, 2 tbl melted butter, 1/4 tsp salt, I sprinkle some pepper as well. Melt butter, remove from hear; add flour, stir until smooth. Return to heat add milk slowly, stirring constantly until sauce is thickened. Stir in 1/2 cup, or more, chopped or grated cheese, stir until melted I like to add a tad bit of mustard to mine, maybe 1/2 tsp. regular. I just eyeball it and taste it for my tastebuds. Hope you enjoy the croquettes.