Just the other day, my family and I sat down for dinner; which I'm sure for a lot of  you can be a challenge with smaller, pickier eaters. Nonetheless, one of the dishes we seem to skip is the classic macaroni and cheese. Now one might say, but everyone loves mac and cheese. Right? Well, not so much around our table. (I won't digress). So one evening I decided to ramp up the mac and cheese menu by placing a certain amount of smoked cheese in the mix. The results were stunning. Not only did the smokiness add extra flavor, but the overall texture vastly improved. Needless to say, the smoky mac (as we now name it) is a hit and will regain its rightful place on our family menu.

I'm sure you can experiment with various types of cheese. I used the smoked sharp cheddar. The possibilities for substitutions and additions seem to be great.

Keep in mind the mac and cheese used was of the boxed variety. I'm sure if you took the time to make your own from scratch, you probably wouldn't have to "liven" things up as much. But when you're on a time schedule, this works well. Bon mac and cheese!