Easy Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese for a Crowd

I think one of the things all of us here at the Cafe have in common is that we love our churches. Big or small, in the city or a small town, we love the community that God has blessed us with.

Here in the Black Hills, I am constantly thankful for our church. But we have this problem...

Actually, it isn't really a problem as much as a challenge.

You see, our little church is growing. We're scrambling to find space for the nursery. Counting heads as we assign Sunday School rooms. Bringing chairs out of storage. Parking on the street when the lot gets full. And lovin' on those BABIES!

We're adding families, retired couples, young singles, young marrieds. Folks from the neighborhood, and people who have just moved to town.

Isn't that a great problem to have???

*grinning from ear to ear!*

So to meet this wonderful, blessed challenge, one of the things some of us have done is to increase the amount of food we take to carry-in dinners.

Because when you have a line of people, you don't want to run out of food!

Along with whatever other dish I'm making, I've started including a crock pot full of mac & cheese.

Everybody loves mac & cheese. :)

Here's my recipe:

Easy Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese
recipe can be doubled

ingredients:

16 oz box (4 cups) elbow macaroni
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 cups shredded cheddar
1 can evaporated milk
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup, undiluted
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/8 tsp. paprika

The pictures in this post are from a double recipe

Cook the macaroni in boiling water for six or seven minutes (it will continue cooking in the crock pot). Drain the macaroni, put it in a large (5 quart) slow cooker, and add the butter.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, evaporated milk, and condensed soup. Stir in the shredded cheese.

Add the cheese mixture to the macaroni and stir to combine.

Cook, covered, on low 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Stir about half-way through the cooking time.

Isn't that easy? And perfect to throw together on Sunday morning to take for the noon carry-in. And when you have a lot of young children to feed, they love it!


In other news, we ventured out on a different hike this week.

I tend to want to go deep into the Hills for our hikes, but this time we tried a trail system that is much closer.

It's actually right in the middle of town!

Rapid City has a fabulous system of linear parks and trails that grew out of tragedy. In 1972, the city was devastated when this beautiful creek flooded. The rebuilding was in the form of parks and green spaces. No more housing in the flood plain!

One of the most popular trails is called "M Hill," because the emblem of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (aka "Mines") is on the top. The view from there is fabulous!

Looking east from the M

It was a great hike, and it only took about an hour.

Looking west, you can see Harney peak in the distance - another great place to hike.

The smoky look? Yes, that is smoke. The forest service has been doing "prescribed burns" over the past few weeks. The rangers burn an area of the forest using a slow, cool fire that cleans out dead brush and overgrown underbrush. When the forest is kept cleared, it reduces the possibility of a hot, deadly forest fire in that area.

I think you can see from these pictures that we've been enjoying a very summer-like fall. Temperatures in the upper-70's and low-80's over the weekend, and lovely sunshine. But the days are growing short, and the nights are cool...bordering on cold. We know that one day we'll wake up to winter.

But until then, we're enjoying the gorgeous weather!

Are you ready for winter, yet? Or are you still enjoying warm weather?

Jan Drexler loves her family, her home, cooking and just about anything made by hand. But she loves her Lord most of all.

Stop by Jan's website to learn more about her books: www.JanDrexler.com