big ol' crockpot of mac 'n' cheese

last week, kyle informed me of an exciting event, a team-potluck at his work.  although im not attending, cooking, whether you eat it or not, is exciting! we began to brainstorm and our minds immediately went to crockpot mode, a perfect and affordable kitchen appliance that not only feeds a number of people, but also maintains heat for several hours.  just what we needed! since someone took one of his favorite dishes, buffalo chicken dip, he has decided to bring a gigantic crockpot full of mac 'n' cheesy goodness.  honestly, who doesn't like mac 'n' cheese? besides my friend Smizzy. he hates cheese. i know, so wrong.  the twist for kyle's mac? bacon (ya hillary... all for you!), red bell peppers, mushroom, rotel tomatoes, salsa verde... AND 5 DIFFERENT CHEESES! parmesan, pepperjack, sharp cheddar, cottage cheese, and finally, muenster. 

overall, this dish sounds amazing, right? so many great ingredients in one dish with lots of cheese. perfect! however, because this was a practice run, we were "trial-and-erroring" a bit.  the final outcome for this meal was a bit controversial.  on a scale of 1-10, i would have rated it a 4 or 5... ya, not that great. kyle, on the other hand, thinks "it wasn't awful. dude, it was good!"

overall, it would have been fabulous if it weren't for a couple mishaps.  one, i ruined it with too much mustard. that's right, mustard. i saw a couple of "recipe blueprints" that called for mustard. i thought, what the hay, lets try it! although i always say "use a heavy hand," with things you are unsure of, like mustard in mac 'n' cheese, and when cooking for a large number of people, i'd say... let's lighten the hand a bit. in addition, the mac was a little too mexican and not enough southern. don't get me wrong, mexican mac is amazing, but that's not the final outcome we wanted for this pot-luck.  it lacked the true southern good 'n' cheesy bacon taste.  thank god for practice runs. therefore, below is a "new and improved" recipe for the final crockpot mac 'n' cheese. thanks to practice runs, friday's potluck will be great :) go kyle.

ingredients/directions:
- 1 box macaroni or pasta of your choice (boil/cook prior to crockpot)
- 1 package of bacon (cooked/chopped prior to crockpot)
- 1 bell pepper (chopped)
- 1/2 package of fresh mushrooms or 1 can (chopped)
- CHEESE!! lots of cheese... whatever kind of you want (cut into cubes for easier melting)
- 1-2 cups of milk
- 1 can tomatos 
- 1-2 eggs- beaten
- LOTS of the following: salt, pepper, garlic powder
- sprinkle bread crumbs and parmesan on top right before serving

place into pot for about 2-3 hours on low/medium to melt. stir every 30 min or so. VOILA you have mac 'n' cheese in a crockpot... and youll have about 10 servings worth. REMEMBER: you can always cut the recipe in half if you don't want as much. but why not? that's why humans created freezers. and remember... this is a BLUEPRINT! take things out, add what you want, and make it your own :) happy cooking.