[Instant Pot] Enhanced Boxed Macaroni and Cheese

Happy Neurodiversity Celebration Week!

https://www.neurodiversityweek.com/
https://www.neurodiversityweek.com/

There are many types of #neurodiversity and #ADHD is just one of them. A lot of times, an Instant Pot is a godsend for the easily distracted, whether that be adult caregivers to children who have the urge to draw a masterpiece all over the living room in lipstick, or a person whose brain is the challenge. Which is why so many of my recipes are written for people with executive dysfunction and low working memory, and cover meals that would be faster and, some might find, easier to prepare without the Instant Pot. And today is no exception.

Today, I present: enhanced boxed macaroni and cheese. It is a mashup of my fancy dinner macaroni and cheese frugalized with the boxed macaroni and cheese recipe found elsewhere on this website.

Table of Contents

Ingredients.

  • 1 box of Mac and Cheese including noodles and powdered cheese packet
  • 2 cups water [If using Annie's brand box, use only 1 1/4 cups of water]
  • 2 TBSP butter
  • 1 tsp Shanggie Brand Broth Mix [sub: any bullion you like, enough to make 2 cups broth]
  • 1/2 tsp Sriracha Sauce [sub: Tabasco or any other hot pepper sauce]
  • 1/4 head Garlic, cut cloves in half [sub: 1/2 tsp garlic powder]
  • 1/4 tsp Pepper

Materials.

Method.

  1. Put the water (2 cups), broth mix (1 tsp), and noodles from the box of Mac and Cheese into the Instant Pot. Give it a good stir to dissolve the broth mix powder. The noodles will act as additional agitation to help get the powder dissolved.
  2. Now add the Sriracha sauce (1/2 tsp), garlic (1/4 head, cloves halved), and pepper (1/4 tsp) and stir for appearance sake.
  3. Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set the vent to SEAL.
  4. Set the Instant Pot to PRESSURE COOK (sub settings: normal, high) for 4 minutes.
  5. When the time is up, QUICK RELEASE the pressure.
  6. Now add the powdered cheese packet, and butter (2 TBSP) and stir thoroughly. [If using an Annie's brand box, you may need to drizzle a spoonful or two of water if the resultant cheese sauce is too thick.]
  7. Eat.

Notes.

PSA: I know that people love Annie's brand macaroni and cheese for its brand values of being organic, wholesome, good for you food. I love a good Cheddar Bunny myself (one of the brand's products). However, if you haven't yet experienced the disappointment that is their boxed macaroni and cheese, let me please try to steer you away before you do. The only acceptable flavor that doesn't taste like warm, blended copy-paper to me (and the children I taste test these recipes on) is their Aged Cheddar but, frankly, we can do better.

Bibliography. This recipe is a mashup of my fancy dinner macaroni and cheese frugalized with the boxed macaroni and cheese recipe found elsewhere on this website.

Neurodiversity Celebration Week.

This isn't our first time participating. See what recipes we have posted in years prior.

CookLang.

We have recently been introduced to a new kind of way to write recipes, called CookLang. It's nerdy, weird, and way more than you ever wanted to know if you were just here to snoop my recipe book, but for me it's really nifty. Anyway, if CookLang is to your taste, here's this recipe in CookLang's format:

---
title: Enhanced Boxed Macaroni and Cheese
source: https://theinfamousj.github.io/ExecutiveDysfunctionRecipes/instant-pot-vegetarian-colcannon-3.html
course: dinner
diet: vegetarian
tags: [Instant Pot, fancy dinner, dairy]
cuisine: American
---
> Today, I present: enhanced boxed macaroni and cheese. It is a mashup of my fancy dinner macaroni and cheese frugalized with the boxed macaroni and cheese recipe found elsewhere on this website.

Put the @water {2%cups}, @broth mix {1%tsp}, and @noodles {from the box of Mac and Cheese} into the #Instant Pot{}. Give it a good stir to dissolve the broth mix powder. The noodles will act as additional agitation to help get the powder dissolved.

Now add the @Sriracha sauce {1/2%tsp}, @garlic {1/4%head
}(cloves halved), and @pepper {1/4%tsp} and stir for appearance sake.

Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set the vent to SEAL.

Set the Instant Pot to PRESSURE COOK (sub settings: normal, high) for 4 minutes.

When the time is up, QUICK RELEASE the pressure.

Now add the @powdered cheese packet {from the box of Mac and Cheese}, and @butter {2%TBSP} and stir thoroughly. [If using an Annie's brand box, you may need to drizzle a spoonful or two of water if the resultant cheese sauce is too thick.]

Eat.