Homemade Mac N Cheese (not vegan)

Homemade Mac N Cheese

Hello again. Remember when I said I went to a Friends-giving dinner and I had to make food? here is the mac n cheese I made. Definitely NOT vegan. Lots of dairy and I'm proud of it. I took lactase pills- don't worry. I definitely think there's room to improve this recipe but I will figure it out. I also made WAY too much. I had enough for the party. my roommate and I, my boyfriend, and best friend. Let me know what you think?

Ingredients:

Elbow Macaroni (or whatever pasta you want)

Half & Half

Sour Cream

Cream Cheese

Milk (I only had almond milk)

Shredded cheese- sharp cheddar, cheddar jack, white cheddar, Gouda, and parmesan

Garlic

Garlic and Onion Powder

Paprika

Mustard Powder

Salt and pepper

Butter

Instructions:
1. Cook your pasta according to the directions on the box. make sure to take them off right before they are done cause they will cook more later
2. In a pot take a stick of butter and melt it down (add a second stick if you want- I used 2).
3. Add in some chopped garlic and cook that a little.
4. Add in the half and half and some milk and stir.
5. Add in 1 packet of cream cheese and sour cream. Stir. The key is to keep stirring till everything is combined. I also used a whisk to stir.
6. Slowly add in shredded cheeses. Make sure to keep stirring. We don't want clumpy sauce. if you think its getting too thick and the cheese is just getting stretchy. Add in more cream or milk or cream cheese or sour cream or any of the dairy options we have here. This is definitely not a vegan mac n cheese....
7. Once the sauce is done and to your desired thickness. Add in some spices (mustard powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika) I kept this batch more bland since it was for a party so I didn't want to experiment too much.
8. Now that the sauce is done. Add in your macaroni and stir gently so you dont break the noodles and you just combine them. I used a spatula and folded the sauce over the noodles carefully.
9. Should be good to eat now unless you want to add anything else. LOL

Optional: place macaroni in a greased casserole dish and add a layer of shredded cheese on top with panko bread crumbs and bake in the oven to get a nice top on the dish.

For my buffalo lovers: Add in some buffalo wing sauce into the cheese sauce and use bleu cheese in the sauce and crumble on top when serving.

FAQ

How much did I make? A LOT
Can you give exact proportions? sure. just remember I made a lot so you can definitely cut back. I know i used 2 sticks of butter, half a container of sour cream, half of the carton of half and half (it was one of the small cartons), almond milk was added to make thinner as needed (so idk this), a huge bag of sharp cheddar and cheddar jack, one block of gouda cheese, one round container of shredded parmesan, one regular sized bag of shredded white cheddar cheese... I also ended up using 2 boxes of elbow macaroni (I probably could have made about 1/2 of another box but I was lazy).
Did you follow a recipe? yes and no. I found some recipes on Pintrest and I modified them I will link the ones I looked at here and here.