Macaroni and Cheese in a box.  For some weird reason my kids love this stuff. It's cheap and you can make pretty fast on the stove top. I remember that the best thing about mac and cheese when I was growing up was the crispy crust. You would get that if you baked the frozen kind.  With the mac and cheese in a box that you buy today, you do not even get that guilty pleasure. It's all boiled or microwaved. If you have a few extra minutes you will get much better results by finding six or seven ingredients you likely have in your pantry. Besides the baking part, it only takes a minute or two longer to prepare over the stuff you get  in the box.  Read on to get the recipe.

Here is a recipe that we have been using for tasty macaroni and cheese with a nice crust. You only need a cup of dry macaroni, a little cheddar cheese, milk, butter, a dash of flour, salt and pepper, bread crumbs, and some Parmesan cheese. You probably have quite a few of these ingredients already kicking around in your refrigerator or pantry.

Ingredients:
1 cup of dry pasta like elbow macaroni.
4 tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup of flour
2 1/2 cups of milk
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
dash of salt and pepper (optional)
dash of parsley (optional)

For the topping:
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese

Start by getting you oven preheated to 350 degrees.
Follow the instructions to cook the macaroni. I always leave it a little be underdone because there will be more cooking time in the oven.
Melt the butter over low heat in pot that will be large enough to hold all of the ingredients.
After the butter is melted, alternate adding flour and milk a little at a time. The idea here is to make a nice roux.  So gradually keep adding milk and flour and stirring gently until it thickens.  Do not use high heat and do not let it boil, it will burn.
Then turn off the heat and the cooked macaroni and the shredded cheese. Blend together, and if you want you can add a little parsley, salt or pepper.  I find that in most cases, the cheese has enough salt for my taste, so I do not add any.
Make the topping by mixing together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese.

Add the macaroni and cheese mixture to an ungreased 10 inch bowl that is safe for the oven. Sprinkle the bread crumb and Parmesan mixture over the top. Then place it in the oven at 350 degrees for about a half an hour. When it is bubbly and the topping is turning brown remove from the oven.  Then let it set for 5 or 10 minutes and enjoy!