Tweaking classic comforts:

I'm all about tweaking recipes. I'll be in the kitchen, cooking away, and sneakily reach for a spice or ingredient from the pantry. "Woah. Woah!" David says, inevitably catching what I'm doing. "That's not in the recipe."

"And...?" I reply, grabbing the spice jar and sprinkling a little in the pot or pan.

I can honestly say that most of the time it works. And you never fail unless you don't learn something, right?*

Macaroni and cheese with tomato soup is one of my favorite classic comfort foods. While creamy macaroni and cheese has its place, I am partial to the crunchy edges that baked macaroni and cheese produces.

I also tweaked this recipe a little to add a fun--but inexpensive--ingredient. Fake lobster meat, which we refer to as "flobster". Altogether, this meal costs under $15 to make, and makes six jumbo mac n cheese cups. I also cheated a little and used box macaroni and cheese, mostly because I didn't want to fuss with real bechamel sauce. I put in some extra cheese and a palm full of flour to help it stick together better.

coat the bottom of the greased muffin tin with bread flakes, and sprinkle a little on top of each macamuffin

always, always add extra cheese

Bake at 375 for approximately 25 minutes, until golden.

David makes a great cream of tomato soup. We only had one instance of the acidity in the tomatoes causing curdling, then we discovered the magic ingredient. Baking soda. Add a little bit, and your cream of tomato soup will be safe.

When removing the macamuffins from the muffin tin, it is best to let them cool for at least 15 minutes. If you want them hot, they will be difficult to remove and lose their shape. But they will still taste great.

*Note: I have learned it is very important to follow the directions on semi instant tapioca pearls