Homemade macaroni and cheese always disappears quickly at my house.  When the weather turns a little chilly, my husband and I both take our turns in the kitchen whipping up our respective macaroni and cheese recipes. Whether you make it in a casserole dish, a sauce pan, or even the crock pot, macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food.

Here’s one of our favorite recipes for macaroni and cheese:

• 1 package elbow macaroni (8 ounces)
• 1 container cottage cheese (12 ounces, small curd)
• Shredded cheddar cheese (8 ounce bag)
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Cook macaroni according to package directions, and drain well using a collander.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Then, in a  9X13 baking pan, mix together cooked macaroni, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, and sour cream.  In a small mixing bowl, combine melted butter and bread crumbs and sprinkle over macaroni mixture.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until top is golden and bubbly around the edges.

Some of my favorite Fall recipes are crock pot recipes. It’s just so convenient to toss in all your ingredients in the morning, and then come home to a warm meal in the afternoon. Here’s an especially easy recipe for chicken cacciatore that you can serve over any pasta.

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 (6oz) cans tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs. boneless chicken breast (legs and thighs are fine too)
• 8 oz mushrooms
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 c. dry white wine, optional
• 1/4 c. water

Place the sliced onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place chicken on the onion. Mix together tomato paste, mushrooms, salt, pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning, wine and water in a bowl. Pour mixture over chicken and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serves 4.

This recipe contains tomato paste, which is an excellent source of lycopene, a cancer-fighting antioxidant.  Here’s more about the benefits of lycopene.