"Robin's Second-Favorite Macaroni and Cheese"

(My husband's baked macaroni with ground turkey is my first favorite!)

I prefer vegetarian ground meat or bacon in this dish, but you can use real meat if you like.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole-wheat or whole-grain macaroni pasta
• 1 1/2 cups any shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend)
• 1 cup vegetarian ground meat, or enough vegetarian bacon to make 1 cup when chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Optional - Black pepper or other seasoning for ground meat
• Optional - Additional shredded cheese for topping

Note: You may want to add more garlic and salt. I didn't use much because I seasoned the vegetarian meat with garlic salt and Italian seasoning.

1. Cook the vegetarian meat or bacon according to package directions. If using bacon, chop when finished. Set aside.
2. Cook the pasta. Drain and return to pot.
3. Add the butter and stir.
4. Stir in the cheese, then the garlic and salt, then the chopped bacon or ground meat (I don't mix everything together at once because the cheese sometimes "clumps" with the meat if they are stirred together at the same time).