Add a touch of creamy melt to your dinner with Kraft Canada and Philadelphia!

During the week, I’m a full-time working mom of three. My evenings consist of arriving home around 5ish {later if I have to do a grocery run}, getting dinner ready while making sure the little ones are munching on some sort of healthy snack, possibly doing a load of laundry or two while dinner is on the stove, helping Miss S with her homework {or telling her 5 million times to actually do her homework during dinner prep and after dinner}, eating my dinner while trying to make the littles eat their dinner, downtime, bath time, bedtimes, blog time, party planning and then a sliver of me time.  A date night on the couch with hubby while watching one of our favourite shows is also somehow squeezed in there (if I’m not folding laundry, blogging or getting crafty).

Sleep. Repeat.

In the midst of all this chaos, the one thing I heavily rely on is a quick and easy kid-friendly dinner recipe.  Or any recipe that’s quick and easy, really, since the kids are supposed to eat what we eat {and you know how often that happens!}.

I was thrilled when SwankMama was given the opportunity to sample the newest addition to the Kraft Canada family:  Kraft Shredded Cheese with a Touch of Philadelphia Cheese and Philadelphia cream cheese together? It’s a melt made in heaven!

Kraft Canada has specially blended their signature shredded cheese and added a touch of Philadelphia, so that you can use it in your everyday dishes and still achieve that cheesy taste with a little extra creamy melt. Cooking with Kraft Shredded Cheese with a Touch of Philadelphia will definitely make dinnertime easier for us, as we can skip the “grate the cheese” step all together!

Last night I decided to incorporate an entire bag of Kraft Creamy Mexicana Shredded Cheese with a Touch of Philadelphia to my favourite baked macaroni and cheese recipe:

SwankMama’s Mac & Cheese
{original recipe found in Today’s Parent magazine has been personalized by SwankMama}

450g small cut pasta
3-4 chicken breasts (seasoned to taste)
1/2 of a yellow onion
4-5 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour (or less – use your discretion)
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 cups warmed milk
1 bag of Kraft Creamy Mexicana Shredded Cheese with a Touch of Philadelphia
1 cup extra old white cheddar cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs*
2 tsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Add pasta to a pot of boiling salted water and cook as directed on the package or al dente (usually around 10 mins)
3. Cut up seasoned chicken into small chunks, add it to a lightly oiled frying pan and cook for 3 mins on each side and set aside in a small bowl
4. Dice onions and garlic
5. Melt butter in a non-stick frying pan
6. Add onions to frying pan and sauté for 2 mins
7. Add garlic to onion mixture and sauté for another 2 mins
8. Slowly add flour to mixture while stirring constantly to ensure all of the lumps are gone. The mixture will get thick but make sure it has an even consistency. If it gets too thick, don’t add all the flour.
9. Stir in the cayenne pepper
10. Add warmed milk (in 1 cup intervals) to mixture, stir and bring to a boil (make sure there are no lumps from the flour)
11. Add cheese mixture slowly and mix in until melted. Alternate cheeses as you are adding them.
12. Sprinkle a dash of salt and pepper to taste
13. Mix pasta with the sauce and stir until coated with sauce mixture
14. Pour pasta into a 9x13 oven-safe dish
15. Mix fresh bread crumbs with olive oil and sprinkle over top of pasta
16. Bake for 30 mins

*Try leaving out slices of bread (approx. 2) on the counter during the day to dry out. Break up into small pieces and grind the pieces in a coffee grinder. Voila! You have instant fresh bread crumbs!

You can see creamy deliciousness of Kraft Creamy Mexicana Shredded Cheese with a Touch of Philadelphia fresh out of the oven! It’s so “melt-in-your-mouth” delicious, I’m dreaming about the leftovers I brought for lunch today as I type! Adding Kraft Creamy Mexicana Shredded Cheese with a Touch of Philadelphia to my favourite macaroni and cheese dish was such a success that the kids devoured it and hubby ended up bringing leftovers for lunch!

Want a taste of a melt to remember? Head down to your local grocery store and pick up a package (or two!) of Kraft Shredded Cheese with a Touch of Philadelphia, which comes in three mouth-watering flavours: Creamy Mozza, Creamy Herb & Garlic and Creamy Mexicana. Then head over to Kraft Canada and choose the perfect recipe for your meal or as inspiration for your next!

{Twitter Party}

Kraft Canada is hosting a “What’s Cooking” Twitter party on Wednesday, April 16, 2014 at 9:00pm EST and you’re invited! Follow @KraftCanada and use the hashtag #TouchofPhillyCheese to keep up with all the fun!

Disclosure:  Although this post has been generously sponsored by Kraft Canada, the opinions and language are all my own, and in no way do they reflect Kraft Canada.