‘Cascade’ Articles at Sweetnicks

A deliciously cheesy and easy macaroni and cheese recipe AND clean dishes after a run through the dishwasher? Sign me up.

The weather is starting to (finally) match the calendar and cooler temperatures are upon us. Which means it’s the perfect time for comfort food.

But, truth be told, I can find a reason for comfort food twelve months out of the year.

I mean. Really.

And very few dishes scream COMFORT FOOD quite like mac and cheese.

Besides the delicious cheese factor.

And the fact that it’s kid-approved.

And, well, ok, Mom-approved.

Is the notion that it is perfect for a crazy weeknight of cheer or scout meetings.

Or a crazy weeknight of life in general.

Who are we kidding?

Whether you make it ahead to just heat and eat, or throw it together while supervising homework duties, it’s simple and flavorful, and just downright pure awesome in a dish.

I made a double batch and invited some friends over.

For a few reasons.

I’m a big fan of cooking and sharing. Saves me the math of trying to halve recipes for my family, and I don’t have to worry about leftovers languishing in the fridge. And who doesn’t love a random text like “Hey, plenty of food, come on over for dinner and take the night off tonight?” I mean, those are kind of my favorite to both send and receive. And I had more Cascade Platinum packs to share, and inviting friends over is the perfect opportunity to give them away.

Because if those Cascade packs are going to show off, it’s totally going to be all over the starchiness that gets stuck on dishes after mac and cheese has been stuck on it and sitting for awhile.

Amiright?

This recipe for mac and cheese is one of our go-tos. Simple, using on-hand ingredients, and a pinch-hitter for when you haven’t planned ahead or want to host impromptu friends.

Which pretty much describes most days.

And just like the last time I mentioned the Cascade Platinum pacs, they are giving away another prize pack to a lucky reader. One winner will be chosen from the comments below. You have from now until midnight EST on Friday, October 25. You may receive additional entries by following me on Instagram, following me on Twitter, and tweeting this giveaway. Good luck!

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My dishwasher and I have a love/hate relationship.

I love the fact that I have one.

But I hate the fact that I need to pre-rinse everything before I load it up.

In fact, my plumber, during one of our many conversations about my dishwasher, told me that I should actually completely clean everything before I load it into the dishwasher.

Which is when I wondered what the whole point of having the dishwasher really was.

I mean, really.

Luckily, quite the opposite is true if you’re using Cascade Platinum pacs. In fact, they encourage you NOT to pre-rinse your items before you load. As the Cascade folks explained, the pacs actually work better when there is food left ON the dishes, because the special enzymes latch themselves onto the foods, break it down, and then wash it away. If there’s nothing there, it can’t work as hard for you.

And, well, you can imagine this was music to my ears.

And because I didn’t know such a magical thing existed (and that would prove my point to my plumber), Cascade encouraged me to throw a party to educate my friends as well.

As if I need an excuse to throw a party.

#takingonefortheteam

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Recipe: Macaroni & Cheese {#CascadeShiningReviews}

Review: Cascade Platinum {and a Giveaway!}