We all love mac and cheese. Personally, making it from scratch is the only way to go—cooking the béchamel, shredding all the different cheeses off the block, folding in the noodles and baking it in a ripping hot oven—perfection. Unfortunately, I don’t always have that kind of time nor do Allie and I keep a large inventory of cheese in the fridge on a regular basis.

The other night I decided to take our Trader Joe’s organic shells and cheese box mix and bring it to another level. What follows isn’t so much a recipe but a set of guidelines for hacking your box of mac and cheese.

1. Preheat (yes, turn the oven now) to 400° F.
2. Bring a big pot of water to the boil.
3. in a skillet saute some vegetables (onions, tomatoes, garlic, whatever you want).
4. When the vegetables are soft, add some meat (optional, we used Tofurkey italian sausage).
5. When the meat is browned and heated through remove everything to a mixing bowl.
6. Add lots of salt to the boiling water (should taste like the sea) and drop in the noodles from your boxed mac.
7. In a new saucepan, head up a 1/4 cup of milk and a pad of butter over medium heat.
8. When the mixture is heated, whisk in your powdered cheese packet and throw in any other shredded cheese you might have laying around. The mixture should have the consistency of a thick cream—let this cool a bit.
9. When your noodles are almost done (still kind of chewy) drain and add them to the bowl with the meat/vegetable mixture.
10. Let that cool for a bit (seriously, we’re about to add an egg—and we don’t want scrambled eggs).
11. Add an egg and the milk mixture (we’ll call this a fauxchamel) to the noodle/meat/vegetable mix.
12. Combine well, pop it in to a baking dish and bake until golden, brown and bubbly.
13. Eat.

How do you hack your mac and cheese?