Since I love food so much, I often get asked if I also like to cook, which I do. If Tammy’s around she usually throws in something to the effect of, “He doesn’t LET me cook.”

That’s a partially valid statement.

I mean, I WILL let her cook, just not meat.

She once cooked some precooked, and frozen, grilled chicken strips to the point that I would have sworn I was eating something off a sandal. By the time she was done with it, the chicken was so hard and dry that it was stabbing the inside of my mouth as I gnawed on it.

I’ve never let her live that down… obviously.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t discourage her from cooking, as long as it’s something like ground beef or turkey – for spaghetti or tacos – then I’m all for it.

Recently we picked up a big pan of “homemade” Macaroni and Cheese from Costco. I had an appointment after work, so Tammy was going to put the pan in the oven to bake, for the suggested hour, until I got home.

Simple enough, right? Well, you’d think anyway.

Tammy decided she wanted something crunchy on top of the Mac & Cheese and started scouring our pantry for things to add.

Unfortunately we didn’t have any bread crumbs, but that didn’t stop Tammy from being creative.

First up were the saltines. She grabbed 4 or 5 and crumbled them over the pan.

Next up were herb flatbread crackers. Again, another 4 or 5 were crumbled on top of the pasta.

If she had stopped there I wouldn’t be writing this, but…

She kept looking in the pantry and found an unopened bag of Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing.

She took out a few pieces, laid them on the counter and smashed them with a pan. When she saw the mess it made she decided to try another option.

She bunched a handful of stuffing into a corner of the bag and proceeded to smash THAT section with the pan.

Those pulverized pieces of stuffing then found their way into our increasingly crunchy Mac & Cheese.

You’d think she stopped there, right?

Nope.

Today’s secret ingredient is…

Vanilla wafers.

That’s right, vanilla wafers.

I had put the cookies into a Tupperware container, so she shook out the crumbs over the Mac & Cheese then crumbled a few more whole cookies for good measure.

So we ended up with a true “homemade” Mac & Cheese, complete with two types of crackers, herb stuffing and vanilla wafers.

I have to admit it was actually pretty good, especially the bites that tasted like vanilla, but I’m not sure I’m ready to let her start cooking yet.