Sometimes you JUST want some macaroni and cheese, darn it! At our house we have a tradition to make macaroni every Wednesday night because that is the day Daddy is gone until way late. So its a win-win – the kids really look forward to it, and I look forward to making a very quick dinner.
However, I thought to myself, there has to be a healthier way. I saw the “organic” mac and cheese at Trader Joes for $1.84- $2ish dollars for a small dinky package – STILL made with refined flour and thought “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?”
Then…as I passed more shelves (and NO Trader Joes does not pay me anything to write this stuff….) and I found the perfect solution. I don’t know about you, but whole wheat pasta is a decent solution to pasta stuff, but my kids don’t like it as much, and they get so much wheat as it is. So when I saw the
BROWN RICE PASTA
that has big macaroni shaped noodles, I knew I had found the perfect solution. They are just plain noodles, and they taste so much lighter and “whiter” than the whole wheat pasta. So here is what I do. I take the cheese from the Kraft Macaroni, and the noodles from Trader Joes.
After making the giant Trader Joes Macaroni noodles, I add Soy Milk or Skim Milk, Butter or Smart Balance, and the Cheese sauce. (And if you sneak in some butternut squash or carrot puree, more power to you!)
AND WHALAH! A much healthier option to tradition mac and cheese. And because I only use about 1/3 to 1/2 of the bag of Trader Joes Brown Rice noodles that cost me $2ish – I can reuse those for 2 or 3 more packages for mac and cheese Wednesday. And if you get the crappy mac and cheese on sale – like .35 or so – and use the cheese packet from that – and it makes for a pretty darn cheap, but much better meal. I figure net cost of $1.35 – $1.70. It makes more, and its just as fast!
And for moms, ahem, like me, that sometimes JUST want to have a bite of mac and cheese, you can feel good about doing it.
Do you have any great substituting tricks to do with your kids?
When Jake wants some crunchy snacks, he buys brown rice chips! Those are yummy and much better than doritos or whatever. I do love whole wheat pasta, but I usually just make both white and brown. We’ll have to try this!