My Macaroni & Cheese Lunch
At
times I find myself slipping from what I would consider healthy eating.
I know probably everybody has their own idea of what that means, but
for me, what I struggle with most is increasing the amount of vegetables
that I eat and decreasing extra sugars, extra fats, and animal
products, while still eating foods that are appealing to my family. Food
is a sensitive subject to most people, and no less around our home.
Still- there's this struggle within me to increase vegetables that my
family eats, without upsetting the balance too much.
On to lunch
today. Katie wanted macaroni and cheese. The obsessed mother that I am
decided I can make mac and cheese, and add some vegetables, and we would
both be satisfied. I gave a moments thought to what might work in mac
and cheese and what I have available. I started by picking some herbs
from my herb garden. Spearmint, lemon mint, and oregano. Then crimini
mushrooms from the refrigerator. I chopped everything up, putting a pan on the stove with a little canola oil to heat.
I
sauteed the mushrooms first, then added the herbs to wilt. The smell of
mint cooking is an interesting one. Mint is one of my favorite herbs
for a stirfry. The flavor is very different than you might imagine. It
is not what one thinks as "minty", it is not gum or toothpaste or
mouthwash. Instead, it is a rich herby flavor. It reminds me of middle
eastern food.
While
that was cooking, I started on the cheese sauce. A little water in the
pot, mixed with salt, pepper, and flour, brought to a boil and thickened
to a paste.
Next, I added a can of petite diced tomatoes to the pan of herbs and mushrooms and left it to simmer and the flavors to mix.
Back
to the sauce, here I am adding cheese to the pasty base. On low heat,
added a little at a time the paste transforms into a thick cheesy sauce.
When all the cheese has been added to the sauce and melted thoroughly, it is time to combine the elements.
I
put the sauce on low heat and finally started cooking the macaroni. I
really like the shells form of whole wheat pasta best, but the grocery
store was out of stock, so I bought macaroni this time. I think I like
the shells better because they are able to be coated on all sides with
the sauce, so they don't have the heavy flavor often associated with
whole wheat pasta. Here's the picture of the final product. Appetizing,
no? I guess that all depends on who you are.
The final
assessment: Three girls come in for lunch. Right away Tiffany tells me
how good it looks. I expected that. She's a food lover and hard to
disappoint. The other two, however, fall into, I kid you not, howls of
how awful this latest food monstrosity is. Not looks, but IS. I dished
up bowls for the kids. I gave Tiffany a full bowl, Emily a generous
scoop (about half a bowl), and Katie a mere two bites' worth. Yep, I
know my kids and how much I'm able to coax them to eat even when they
truly don't like something. Tiffany ate her bowlful, as expected, and
had seconds, then thirds, raving the whole time. :) Emily continued her
protest, I left the table to let mine cool, it was still pretty hot.
When I came back, she not only tried it, she finished her bowl, then
went back for seconds, and thirds. Yay! it was a hit for her as well. :)
:) Well, then we were down to Katie. This kid is stubborn. She tried
every dodging tactic. "Can't I eat a peanut butter and honey sandwich
instead, mom?" "Or wheat thins?" "or peanut butter and honey on
saltines?" I told her if she chose not to eat the (two bites!) macaroni,
the only thing she could eat was fruit or vegetables. It took a lot of
coaxing. She ate one macaroni and declared it tasted like a skunk
smells. I finally suggested she put a little parmasan cheese on top. She
did that, and ate her two bites all up, minus the vegetables. I then
let her have a peanut butter and honey sandwich.
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