Healthified Mac N Cheese

Mac N Cheese.  My girls love it.  It's easy to make.  It's cheap.  But I feel guilty every time I serve it to them because it's not a nutritional all-star.

But, I've found ways to adapt it so I don't feel nearly as guilty when I cave in and fix it for them.

First, while the noodles are cooking, I will throw in some frozen veggies.  Usually peas because it's always fun to say to them (EVERY SINGLE TIME), "eat your mac n cheese n peas.... please."  Then, when I make the sauce, instead of butter or margarine, I use Brummel and Brown spread.  It has 50% less fat and calories than butter and tastes great!  For the milk, I will often just use our skim milk but I will usually use Almond Breeze (or Silk) unsweetened almond milk when we have it on hand.  It has way less calories and sugar than milk and, again, tastes great!

Well, we certainly know her version
ain't exactly healthy!

Lately, I've made another addition because it always bothers me that the pasta is not whole grain.  So I tried sprinkling in some ground flaxseed into the sauce.  This boosts the fiber and protein plus gives you the bonus of those healthy Omega-3s.  I started off with just a tablespoon to make sure the girls would be OK with it and they didn't say a word!  Gobbled it up like usual, so I've bumped up the amount to about 2 tablespoons.

With these changes, I'm convinced that this is a pretty well-balanced, decently healthy meal.  And the modifications are so simple, it's still super quick and easy!

Healthy convenience.  Love it!