Tuesday, November 22, 2011

A little on the healthier side...

Ok kiddos, to start things off I would like to say thank you to our friend Logan who made that cute little header for us.  Isn't it the best?  Cheese and his little buddy Mac?  I can see a Saturday morning cartoon coming out of it or at least something along the lines of Marcell The Shell.
Anyway, let's get down to business.  Mac and Cheese.  That's what we're here for right?  Well, we have now made this slimmed down recipe twice in the last week, forcing ourselves to believe that as long as we're making it with fat free cheese we're consuming something healthy.  That's the way it works isn't it?  This recipe comes out kind of more like a casserole, as you can see, but is pretty good.  I give it two thumbs up folks, so go ahead and buy your whole grain noodles, fat free cheese and spinach and then help yourself to another helping because you have to make up for all of those calories you'll be missing.

Lighter Baked Macaroni and Cheese:
  • 12 oz high fiber elbows
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp light butter
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup minced onion
  • 2 cups skim milk
  • 1 cup fat free chicken broth
  • 8 oz Sargento 2% reduced fat mild cheddar
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 cups baby spinach
  • 1/8 cup grated parmesan
  • 1/4 cup seasoned whole wheat bread crumbs
  • Pam butter flavored spray
Cook pasta according to package directions.  Spray a baking dish with buttered flavor Pam.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large skillet, melt butter. Add flour and cook over low heat stirring with a whisk.  Add onion and cook another 2 minutes.  Add milk and chicken broth and continue whisking, raising heat to medium-high until it comes to a boil and becomes smooth and thick.  Season with salt and pepper.
Once it becomes thick, remove from heat, add cheese and mix well until cheese is melted.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste, add cooked macaroni and baby spinach.  Pour into baking dish.  Top with grated cheese and breadcrumbs.  Spray a little more buttered flavor Pam on top.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, then broil for a few minutes to get the breadcrumbs golden. 

Recipe from skinnytaste.com

1 comment:

  1. Could you add artichokes? Make it a spinach artichoke mac and cheese? (Is that a thing? It should be.) Cause that would just put this thing over the top.

    ReplyDelete