In other news, Max's obsession with mac 'n cheese continues. Although he has a limited diet because he's not yet able to down crispy, chewy or chunky stuff, I suspect that no matter what kind of eating skills he had he'd still only want mac 'n cheese. It's in his genes. Not to mention, my hips.
Max is still loving the butternut squash mac 'n cheese from the Food Network, but I recently went on a mac-hunt to find other nutritious versions—and discovered a bunch of tempting kinds that kids would never suspect are actually good for them. Here they are, 11 healthy mac and cheese recipes, for your family's eating pleasure.
Which food is your child obsessed with these days? What sort of nutritious softer foods are you making if your child has chewing challenges? Anyone care to drop off some mac 'n cheese?
Hey, I told you about cauliflower months ago! But you know what? If you don't like/have time to cook, you don't have to make this stuff from scratch. Just boil some cauliflower--if buying, storing, and cutting up a fresh cauliflower is too much, buy it frozen and pre-chunked--until it's soft, mash it up (or chop it up fine), stir it into pre-made mac&cheese (Whole Foods take-out!), and stick it in the oven for everything to warm up and blend together. (For a tasty and healthy dish for yourself that won't gravitate to your hips, make it about 50% cauliflower and 50% m&c.)
ReplyDeleteYes, I had that in my head, but I needed a recipe because I am codependent that way!
DeleteI'm currently obsessed with anything in a roll - we put lettuce, tomatoes and a different protein in it every day.
ReplyDeleteIf you could get that mac and cheese on the top right to my house ASAP, I would love you forever.
ReplyDeleteI tried, Jean, but I accidentally ate it on the way over.
DeleteThank you for this post! Since my wife has started cooking healthier all the kids (and me!) have been missing our mac and cheese :) We are going to try some of these.
ReplyDeleteKevin
Oh thanks so much! My Emma loves mac n cheese. I make hers gluten free though. I know she would love that butternut squash variety. Emma currently loves loaded mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes. She even likes "Faux Mashed Potatoes" that are made with cauliflower instead of potatoes. She also loves tater tots loaded with ketchup--mashed up, of course. I bake them. She likes the sweet potato version too. She is also very, very into Cream of Rice cereal. She loves it with bananas, honey, and other fruit. She is also into spaghetti and meat sauce on spaghetti squash. Her current fave sweets are chocolate pudding and cheesecake with strawberry topping. Sorry for the novel! I got carried away. I love that Emma loves to eat these days. I love that she really enjoys food. I never thought we would get to this place, especially back in the day when feedings seemed endless and frustrating. I can remember many meals where with both cried way back then.
ReplyDeleteMac n cheese, rice, couscous, fish, soup. Well, soup is hard because he can't close his mouth on a spoon yet. He scrapes food off the spoon with his teeth. I drain most of the broth into a jar to use with rice or couscous and feed him the veggies/pasta/meat with just a little liquid.
ReplyDeleteChicken barley soup and chicken mini tacos, basically any relatively bland chicken product
ReplyDeleteCooper adores food! He has an amazing palate! His fav at the moment is a baked sweet potatoe, topped with Sour cream and get this, caviar! ;) he has expensive taste!
ReplyDeleteHe loves Indian curries, thai salads and Mexican soft tacos.
He also has chewing issues but unfortunately the one food he won't touch is cheese!
We make our mac/cheese on the stove, and it's not baked at all. Cook onion chopped fine in a little butter in bottom of pot, add in your pasta, then add milk, enough to cover pasta (low fat works just fine), bring to simmer, cook for 12 minutes or so, stirring constantly, add more milk if you need it, very small amounts at a time, then after the pasta has cooked in the milk, add a few handsful of shredded cheese (your favorite flavor, we like spicy monterey jack and a handful of parmesan) and if you'd like, do a few dump-ins like cooked diced meat (chicken, ham, or bacon, e.g.) and some cooked broccoli, season w/s and p to taste. One pot, easy clean up. Voila! Half hour, start to eating!
ReplyDeleteMac and Cheese is very popular at our house with both of my kiddies. I'll have to take a look at the "healthy mac" link. Thanks for posting! The other thing they are in love with right now is soup. Soup and sandwich. Especially matzoh ball or chicken noodle. So, yeah, I'm kind of living on easy street right now!
ReplyDeleteEllen I've made a butternut squash mac and cheese and pumpkin mac and cheese, both of which were delicious. Also using yogurt instead of heavy cream is a good/healthier way to thicken it up.
ReplyDeleteI can send you the recipes if you want. Eggplants are purple but he doesn't eat those does he? Roasted and mashed those are delicious!