Easy Peasy Mac N Cheesy! - By Megan Lankford
As a busy mom of 3 wild little boys, I’m always looking for shortcuts or ways to make the normal rhythms and tasks in my life just a little bit easier. It’s no surprise to anyone that getting meals on the table, multiple times a day, is one of the most daunting responsibilities that families face. Add on top of it all that you’d like your meals to be at least decently healthy and nutritious, and it’s enough to keep you dizzy for days!
Well, I’ve discovered a couple little hacks surrounding every kids’–and let’s be honest, ADULTS’–favorite comfort classic: Macaroni and cheese! Ways to amp up nutrition and ways to prep and store for super easy convenience later, I got your back here, Mama!
Beef Up Boxed Mac-N-Cheese Nutrition with Minimal Extra Effort
When I’m firing on all cylinders and operating with all of my best mom capacities, I like to use some kind of chickpea or protein pasta and make my own cheese sauce with quality milk and cream. However, I am most certainly not always firing on all cylinders and operating with all of my best mom capabilities, and I have absolutely zero qualms about using boxed mac-n-cheese! However, I like to make a couple super simple modifications to make me feel better about putting it on the table for my kids.
One of the easiest ways to add nutrition and protein is to cook the noodles in bone broth instead of just plain water. My family personally likes the taste of beef bone broth, but chicken bone broth works just as good. Now, bone broth ain’t cheap! So, I do not recommend using 6 cups to boil the pasta and then draining after. What a waste! Instead, I only boil 2 cups of bone broth and let the noodles fully cook and absorb all of the liquid, kind of like how you would cook rice. This way, you’re not wasting any broth and you’re ensuring that your noodles retain all that good protein and extra minerals.
Then, I still use the cheese packet included in the box. But instead of whatever amount of milk the instructions suggest, I mix in about a quarter cup of plain full-fat greek yogurt, just a splash or two of milk, 1-2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast,and a handful of extra shredded cheese. (because when has extra cheese ever been a bad idea?!)
None of these additions take any extra time so you’re still reaping the convenience rewards but it makes the mac-n-cheese feel like more of a complete main dish and not just a plain, ole’ carb-y side dish. Serve with some kind of produce, and I call this a win for a kids’ meal! If you’re wanting to make this an adult-friendly meal too, maybe add some shredded up rotisserie chicken on top which takes almost no extra effort and really makes this a well-rounded meal for the whole family!
**If you’re feeling especially capable one day and want to try to sneak in a few more veggies to your mac-n-cheese, you can easily add frozen peas or chopped broccoli to your pasta. Or, you can be super sneaky about it and boil up some non-green vegetables (such as cauliflower, yellow squash, butternut squash, or carrots), puree those up, and add to your cheese sauce. The kids will never know!
Easily Prep Leftovers for a Quick Convenience Meal Later On
Ok, now for probably my favorite mac-n-cheese hack: prep and storage! When I make mac-n-cheese for just the kids, they don’t eat the whole box. (I have 3 boys, so I’m sure the day is coming where they will each eat one box in one sitting! LOL but we’re not there just yet!) I always have quite a bit of leftovers. I hate to just store it in the fridge because then it really only has a shelf-life of a few days. And ya know, kids be kids, and they love something one day and then refuse to eat it the next. So, I always feel like I’m wasting all this cheesy-noodle goodness if I keep it in the fridge.
Instead, I do this: I line a muffin tin with either cupcake liners or parchment paper squares. (I just cut approximately 2 inch squares out of my regular parchment paper roll, nothing fancy!) Then, using either a cookie dough scoop or just a spoon, I fill each muffin tin with leftover mac-n-cheese. Fill them up as much as you think a good single serving of mac-n-cheese would be for your family, and just pop them in the freezer for a few hours/overnight.
Once they’re frozen, you can take them out of the muffin tin, discard the lining, and store back in the freezer in a gallon ziploc bag. Once they’re frozen individually, you don’t have to worry about them sticking together so you can just throw them all in there together.
**Bonus Tip: my five year-old and two year-old love to take these out of the muffin tin and put them in the ziploc bag. It’s a fun way for them to “help me” in the kitchen without making much of a mess!**
When you’re ready for more mac-n-cheese, I just take one single serving out of the freezer, put in a microwave safe bowl, add a splash or two of milk or extra bone broth to moisten it back up, and reheat in the microwave for 60-90 seconds. This is actually easier and faster than your normal Easy Mac or other microwave option, and it’s a little more nutritious since you added in all that other good stuff when you made it.
This storage process takes me a smidge more time at clean-up than if I just threw leftovers in the fridge. But the extra 5 minutes it takes to have these ready in the freezer at a moment’s notice when my kids request mac-n-cheese is so worth it! Present Me has always been so grateful to Past Me who prepped these up real quick!
I hope these tips seem doable and manageable enough to help give you an easy and relatively nutritious option to feed your kids and family! Bon Appetit!
