Everyone loves mac and cheese

We had a busy weekend going to a friends sons Birthday Party and then celebrating my Grandmas Birthday.  I knew the boys weren't going to be eating a good dinner Saturday night as we were going out to a Mexican Restaurant with my family.  I made the boys Beet pancakes with left over puree from last weeks blog and cauliflower mac and cheese for lunch.  I could rest easy with dinner knowing they already had two different vegetables for the day!

I never realized how easy making your own macaroni and cheese was until the boys started eating solids and I made it for the first time.  Most of the time you can make this very kid friendly meal with ingredients you already have at home.  I puree cauliflower like I do beets and freeze in my 4oz mason jars.  Wash and chop one head of cauliflower and place in a pot streamer on the stove.  Steam for 5-7 minutes or until you can pierce with a fork.  I then put the pieces in my food processor with a 1/4 cup water to start.  Add more water until you have a puree consistency.  Place in containers and freeze.

A mac and cheese recipe I absolutely love is from 100 days of real food by Lisa Leake.  She suggests adding peas to her recipe, I have tried this before but my kids just picked them out.  When making this I just pull a frozen cauliflower jar from the freezer and incorporate into the recipe, no need to thaw!

Recipe:
3 cups uncooked noodles (we prefer whole wheat)
4TBSP butter
2/3 cup heavy cream ( I have also used half/half when I didn't have heavy cream)
2 1/2 cups grated cheese ( we use Monterey Jack, but you can use any cheese you prefer, or a combo!)
1/2 TSP salt
ground pepper to taste
one 4oz container of cauliflower puree

1) cook noodles per package directions, set aside
2) In same pot you boiled noodles place butter, cream, and frozen puree, mix until melted/combined
3) Add noodles, cheese, and salt and mix until cheese is completely melted
4) Add black pepper if preferred

This recipe makes great leftovers!  When reheating you can add a little more cream to get a "freshly made" look and taste.

We are gearing up for my weekend to work and meal prepping for what my husband calls " a guys weekend" with our toddlers.  I work 12 hours shifts two days in a row so he is with the boys from sun up to sun down.  He does a great job!  I just made some chunky monkey chocolate muffins (with cauliflower) I will share with you all next week!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

UPDATE: I recently made this recipe with 1 cups Monterey jack cheese and 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese.  I didn't think this could get better but it DOES with this cheese combo, highly recommend!