Healthy Mac & Cheese

We love macaroni and cheese in our house. Correction. HUBS loves macaroni and cheese more than anyone in our house! Serve it with hot dogs and you'll be his best friend for life I tell ya! Typically, macaroni and cheese is my meal to fall back on when I'm not in the mood to cook, because how easy is it to open a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese, boil a few hot dogs and take it easy? Don't deem me a bad wife for serving the blue box...hubs loves it!!

I've decided lately though that it's time to start experimenting with homemade macaroni recipes. Mostly because I'm getting really sick of boxed macaroni. There's only so much of it that a person can eat in their lifetime. Unless, of course, you are my husband. I've made homemade mac and cheese before, but never have found a recipe that I truly loved. I had this recipe saved in my recipe box over at Allrecipes and decided to give it a shot since I had everything in my cupboards.

I personally thought that it turned out kind of bland. It needed some more flavor. Hubs, however, loved it! I just sprinkled some salt on my serving and that seemed to do the trick, so next time I think I'm going to add more salt to the cheese mixture. Plus, this cheese is a little healthier than your typical homemade mac and cheese recipe thanks to the reduced amount of cheese and the addition of cottage cheese! Homemade mac and cheese that the family loves, plus it's healthy?!? Sounds like a winner of a recipe to me!!

Ingredients...

...1 c. fat-free milk

...1 1/4 cs shredded cheddar cheese

...2/3 c. cottage cheese

...pepper to taste

...salt to taste

...2 1/2 c. cooked macaroni

...1 T. onion powder

...paprika to taste

 

Directions...

 

In a food processor, blend the milk, cheeses, salt and pepper until smooth and creamy. Pour into an oven safe casserole dish and add macroni, onion powder and paprika, stirring to evenly coat pasta. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

To see more great recipes, be sure to check out Meatless Monday over at My Sweet and Savory!