While most mac and cheese dishes aren’t overly nutritious, this version is packed with protein, veggies, and whole grain pasta, so I feel good about giving it to Miss G and she’s just thrilled that she gets to eat a giant bowl of pasta and call it a day.
Each month my little sous chef and I team up with our good friends Tairalyn over at Little Miss Mama and Hillary over at Hillary with two Ls (please) for some friendly bake-off fun. Though I feel badly about it every round, Tairalyn takes on the recipes as we find them – full of butter, sugar, white grains, and processed ingredients {bless her heart}. Hillary, on the other hand, takes the original recipes and healthifies them somewhat, adding fruits, veggies, and her homemade touch where she can, while hanging onto just a little bit of the naughty deliciousness. And our task over here in the desert? Taking the ridiculously unhealthy recipes we find and full-on hipifying them {yup, hipifying… I said it}. That means we do our very best to use homemade / wholewheat / organic ingredients, we skip the sugar all together, and we add fresh produce and other nutrient-packed ingredients when possible. Fun, right?
Grae and I have had this soup for 3 out of our last 4 meals {not even joking}. We whipped it up for lunch yesterday, ate it for dinner last night, and then had it again today for lunch. The crazy part is that neither of us enjoys fresh tomatoes. But this soup is different – soooo yummy! And with our new bout of cold weather (13 degrees Celcisus – BRRRR!), it’s the perfect warm-your-insides meal. Plus, it packs a good protein punch which is great when you’re like us and don’t eat a lot of meat.