Summers are not for cooking. Am I right?
The days are long, hot and my kids are only interested in swimming or playing with their cousins. It’s hard enough to wrangle them to the table to eat…so the idea of spending hours in the kitchen cooking up new and exotic dishes is simply out of the question. This summer I’m focused on making kid favorite meals in 30 minutes or less (as healthy as possible) so I can get my booty back into the 1994 trailer we bought and are currently renovating.
I mean, look at this beauty…
Definitely a blog post for another time. But the point is…I’ve been distracted in the kitchen lately.
The other night we made a very simple mac and cheese because it was the only thing my kids could agree on. It’s not a dish we normally make, but with the right ingredients this recipe is much healthier than anything you will find in a box. I used the rice/quinoa gluten-free pasta from Trader Joes, but any pasta will do. I also often make sweet potato noodles with my beloved spiralizer as a replacement for noodles in pasta dishes and they would work wonderfully in this recipe, too. With prep this gluten-free mac and cheese takes less than 30 minutes to make so you can get back to your summer-time fun!
- 1 1/2 cups gluten free pasta or spiralized sweet potatoes if you are avoiding grains
- 2 tbsp grass-fed butter
- 1 1/2 cup milk
- ¼ cup all purpose flour (for GF use Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour, Gluten Free or Pamela's Pancake and Baking Mix)
- 3/4 cup raw grass-fed cheddar cheese shredded
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Cook the pasta according to the directions (don’t overcook), drain and set aside. If you are making sweet potato noodles I usually pan fry them with come butter or coconut oil for about 20 minutes until they are soft.
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In a separate pan, heat the butter until melted. Whisk in flour until combined and then whisk in milk. Keep stirring to keep things from getting clumpy.
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Whisk over low heat until the sauce thickens slightly—about 3-5 minutes.
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Add the cheese and stir while it melts.
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Add cooked pasta and stir to combine. Serve immediately.
