{"id":15409,"date":"2011-12-17T21:23:11","date_gmt":"2011-12-17T13:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/?p=15409"},"modified":"2011-12-19T23:15:44","modified_gmt":"2011-12-19T15:15:44","slug":"yummy-toddler-foods-mac-n-cheese-the-healthier-version","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/2011\/12\/17\/yummy-toddler-foods-mac-n-cheese-the-healthier-version\/","title":{"rendered":"Yummy Toddler Foods: Mac &#8216;n&#8217; Cheese &#8211; the Healthier Version"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Whenever it comes to planning meals for my family, I would get into this crazy nutrient-balancing auto-pilot mode. And if a new recipe is a one-dish meal (&amp; deficient in certain nutrients), I tend to tweak the recipe in order to include all the 7 classes of nutrients, namely:<\/p>\n<p>1) Carbohydrates (mainly from starchy plant foods, e.g. rice, potatoes, pasta, noodles, corn)<\/p>\n<p>2) Proteins (preferably from meat and fish)<\/p>\n<p>3) Fats (this is my least worry as it is often found together with meat and fish)<\/p>\n<p>4) Vitamins<\/p>\n<p>5) Mineral salts<\/p>\n<p>6) Dietary fibre<\/p>\n<p>7) Water<\/p>\n<p>Although certain vitamins and mineral salts are present in meats, others are only found in plants. Hence, I must have at least 1 green vegetable and 1 fruit (preferably rich in vitamin C) to make the meal a balanced one. Dietary fibre is only found in plant foods and the amount varies depending on the type and part of the plant eaten.<\/p>\n<p>While Yang enjoys Mac &amp; Cheese, I&#8217;m just so-so with it. Perhaps the thought of eating macaroni (loads of carbo) with cheese (plenty of fats) doesn&#8217;t excite me. However, I decided to give the dish a shot after browsing a mini cook book for toddlers recently. I happened to be in a creative mood. :)<\/p>\n<p>Below is my recipe &#8211; an attempt to make Mac &#8216;n&#8217; Cheese a somewhat nutritionally balanced one-dish meal for my family.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15539\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15539\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15539\" title=\"Mac n Cheese ver 2 - 2 blog\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Mac-n-Cheese-ver-2-2-blog.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Mac-n-Cheese-ver-2-2-blog.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Mac-n-Cheese-ver-2-2-blog-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15539\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mac &#39;n&#39; Cheese - hot from the oven!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Ingredients (for 2 adults &amp; 1 toddler)<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Butter \u2013 4 tbsp<\/li>\n<li>Flour \u2013 4 tbsp<\/li>\n<li>Fresh milk \u2013 450 ml (can be replaced by formula milk)<\/li>\n<li>Elbow macaroni \u2013 <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><del>150 g<\/del>\u00a0 140g<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Broccoli \u2013 6 florets, sliced<\/li>\n<li>Carrot \u2013 1 small stick, peeled and grated finely<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Fresh corn on cob &#8211; 1 cob, kernels sliced off<\/span><\/li>\n<li>White button mushrooms \u2013 200 to 250 g (or 1 tub), with dirt brushed off and sliced<\/li>\n<li>Bacon (lean) \u2013 3 strips (about 150 g), trim off excess fats and cut into small pieces with a pair of scissors<\/li>\n<li>Grated cheddar \u2013 80 g (or 4 cheddar sandwich slices each of 20 g, broken into small pieces. I used President&#8217;s.)<\/li>\n<li>Finely grated parmesan \u2013 5 tbsp<\/li>\n<li>Ground pepper \u2013 dashes<\/li>\n<li>Optional seasoning: Italian dry herbs \/ Cajun powder \u2013 dashes<\/li>\n<li>Vegetable oil \u2013 1 tbsp<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Method<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Preheat the oven to 200\u00b0C.<\/p>\n<p>2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Cook elbow macaroni<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Add macaroni and <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">a pinch of salt<\/span> into a pot of water, bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes or until al dente.<\/li>\n<li>Drain the macaroni and set aside.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Stir-fry vegetables and bacon<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>While the macaroni is being cooked, heat up some vegetable oil in a heated wok and stir-fry the broccoli, carrot, <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">corn kernels<\/span> and mushrooms until the mushrooms begin to sweat.<\/li>\n<li>Add bacon and stir fry until it is cooked.<\/li>\n<li>Dish up the vegetable mixture into a bowl and pour the remaining liquid (this is salty) into another bowl. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">(If there&#8217;s no liquid left, it is fine.)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Make the cheese sauce (Mornay sauce)<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rinse the wok with tap water and use a paper towel to wipe dry.<\/li>\n<li>Using low heat, melt butter in the wok and add flour stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes to make a smooth paste (roux).<\/li>\n<li>Add milk a little by little, stirring constantly, to dissolve the roux to make a smooth sauce.<\/li>\n<li>Once all the milk has been added, continue to stir until the sauce is about to boil.<\/li>\n<li>Once the sauce starts to boil, remove from heat and stir in the grated cheddar cheese to dissolve. (It is alright if some cheese bits are still visible.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Add the drained macaroni, vegetable and bacon mixture, pepper, 1 tbsp of the reserved liquid (from step 3) and optional seasoning into the cheese sauce and stir to coat all the ingredients with the cheese sauce.<\/p>\n<p>6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Transfer everything into a heatproof dish and sprinkle with grated parmesan.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15538\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15538\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15538\" title=\"Mac n Cheese ver 2 - 1 blog\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Mac-n-Cheese-ver-2-1-blog.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Mac-n-Cheese-ver-2-1-blog.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Mac-n-Cheese-ver-2-1-blog-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15538\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lovely...sprinkle with some Parmesan before popping it into the oven :)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bake in the preheated oven at 200\u00b0C for about 20 minutes or until the top becomes golden brown. Serve warm.<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Update on 19th Dec 2011<\/span><\/strong>: I have made some adjustment to the recipe (see red print) after tonight&#8217;s attempt. 150g macaroni was too much for us to finish and so I reduced it by 10g. And the addition of corn made the dish even more delicious. :)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Note:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The bacon could be replaced with other meats such as minced chicken, minced pork or fish (e.g. threadfin, cod and salmon). Alternatively, you could omit the meat altogether. I tried one vegetarian version using broccoli, tomatoes and egg plant. :)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15541\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15541\" style=\"width: 455px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-15541 \" title=\"Mac and Cheese vegetable ingredients blog\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Mac-and-Cheese-vegetable-ingredients-blog.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"455\" height=\"342\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Mac-and-Cheese-vegetable-ingredients-blog.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Mac-and-Cheese-vegetable-ingredients-blog-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 455px) 100vw, 455px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15541\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Multi-colours! Good phytochemicals for the body :)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15540\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15540\" style=\"width: 455px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-15540 \" title=\"Mac and Cheese blog\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Mac-and-Cheese-blog.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"455\" height=\"342\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Mac-and-Cheese-blog.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Mac-and-Cheese-blog-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 455px) 100vw, 455px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15540\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">My bowl of vegetarian mac &amp; cheese :)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><br style=\"text-decoration: underline;\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whenever it comes to planning meals for my family, I would get into this crazy nutrient-balancing auto-pilot mode. And if a new recipe is a one-dish meal (&amp; deficient in certain nutrients), I tend to tweak the recipe in order<\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-read-more\"><a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/2011\/12\/17\/yummy-toddler-foods-mac-n-cheese-the-healthier-version\/\">Read More<span class=\"cleanwp-sr-only\">  Yummy Toddler Foods: Mac &#8216;n&#8217; Cheese &#8211; the Healthier Version<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[479,7,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baby-recipes","category-children-blues","category-recipes","wpcat-479-id","wpcat-7-id","wpcat-14-id"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15409\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}