All kids love mac & cheese. The problem is, the boxed versions of mac & cheese are made with powdered cheese mix and noodles made from white flour. Not exactly nutritious! Also, boxed mac & cheese is gross. It tastes horrible! The so-called healthy brands are not much better than Kraft.
I came up with this recipe for real, homemade mac & cheese that your kids are going to love. In fact, when I sent this recipe out in my menu mailer, one of my subscribers said that her son came in after dinner and said it was the “Best mac & cheese ever!”
We’re using real food: grass-fed butter, grass-fed cream (raw if you’ve got it,) and grass-fed cheddar cheese. Plus brown rice pasta, which is more nutritious than white flour pasta. I also prefer using brown rice pasta because, although it does still have phytic acid, it is not constipating like unsoaked wheat pasta.
This meal is chock-full of fat-soluble vitamins, and, if your dairy is raw, lots of enzymes. Since we’re using dairy from grass-fed cows, this mac & cheese is loaded with vitamin K2 — what your kids need to grow strong bones, wide faces with high cheekbones, and healthy, straight teeh.
This recipe is so easy, even a three-year-old can do it. That’s my daughter, Kate stirring pasta. (Okay, she didn’t make the whole thing — she helped me stir.)
Easy Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
Rice pasta, brown, penne or macaroni (16 ounces)
Butter, grass-fed (4 oz, or 8 TBS) where to buy grass fed butter
Cream, raw if possible, grass-fed (6-8 oz) — you can also use grass-fed sour cream — where to buy starters
Cheddar cheese, grass-fed, freshly grated (to taste)
Sea salt (to taste) — where to buy sea salt
Black pepper, freshly ground (to taste) where to buy black pepper
Optional: kosher salt
Equipment
ColanderDirections
1. Boil the pasta for 7-10 minutes per the directions on the package. Note: Nigella Lawson says pasta water should be “salty like the sea.” I always add a handful or two of kosher salt to my pasta water, this gives the pasta a lot more flavor. (I don’t use sea salt because it’s so much more expensive, but feel free to use sea salt if you like.)
2. When the pasta is al dente, strain in a colander and then put it back in the pan. Put the heat on low.
3. Stir in the butter.
4. When the butter is melted, add the cream and the grated cheese by the handful. Stir and cook until creamy and melted. Add as much cheese as you like. Some people like it cheesier, and others like it less cheesy. You can also more add butter or cream to taste. I didn’t measure it exactly when I did it. I just kept adding until it was the consistency I liked. You can’t mess this up.
5. Add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste and serve warm.
