Did you know that 3 out of 4 kids prefer homemade mac n’cheese instead of Kraft? Well, at least 3 out of 4 of my kids do! I recently decided to do a little investigating and taste testing on one of the food staples of every kid’s life: macaroni and cheese. Here’s what I turned up in my investigation – Kraft macaroni and cheese is chock full of some crazy ingredients! sodium tripolyphosphate, yellow #5, yellow #6, and many others! How can such a simple dish contain so many items that I don’t recognize?
But here’s the good news, making your own mac n’cheese only requires a few ingredients and takes about the same amount of time as the boxed version. The most time consuming part? shredding the cheese. If you can spare two minutes to do that, then there is really no reason to ever grab that blue box again. Just look at the comparison:
For my taste test I recruited my 4 favorite tasters and gave them a plate with white macaroni and cheese on it (the homemade kind) and Kraft yellow mac n’cheese. When I said “go” they started devouring the “white” version so quickly I had a hard time getting them to stop and try the Kraft version. The results? They all loved the homemade — with the exception of my youngest, Liam, who I swear lives to thwart my every effort to A. get him to eat and B. eat the “good” stuff when he does eat. Don’t let this little guy stand in your way of a delicious option for your kids. Check out the recipe below the video. You can easily make this a meal by stirring in some veggies and maybe some ham.
- 8 oz. whole wheat noodles (about 1/2 a box. elbow macaroni works well)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard (optional)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups shredded cheese
- Cook the noodles according to package directions, drain and return to pot.
- In a skillet melt the butter and stir in the flour, stirring constantly to make a roux.
- Add salt and dry mustard (if using).
- Slowly pour in the milk, continuing to stir to combine.
- Cook and stir until the mixture starts to thicken and bubble.
- Add the shredded cheese and stir until melted.
- Pour the cheese sauce over the noodles and toss to combine.
That is adorable, and made me laugh out loud! Liam and Owee would get along juuuuust fine 😉 I use my food processor for crazy fast cheese-shredding in homemade mac’n’cheese. We use a mix of cheddar and gouda, and it disappears so fast!