Reinforced Mac 'n' Cheese

I love food. I love trying new things, but I can be picky and lazy. My laziness leads me to reach for whatever is convenient. My pickiness leads me to stick with the tried and true. I know, bad combination.

And so God, in his wisdom, saw it fit for me to develop more serious consequences than just getting fat. Thanks to a severe iron deficiency, my doctor's litany about "add veggies to your diet" has become a mantra. I began to look at food as fuel and nutrition as more than just fat and calories to avoid (wasn't working anyway). Turns out those leafy green things are one of your body's BFFs.

Sometimes, I challenge myself (a way to stave off the laziness) to see how many veggies I can fit into a meal without turning it into a salad. This weekend I was craving cheesy comfort food. So, this is what I came up with: TA DA!! [Applause]

Reinforced Mac 'n' Cheese (semi-lazy version)

1 pkg. mac n cheese, any brand

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1-2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 sm bunch/handful spinach, chopped

3 oz. cooked/seasoned ground beef*

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup milk

Cook macaroni according to package directions. In a separate pan, heat olive oil till it's shimmery. Over med-high heat, add onion and garlic. Stir around a couple time till they just begin to turn golden. Turn heat down to med. Add spinach and stir till completely wilted. Stir in ground beef and turn down heat. Beef will warm through while you prepare the mac n cheese. Once macaroni is tender -- NOT soft! -- drain and return pasta and saucepan to low heat. Add butter and stir. Once melted, stir in cheese powder packet till evenly coated. Pour in milk and stir until well mixed. If macaroni is still milky, turn up heat to med-low and stir for a minute more. Remove both pans from heat and mix in the meat mixture with the macaroni. Serve.

*Cooked/seasoned ground beef - I feel better when I don't eat a lot of meat. Many times it goes bad while sitting in the fridge. So, I came up with a brilliant plan - cook meat when I get home from store and then freeze it. Here's my recipe:

Heat skillet big enough for quantity of ground beef over med-high heat. Once meat starts sizzling, sprinkle top with cumin, oregano, garlic salt, and maybe some basil or thyme (depends on your taste). Stir and break up chunks making sure pink areas turn brown. Once brown, drain off liquid and let meat cool. Once cool store in a freezer-safe container and place in fridge. You may want to label (masking tape and sharpie) it with the date you cooked it up. I don't date stuff, but freezer burn tends to set in after 3 months or so. For the recipe above, I didn't weigh out 3 oz. I spooned out the quantity that looked a bit smaller than the size of my palm.

Other notes:

1. I called this recipe "semi-lazy" because you start with box mac n cheese, but you do "beef" it up.


2. Any of the ingredients are to taste. I realize that not everyone is a garlic-aholic like me. Be free to modify.


3. I think this would be great with mushrooms, but I didn't have any.


4. I usually skip measuring the milk and pour it slowly into pan until it "looks right". I don't like it runny.


5. Sarah makes her own version of this recipe with tuna, peas and corn.

I may follow this post with a non-lazy version with "made from scratch" cheese sauce. I've never made the actual macaroni.

(I realize that the picture has nothing to do with anything posted. Well, it does show me and my sister Sarah with Polly. We met her at a pet store a few years ago.)