Mac and Cheese with Cottage Cheese

I had a craving for mac and cheese this afternoon but none of that crappy box kind! That stuff is gross! Don't eat it. I only like homemade mac and cheese, but I wanted to make it in such a way that didn't use flour or butter for the sauce. Instead I used cottage cheese! It made the mac and cheese extra creamy, extra cheesy, and it provided me with extra protein! That's a win win...win!  :) This took me about 45 minutes to make from start to finish, but only took me about 5 minutes to eat it. It was just that good! Give it a try!!

Mac & Cheese

• 1/2 cup of uncooked whole grain pasta
• 2 tbsp. of non-fat milk
• 1/4 cup of fat free or low fat cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup of shredded cheese of your choice (I would use low-fat cheese, but with mine I didn't have any)
• dry mustard, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper to taste. I put in lots of cayenne!
• *1/2-1 tbsp. of cornstarch (I sometimes needed to add a mixture of cornstarch and water halfway through baking it because the cottage cheese can make it a bit watery. Mix cornstarch with a bit of water and add to your mac and cheese. Stir it in and put back in the oven. It will thicken it right up and make it extra cheesey.)

1. Cook your pasta according to the package. While that is cooking, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. After your pasta is done, drain and put pack in the pot.
3. Add your milk, cheese, cottage cheese, and spices to the pasta and stir until well mixed. If you want an even cheesy-er dish, I suggest adding more cottage cheese. Extra protein!
4. Put your pasta mixture in a small, greased baking dish.
5. Cook for 20-30 minutes. Until everything looks well combined, cheesy and hot! I cooked mine for 25 minutes. *You may need to add some cornstarch as it may get watery from the cottage cheese. This can be done anytime while its baking. I did this around the 15 minute mark.*
6. Ta-da! Enjoy :)

 

 

I added 1 cup of broccoli and handful of spinach to my dish because I just loveeee broccoli! Feel free to add other veggies or meat to your dish. Cooking times and thickness may vary then, so keep that in mind.  My oh my, look at that cheese!

 

Cheesy goodness!

This recipe makes 1-2 servings. I tried to save half of it for later...but it was just too gosh darn delicious! So I ate it all :) My dish came out to be 349 calories for the whole thing. If I had waited and only ate half, my serving would have been 174.5 calories. Not bad, huh?  Calories will vary depending on all of the ingredients you choose to use, so I will not be listing any nutritional info at this time. I do hope you give this a try if you love mac and cheese. This was super satisfying and tasty! Come on, you know you want to try it :)

 

Happy eating!!