24 Carrot Gold Mac N Cheese

I don't have the new cookbook about "sneaking" veggies into you meals. As a matter of fact, I haven't even seen it. But I have heard a lot of talk about it. From what I've heard, the recipes are kind of hit and miss. Some kids like some of them, but more often than not it seems the kids aren't "fooled."

And for me, personally, I'm a simple gal. There are some things I'll cook from scratch, but for the most part my motto is, "If it doesn't come from a box, I won't cook it!" I did see some of the talk shows promoting the book and they cooked/baked a few of the recipes. I guess the thing that put me off about them was all the measuring. Sure I can measure the flour and sugar and cocoa and...to make a batch of brownies that might or might not turn out right. But I'd much rather buy a box and go from there. Maybe add some chocolate chips or swirl in some caramel, but that's about as fancy as I get.

Well, some time ago I came across a recipe for Macaroni and Cheese with pureed carrots in it. Since mac and cheese is already an orangey-yellow color, the carrots tend to blend in pretty well. It's something I've been doing since well before this cookbook came out and something I'm sure I'll continue to do for as long as my kids will go for it. I tried to find the recipe the other day for a friend. I swear I originally saw it on the kraft.com site, but I looked for it there with no luck. I'd really like to give credit to whoever (or is it whomever???) deserves it, but I just don't know who that is. And since I can't find it, I can't give it to you exactly as it is supposed to be, but I will give it to you the way I make it.

24 Carrot Gold Mac N Cheese
1 box of your favorite mac and cheese
2 ounces pureed carrots
and whatever ingredients required for the box of mac n cheese you're using

Fix mac and cheese according to directions on package. Add pureed carrots and stir until well blended. Eat.

Like I said, I'm a simple gal. ;-D

You might even try adding more carrots depending on your family's preferences.

And if you're wondering, "Where/how do I get pureed carrot?" Well you can cook and puree it yourself in a blender or food processor (add water as needed to get it well blended). If you do it this way, I recommend doing a large batch, spooning it into ice cube trays, and freezing it. They you can pop them out of the ice cube trays and into a freezer bag for storage until you need them. Each cube (if filled to the rim) is approximately 1 ounce.

The other way to get pureed carrots is in the baby food section of your local grocery store. I actually needed 22 baby food jars for Christmas gifts for my oldest to take to school, so I bought carrots (and some squash and green beans) baby food and froze the purees in ice cube trays as mentioned above. That way I killed two birds with one stone.

I guess I've rambled on long enough. I do feel the need to weigh in though on the debate that seems to be going on about the aforementioned cookbook. There are some people who criticize the cookbook for being sneaky and deceptive and these people are saying it is wrong to lie to your children. Well for the record, I've never lied to my children about this. I don't sneak around adding carrots to things so they won't know. But they're kids and too busy playing to notice what mom is doing in the kitchen and they've never asked me what's in the mac and cheese. If they asked, I'd tell them, but as it is, they don't have a clue what is or isn't in mac and cheese anyway. In all fairness I should point out that I've also never told them that there are tomatoes in spaghetti sauce either. Shame on me.