Thursday, May 23, 2013

Simple Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese


After we came back from the US last Christmas, all my son Jonas wanted to eat was Kraft Mac and Cheese.  Unfortunately, the few packets we had brought along didn’t last forever.  And, even though I was thrilled that Jonas finally ate pasta, he refused to eat any other pasta that you put in front of him.

I decided I was going to try to duplicate Kraft.  I soon got the taste down, and found mini macaroni, but I couldn’t get that infamous yellow color.  

Jonas is a very picky eater.  For the past two years it has been almost impossible to get him to eat any vegetables whatsoever, not even carrots (Thankfully, he eats fruit). Adding sweet potatoes to the mac and cheese killed two birds with one stone.  I finally got that bright yellow color and I got to sneak in some valuable vitamins and minerals into Jonas’s diet.

This simple sweet potato recipe has become Jonas’s favorite.  Over time, I have increased the sweet potato without any negative repurcussions.  My first successful recipe contained Velveeta.  However, Jonas often complained of a stomachache after eating it and when I added shredded real cheese instead, his tummy aches disappeared.

One day I found a leftover packet of Kraft  Mac and Cheese.  I made if for Jonas thinking he would be thrilled to have the original again.  He didn’t want it and asked for mine.  I couldn’t ask for a better complement.

Here's the Recipe:

Simple Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese

2 C Milk
1 t salt
1 1/2 T sugar
2 T butter
2 T flour
½ to 1 C Sweet Potato puree
1 C shredded cheese
1 C macaroni noodles

1.  In a frying pan, melt the   Add flour and mix until the flour is thoroughly dissolved in the butter. 
 butter.  Add milk and while stirring constantly, bring just to a boil and remove from heat.

2.  Add sweet potato puree, cheese, sugar, and salt.  Mix until smooth.

3.  Add cooked macaroni noodles to the frying pan.  Use a spatula to mix noodles with sauce until completely covered. Give Mac and Cheese to kids and wait for them to say, “Yummy!”


Saturday, May 11, 2013

Grow With Me - Movable Door Height Marker

When did you get so big? I remember hearing that line when I was a kid all the time.  I never realized just how true it is.  Kids really do grow amazingly fast.

When my boys were born I was amazed just how tall they were.  Was it really possible for them to grow so much in only nine months inside of me? Then at their first birthday, I was amazed again at just how much taller they had become.  Now that they are two and three they have already become little boys and no longer look like babies anymore. Where did the time fly?

I started this movable door height marker over a year ago.  By changing the fabric every year, you can see exactly how much your child has grown each year.  You can also see which of your children will probably be taller.  Already at three, I can see that Jonas will be taller than his brother, even if it is only a little bit.

Hopefully someday, when they are over six feet and have stopped growing, have gotten married and have their own children, they can hang their door height marker up again and their kids can compare themselves to daddy.  

Lukas just had his two year check up where he had to stand up against the wall and get measured.  At home, he stood against his door marker and said, “so big!” Maybe someday, his son will do the same.

For the how to, see  http://kelley-donner.blogspot.de/2011/04/movable-door-height-marker.html from April of last year.