My youngest son turned nine the other day. I wanted to make something fun, easy, and special for his birthday lunch.
Since I was out of ideas for something a little unique, I decided to cruise the grocery isles in hopes that something unconventional would jump out at me.
Do you ever struggle to come up with variety in your meals? Sometimes it’s really refreshing to make something fun, a little childish in taste, and different from the normal menu. When creating a fun meal for kids, think simple. It can still be healthy, but their tastes are generally uncomplicated. Our family eats gluten free so I strolled through the gluten free section first, and selected some quinoa elbow macaroni. Pasta is a specialty item at our house, so I knew Levi would love that for lunch.
I bought two boxes of pasta, which doesn’t go very far when there are seven mouths to feed. Adding meat helps stretch pasta, so I settled on Cheeseburger Macaroni and seasoned, grilled, green beans.
This is a fantastic meal for kids and adults can handle it once in a while. It does have more fat than most of our meals, but since it includes healthy fats, we enjoy it guilt free periodically.
Surprisingly, this recipe actually tastes very similar to hamburger stroganoff. I thought it would have a cheesier flavor, but although it was cheesy (and I do love cheese) I was pleasantly surprised! I didn’t follow a recipe, but rather made it up as I went along. Score for mom on this one. The kids are begging to have it again! It’s very easy to make and not time consuming.
Ingredients
- Two boxes of (gluten free) elbow macaroni (we used quinoa)
- 1/2 cup cream cheese
- 3 cups grated medium cheddar cheese
- 1/4-1/2 cup (more or less) (almond) milk
- Shredded parmesan to taste
- Himalayan salt to taste
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- Fresh, ground, black pepper to taste
- One medium onion, diced
- two tablespoons coconut oil
- two pounds ground (organic) beef
Instructions
- Cook macaroni according to package directions, rinse and drain
- Heat coconut oil in large skillet, add diced onion and sauté until translucent
- Add ground beef, Himalayan (pink) salt, ground pepper, and fresh minced, garlic to skillet
- Cook meat mixture until meat is no longer pink, but light brown in color.
- while meat is browning, add cream and cheddar cheeses to a mixing bowl along with almond milk, salt, and pepper. Blend mixture well with electric mixer
- Once meat is brown, drain the fat off and everything together in a large sauce pan. Check flavor of seasonings. Add more if you wish.
- Add fresh grated parmesan cheese and mix again.
- Add to plates along with your veggies, and top pasta with more fresh grated parmesan
Enjoy!