Monday, April 19, 2010

Weight Gainer's Mac and Cheese Au Gratin Recipe

One of the problems with having a tiny toddler is that when you make her recipes like this it's REALLY hard not to partake. Just eating her leftovers would make my bum grow!
With recipes like these I usually just freeze the leftovers in individual servings so I can pull them out for her when we're having something she won't eat, or I need something fast.

Weight Gainer's Mac and Cheese Au Gratin Recipe
Makes 7 1/2 servings

Nutritional facts are calculated for 1 cup-servings. This can be made gluten free by using brown rice pasta and brown rice flour.

Ingredients

8oz whole wheat elbow macaroni
2cups evaporated milk
1/3cup powdered milk
2tbsp butter
2tbsp brown rice flour
8oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/3cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4cup olive oil
1cup oat flour
2tbsp ground flaxseed

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the evaporated milk and powdered milk and set aside.
3. Heat olive oil in a small saucepan. Remove form heat and add oat flour, flaxseed, and parmesan cheese.
4. Cook the macaroni until al dente--about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain.
5. Prepare a thin white sauce: melt 2 tbsp butter in a small sauce pan, add 2 tbsp rice flour and salt to taste. Bring to a bubble, remove from heat, add two cups milk, and return to heat, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add grated cheddar cheese to white sauce and blend well.
7. Combine macaroni and white sauce mixture in a 2-quart casserole. Top with the oat flour mixture.
8. Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
9. Serve with salad (with dressing, of course!) or veggies fried in olive oil to make an awesome weight gain meal.:]

Calories (yes, per 1 cup serving): 575
Fat: 38g
Protein: 20g

Friday, April 16, 2010

Tracking Calories

I know for some parents it's essential to track your child's caloric intake. I used to have a spreadsheet of every food Emma ate and the nutritional value of it. Even for foods I made from scratch I would calculate the values. It was pretty time consuming, but it helped me to see how she was doing.
Here is a great site that offers nutritional guidelines for children AND makes it easy to track!

http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov/planner/index.aspx



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