Cooking With Kids: Baked Macaroni and Cheese Muffin Cups
How would you rate these macaroni and cheese muffin cups?
Getting Kids to Eat Vegetables
I typically do not have a problem getting my children to eat vegetables I was very diligent early in their lives in making sure that they ate vegetables at almost every meal. Unfortunately, I know that some parents are not quite as fortunate. My personal opinion is that you do not try to hide vegetables in other foods. I feel that it is important to have children learn the taste of and acquire that particular taste and learn to eat vegetables as they are. However, if your child refuses to eat them, we all know that providing our kids with the nutritional value of those vegetables is more important than how they make it into our kids' stomaches. So here is a great way to get some extra nutrients into our kids. Since my kids actually helped me make this dish, there was no getting any veggies past them!
Cook Time
Ingredients for Baked Macaroni and Cheese Cups
- 8 eggs
- 1 small sweet potato
- 2-3 medium peeles carrots
- 4 cups cooked macaroni (whole grain is preferred)
- 3 cups low fat shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper
- 3 oz diced Canadian Bacon, (optional)
Nutritional Information for Mac and Cheese Muffins
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 1 muffin (excluding the Canadian bacon) | |
| Calories | 150 |
| Calories from Fat | 45 |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Fat 5 g | 8% |
| Carbohydrates 15 g | 5% |
| Fiber 2 g | 8% |
| Protein 12 g | 24% |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
Photo Guide for Macaroni and Cheese Cups
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Directions for Macaroni and Cheese Cups
- Boil or steam carrots and sweet potatoes for about 15-20 minutes or until tender.
- Place the drained vegetables in a bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a muffin pan with paper liners and spray with non-stick spray. If you have a nice muffin tin, you do not have to use the liners but be sure to spray so that the macaroni and cheese does not stick to the pan.
- In a separate bowl, slightly beat the eggs. Then add the salt and pepper, vegetable mix, and 2 cups of cheese to mix completely. Finally, stir in the diced Canadian Bacon if you are using it and the macaroni.
- Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups so that it is even with the top of the liners. Add about 1 tablespoon of cheese to the top of each muffin.
- Bake for about 20-22 minutes and serve warm.
Macaroni Cup Variations
I have to say that I wasn't sure that my kids would really like these with the purred vegetables in it, (even my husband liked it). I was pleasantly surprised when it was a unanimous decision that that really liked them and definitely wanted to make them again. I posted the recipe with the exact ingredients that I used but I think that next time I would cut two eggs out. They seemed just a tad eggy to me. They were still delicious but I would like less of a quiche like consistency. I also would probably use the vegetable puree but add in some additional vegetables. I think that broccoli, cauliflower or even asparagus would be great in this dish. We hope that you and your kids enjoy this one as much as we did!
