Mac & Cheese and Instagram Dump

My little munchkin and I have a favorite lunch around here. I'm the type of person that gets on food kicks, where I can eat the same thing every day for a week and not get sick of it. My little man may be the same way, at least if I serve this lunch written by blogger Heavenly Homemaker. I shamelessly plug the Heavenly Homemaker because I find her recipes easy, accessible, economical, kid approved, and healthy (no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, mystery ingredients, chemical enhancers, processed ingredients, etc). Take for instance, our fave lunch Creamy Mac and Cheese. It has 4 ingredients that I usually have on hand: noodles, milk, cheese, salt. It takes me less than 10 minutes to make start to finish. And what I've learned more recently: it's customizable. Need a dinner option? Add ground beef, shredded chicken, or tuna. Need to get the child to eat broccoli? Throw chopped broccoli into the noodles as they are boiling. Want to use up a ripe avocado? Replace the cheese with mashed avocado on the last step, and voila! Healthy, satisfying meal. Without further ado,

Creamy Mac and Cheese
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta
3 cups whole milk
1/2 t. sea salt
1 cup shredded cheese (I use white cheddar)
Mix pasta, milk and salt in a large sauce pan.  Cook over medium-high heat STIRRING ALMOST CONSTANTLY until the pasta is tender (10-15 minutes).  Remove from heat.  Add cheese and stir until melted.  Serve immediately.

Maryland Mama's Alterations
-In place of whole wheat pasta, I've been digging brown rice pasta. It's still a whole grain, it's easier for little tummies to digest because it doesn't have gluten, it cooks faster, and it mimics white pasta in taste and texture better than wheat pasta.
-Instead of 3 cups whole milk, I generally do somewhere around 2 parts whole milk, 1 part water. I have trouble getting the heat just right without all the milk being absorbed into the pasta. I've found using water along with milk with the rice pasta gets me the consistency I like best. How to put it best? I'm a saucy girl.

 
And I thought I'd include some pics from my most recent trip. They are all poor quality iPhone pics, made even poorer quality by using filters provided by the iPhone app Instagram, but I like them all the same.

Elle Belle loves the Soothie pacifier like her cousin A before her.

Cutie E chillin' in the bouncer.

Lil' A and Uncle P and Aunt Julie at the Mellow Mushroom food joint

Grandma, Baby E, and Julie walking down by the Savannah River

The "B" family with nephew Lil' A

Big boy Bram is almost as tall as the floodline of 196-something

My Sweet Pea and I

Funniest picture of Eliza taken to date. We affectionately refer to her as Ellie Lou Who because of this photo.

Sweet sleeper

Mama J and baby

Tomorrow our little family flies south back to Oklahoma for my BIL's wedding. I'm excited because Bram gets to hang out with his older cousins. We are also looking forward to seeing both Grandmas, one Papa, and all Bram's aunts and uncles on my hubby's side. We plan on having a little early birthday celebration for my boy while we're there, too. All that to say, see ya in a few days (or a week), blogging world. We're taking yet another trip!