I would call my three-year-old a “pastararian”. Which basically means, he’s a vegetarian who doesn’t eat vegetables. But if it’s pasta or rice, he’ll scarf it up.

His ultimate favorite is Kraft Dinner. Yes, that good old college standby. Not exactly the most nutritious thing for a little preschooler.

He has macaroni and cheese every day, at least once. Sometimes he has it for breakfast, because he’s not always in the mood for Cheerios.

(If you’re thinking to yourself, what a fussy eater … can you see me nodding my head energetically, in total and complete agreement?)

Here’s how I quell my mommy guilt as I cook up each day’s batch of “Mac Cheese”, as he likes to call it.

Instead of using just milk, I heat a small bit of milk up on the stove, and then I add either butternut squash or cauliflower. I use frozen organic butternut squash - I buy this brand that is just wonderful, I can get away with frying it in a pan and everyone else in the family loves it - or else I use frozen cauliflower (frozen vegetables cooks a lot faster in the milk than fresh vegetables).

I especially like using the frozen butternut squash because it becomes very soft very fast. If I’m using cauliflower, I’ll usually have to give it a bit of a buzz with my handheld blender, but the butternut squash can be used as is, with just a bit of extra stirring and mashing around.

The other reason I like the butternut squash is that regular yellow-y macaroni and cheese makes my son’s teeth kind of yellowy, so I use the white cheddar variety. Adding the butternut squash actually makes it look like regular macaroni and cheese!

That’s it. I add my margarine (non-hydrogenated) to the cooked macaroni, then stir in a lot of the milk and butternut squash mixture. I mix it all up, and then add the cheese sauce mix. It looks good, and it tastes good enough that my husband, who loves stuff like that but usually avoids it because he’s trying to eat more nutritious foods, will also usually have a bowl.

It’s also quick and easy. And like I said, less mommy guilt!

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