January 7, 2011

Creamy Mac & Cheese/Exercise TV

Before I share my creamy macaroni and cheese recipe (which I believe will become a regular in your dinner rotations), I wanted to answer some questions about the exercises I am doing.

I can’t believe the weekend is almost here! The week went by so fast. I am happy to say that I have completed my first 4 full days staying on track AND exercising! Wahoo!

I just hope I don’t blow it this weekend! My first weigh in is Monday.

A few people asked me about Exercise TV, and I should have explained it a little better. I have Comcast Cable (in Chicago area) and it features ON DEMAND, where you can watch free movies, series, pay movies, etc.. any time you want. If you click the ON DEMAND button, it will have a choice of sports and fitness, and from there it will lead you to hundreds of workouts any time you want.

The best part is you can choose a 10 minute video, up to 1 hour.

So, I hope that answers everyone’s question about that.

Now, onto dinner! I make ham macaroni and cheese a few times a month (or more!) because its cheap to make and it feeds a lot!

Because I make it so often, you can vary a lot of things. I use different kinds of cheeses, I’ve made a mexican type mac and cheese with chicken, I’ve used turkey kielbasa instead of ham, the possibilities are endless, so you can never get tired of it!

My version last night:

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup flour
3.5 cups skim milk
3.5 ounces gouda cheese
2.5 ounces of cheddar cheese
12 oz. diced cubed ham
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 box of whatever macaroni you like, I used rotini

In a big pot, cook the pasta, drain and set aside.

In another pot, melt the butter, add the flour and cook for a minute or two stirring constantly.

Add the skim milk and cook on medium heat for 8-10 minutes, or until sauce thickens. Add the cheese (which I cut into cubes for easier melting), and ham. Pour the cheese sauce into the pot with the cooked macaroni and stir until its all combined. You can eat it right from there, or otherwise, put it in a casserole dish and bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

I put the calories into www.myfitnesspal.com, and I said this made 8 servings (or a very generous 1 cup).

Each serving is 322 calories, 11 grams of fat, 22 grams of protein and 1 gram of fiber.

So my stats for today: