Stove top ham mac and cheese + homemade biscuits

I love mac and cheese! But the way I make it you can eat it all the time and still stick to your healthy eating plan. The base of this recipe I got from a Healthy Choice recipe years ago and you can add different things to change it up. I vary the pasta, spices, meat, etc…

Ingredients:

8 oz. pasta (tonight I used WACKY MAC!)
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup flour
squeeze of chipolte mustard (or grainy mustard)
3 cups skim milk
2 oz. cheddar cheese
1 oz. gorgonzola cheese
1 oz. romano cheese
16. oz. package of ham cubes (sold by the packaged deli meat)
green onions, chopped, (optional)

In a large pot cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.

Meanwhile in a smaller skillet add the 1 TB. of butter and let that melt. Add the 1/4 cup flour and cook for several minutes on low heat, stirring constantly. Add the 3 cups skim milk, the mustard salt and pepper to taste and cook for about 8 minutes or until the sauce is thickened. Add the cheeses and stir until the cheese is melted. Then add the ham cubes and cook for another minute or so.

Add the sauce to the cooked pasta. At this point it’s ready to eat, which is what I did tonight, or you could put all that in a casserole dish with a little more cheese sprinkled on top and bake at 350 for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly. Garnish with some chopped green onions.

This makes a ton, and this whole recipe is 6 servings. Each serving is:

That’s a big serving too! And to go with it, I tried my sisters buttermilk biscuits, but I changed a few things.

8 biscuits

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 tablespoons margarine (my sister used butter here)
1.5 cups skim milk (my sister used buttermilk here)

Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the 4 TB. of margarine and using a fork, blend the butter until its about the size of a small pea. Add the milk and mix just until combined. Using 1/4 cup measure, scoop out some of the batter and roll it into a loose ball. Place each ball of batter into a round cake pan coated with cooking spray.

Cook at 500 degrees for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 450 and bake for another 15 minutes.

This recipe makes 8 biscuits, each biscuit is:

Suffice it to say, my family was excited about the biscuits! There is only 1 leftover so I think I may have to have my breakfast sammy tomorrow.