Tuesday 20 April 2010

Macaroni Cheese

Currently I’m following the Weight Watcher’s diet as I’ve gained weight over the last year, call it comfort eating to help with the loss of Ollie’s passing, followed by Christmas and more recently the stress of moving. I’ve done WW before and it works great for me and I’ve always lost the weight at a healthy pace, average 2lbs a week if not more and in the last 2 weeks I’ve lost 6lbs. Last week while browsing on Amazon, as you do, I decided to invest in a couple of WW recipe books. The books arrived and I was surprised at how many lovely recipes I could make and still lose weight (which is a must for me, as I get stuck into the same foods too easily and become bored and disheartned).

The following recipe for Macaroni Cheese I actually got from their website after craving pasta. I’m sometimes sceptical about low fat food, having no flavour etc but then I’m basing that on those ready-made meals that really taste like plastic. This macaroni cheese was truly delish and delivered so much flavour, that I would never have guessed that it was low fat and only 7 points per serving. Hubby enjoyed this pasta with me and he too said how nice it was and that he would never have guessed it was a WW recipe.


Macaroni Cheese

Points: 7

Serves: 4

Ingredients
200g pasta, uncooked, (macaroni)
225ml skimmed milk
2 level tablespoon flour
1 level tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground, black
100g cheddar cheese
3 tablespoon parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions
Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4/350°F/175°C. Cook macaroni according to package instructions. Drain and keep warm.
In a large non-stick saucepan, combine milk, flour, mustard, salt and pepper. Cook, whisking constantly, until sauce thickens and comes to a boil, 3 to 4 minutes. Add cheddar in batches, stirring until cheese is melted after each addition before adding more. Stir in macaroni.
Transfer mixture to a shallow 1-quart casserole dish and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Increase oven temperature to grill and cook for 3 minutes more. Cool slightly before serving.

More WW recipes to follow.

7 comments:

The Girl said...

Wow definitely need to bookmark this - cheesy pasta goodness AND it's good for you?! Win.

Glad the move went ok.

Louise said...

Well isn't that funny. I was obviously meant to stumble across your website. First the lovely baking and now the WW recipes. In the past I have generally been very motivated and successful with losing weight when I decide I am going to and have a goal in mind. I have also had great success with the WW points system. But since having my gorgeous son 2 years ago the weight has been creeping on and it has fallen into the "I can't be bothered" basket. Maybe, your WW recipes will be the kickstart I need! :) I will have to dig out the WW cookbooks I have! Cheers, Louise

Cheers, Louise

Lucie said...

That is wonderful! comfort good without the guilt :) You have done so well losing 6lbs, well done!!! Lucie x

Finla said...

Years ago i did weight watchers and it really helped too. Now i have also gained and I would love to loose some 8 kg. I try to start a kind of diet but then i give up.
Now the weight watchers group is in the next city so I am lazy to go there. Good luck.

Beth (jamandcream) said...

I tend to up the parmesan as you don't need very much. This looks yummy. I've still got a bit of baby weight to shed so I will be bookmarking this

The Girl said...

PS Have an award waiting for you on my blog - sure you've already got it!

Brownieville Girl said...

Best of luck with the diet Maria, I'm following a similar path at the moment, so was delighted to find this recipe on your blog (which is excellent)