mac and cheese Archives ⋆ Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby https://www.budgetpantry.com/tag/mac-and-cheese/ Fri, 10 Nov 2017 16:14:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.7 Toddler-worthy rice cooker mac and cheese https://www.budgetpantry.com/rice-cooker-mac-and-cheese/ https://www.budgetpantry.com/rice-cooker-mac-and-cheese/#comments Fri, 10 Nov 2017 15:43:29 +0000 https://budgetpantry.com/?p=10069 When it comes to cooking for my baby, I always go by this motto: the lesser effort the better! That’s why I’ve been exploring my rice cooker, to see if I can come up with easy one-pot, nutritious recipes that don’t even need the stove. And I think this is a keeper: rice cooker mac and cheese! It helps too, that the husband is a huge fan of mac and cheese. With this recipe, I can settle dinner for the family all at once. This means more time to shower (I hope) and blog too? This dish takes all of 25 minutes to cook. Prep time is about 10 minutes with a nifty kitchen tool. If you’ve liked my Facebook page, you’ll know that I swear by this hand-held chopper: If you hate to chop ingredients by hand and find the food processor too troublesome to use with too many parts to wash, get this. It is saving me so much time in the kitchen, and it’s great when I want to make pasta sauce, or chop vegetables quickly for cbb’s meals. The best thing is: it’s not flimsy! I even use it to mince chicken fillet. I got mine from ezbuy prime (search for the Chinese words). I’ve seen it in Isetan too. In a nutshell, the recipe goes like this: place macaroni and water in rice cooker, top with chopped broccoli, pumpkin and minced meat, then cover and cook for 20 minutes. Open the rice cooker, and stir in the milk + cooking cream, a smidgen of honey mustard and shredded cheese. Cover for another 5 minutes and serve. That’s it. Crazy right? I wanted the recipe to be a bit healthier, so I used half-and-half, i.e., 30ml fresh milk and 30ml cooking cream. If you want an even lower fat content, go ahead and use 60ml fresh milk. But it won’t be as creamy or decadent. TIP: For a creamier and more delicious dish, use 60ml cooking cream. I mean, what difference can 30ml make, right? Ready for the recipe that will change your life? Let’s go! I’m giving food ingredient measurements in tablespoons, because that’s the easiest to gauge. Leftovers can be mixed with crushed cream crackers and made into meat patties! If you’re interested to know, I’m using the Tefal spherical rice cooker. Click on the link to see my recipe for mushroom and chicken multi-grain one-pot rice. I get all my vegetables from OPENTASTE.SG. Get $15 off your first order by entering code ‘240D2E’ at checkout. Toddler-worthy rice cooker mac and cheese (budgetpantry.com) Serves 2 adults and 1 baby What you need: 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (your rice cooker measuring cup) 1.5 cups water (your rice cooker measuring cup) 4 tablespoons chopped pumpkin/squash 4 tablespoons chopped broccoli 4 tablespoons minced meat (chicken, beef or pork all work) 30ml fresh milk and 30ml cooking cream (or skip the milk and use 60ml cooking cream) 150g red cheddar + mozzarella shredded cheese mix Half tablespoon honey mustard Sprinkle of salt (for adults) Half tablespoon butter (for adults) Steps: Add uncooked macaroni and water into rice cooker pot, top with chopped pumpkin, broccoli and minced meat. Select the ‘white rice’ function and cook for 20 minutes. If your rice cooker doesn’t let you select function, simply cover and cook for 20 minutes. Open lid at the 20-minute mark and check that macaroni is soft enough. If not quite, let it continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes. When macaroni is cooked, open lid and stir in the milk, cooking cream, honey mustard and cheese. Close the lid and cook for 5 minutes. Give it a final stir and it’s ready to serve. TIP: Dish up for toddler and set aside. For the adults’ portions, season with some salt and mix in the butter and more cheese (if desired) before serving. Share this recipe if you think it could help a mummy in need! If you like my posts and updates, or would like to be informed of baby/cooking-related giveaways and promos from time to time….. Like my Facebook page or follow @budgetpantry or @chuabeebee on Instagram! Yes, I just started an Insta account for CBB too!

The post Toddler-worthy rice cooker mac and cheese appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

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When it comes to cooking for my baby, I always go by this motto: the lesser effort the better!

That’s why I’ve been exploring my rice cooker, to see if I can come up with easy one-pot, nutritious recipes that don’t even need the stove.

And I think this is a keeper: rice cooker mac and cheese!

It helps too, that the husband is a huge fan of mac and cheese. With this recipe, I can settle dinner for the family all at once. This means more time to shower (I hope) and blog too?

This dish takes all of 25 minutes to cook. Prep time is about 10 minutes with a nifty kitchen tool. If you’ve liked my Facebook page, you’ll know that I swear by this hand-held chopper:

If you hate to chop ingredients by hand and find the food processor too troublesome to use with too many parts to wash, get this. It is saving me so much time in the kitchen, and it’s great when I want to make pasta sauce, or chop vegetables quickly for cbb’s meals. The best thing is: it’s not flimsy! I even use it to mince chicken fillet. I got mine from ezbuy prime (search for the Chinese words). I’ve seen it in Isetan too.

In a nutshell, the recipe goes like this: place macaroni and water in rice cooker, top with chopped broccoli, pumpkin and minced meat, then cover and cook for 20 minutes. Open the rice cooker, and stir in the milk + cooking cream, a smidgen of honey mustard and shredded cheese. Cover for another 5 minutes and serve. That’s it. Crazy right?

I wanted the recipe to be a bit healthier, so I used half-and-half, i.e., 30ml fresh milk and 30ml cooking cream. If you want an even lower fat content, go ahead and use 60ml fresh milk. But it won’t be as creamy or decadent.

TIP: For a creamier and more delicious dish, use 60ml cooking cream. I mean, what difference can 30ml make, right?

Ready for the recipe that will change your life? Let’s go! I’m giving food ingredient measurements in tablespoons, because that’s the easiest to gauge. Leftovers can be mixed with crushed cream crackers and made into meat patties!

If you’re interested to know, I’m using the Tefal spherical rice cooker. Click on the link to see my recipe for mushroom and chicken multi-grain one-pot rice.

I get all my vegetables from OPENTASTE.SG. Get $15 off your first order by entering code ‘240D2E’ at checkout.

Toddler-worthy rice cooker mac and cheese (budgetpantry.com)
Serves 2 adults and 1 baby
What you need:
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (your rice cooker measuring cup)
1.5 cups water (your rice cooker measuring cup)
4 tablespoons chopped pumpkin/squash
4 tablespoons chopped broccoli
4 tablespoons minced meat (chicken, beef or pork all work)
30ml fresh milk and 30ml cooking cream (or skip the milk and use 60ml cooking cream)
150g red cheddar + mozzarella shredded cheese mix
Half tablespoon honey mustard
Sprinkle of salt (for adults)
Half tablespoon butter (for adults)

Steps:
Add uncooked macaroni and water into rice cooker pot, top with chopped pumpkin, broccoli and minced meat.

Select the ‘white rice’ function and cook for 20 minutes. If your rice cooker doesn’t let you select function, simply cover and cook for 20 minutes. Open lid at the 20-minute mark and check that macaroni is soft enough. If not quite, let it continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes.

When macaroni is cooked, open lid and stir in the milk, cooking cream, honey mustard and cheese. Close the lid and cook for 5 minutes. Give it a final stir and it’s ready to serve.

TIP: Dish up for toddler and set aside. For the adults’ portions, season with some salt and mix in the butter and more cheese (if desired) before serving. Share this recipe if you think it could help a mummy in need!

If you like my posts and updates, or would like to be informed of baby/cooking-related giveaways and promos from time to time…..
Like my Facebook page or follow @budgetpantry or @chuabeebee on Instagram! Yes, I just started an Insta account for CBB too!

The post Toddler-worthy rice cooker mac and cheese appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

]]> https://www.budgetpantry.com/rice-cooker-mac-and-cheese/feed/ 3 Not so cheesy Mac and Cheese https://www.budgetpantry.com/not-so-cheesy-mac-and-cheese/ https://www.budgetpantry.com/not-so-cheesy-mac-and-cheese/#comments Tue, 13 May 2014 08:25:39 +0000 https://budgetpantry.com/?p=2481 I know, what’s the point, you might ask. I am not a big fan of mac and cheese because it is always too cheesy. “Too WHAT?!” I can imagine my “little” brother, Cheng Lip, ask in disbelief. Now 24, he was the teenage gamer who stunk up our entire house with Parmesan cheese sprinkled over pizza, bread and instant noodles. He loves cheese over anything. Me? I sit as far away from him as I can during buffet lunches. I never quite understood the hype over Kraft’s Macaroni and Cheese. The cheese is gooey, heavy, and looks artificially orange. I don’t like it and I don’t think I ever will. But then as a non-cheese lover, what do I know? So if you’re like me who can’t quite appreciate overly cheesy cheese, you might like to try out this recipe. Ditching a “traditional” mac and cheese recipe, I used penne and substituted Parmesan with sliced cheddar. I also skipped the roux component and simply made it with butter and fresh milk. The result? A less starchy and not nauseatingly cheesy version of of Mac and Cheese that I could eat over and over. Not-so-cheesy Mac and Cheese Serves 2 as a side dish What I used: 2 handfuls penne pasta (I used Barilla, um, airflown from Rome. yes, I flew pasta home!) 1 tablespoon butter 1 cup milk (I used regular milk, not low fat, but you can) 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1 taiwan sausage, diced (are you judging me? fine, you can use bacon) 3 slices cheddar cheese Spring onions, chopped (optional) Salt to boil pasta Salt to taste Steps: 1. Boil a pot of water, add salt and cook pasta til al dente. Reserve 1 bowl of pasta water. Drain and set aside. 2. In a round “instant noodles” pan, melt the butter using low heat and add the garlic and chopped bacon/ taiwan sausages. Cook til garlic is aromatic and just turning golden. 3. Add the milk and simmer for 3-4 minutes until milk becomes slightly thick. Add the cheese slices. Add salt to taste, if needed. 4. At this point, if the sauce is too thick, add a bit of reserved pasta water. 5. Add in the cooked pasta stir to combine. Add a dash of black pepper and sprinkle chopped spring onions on top. Serve now! I served this with my Crispy Curry Fried Chicken but this can surely hold its own as a main. And in all budgetpantry fashion, this dish was the result of throwing things together to reduce cost and prevent wastage. I had some leftover milk and taiwanese sausages in the fridge, and I always have pasta in my pantry. I was surprised at how good the pasta turned out. I think the taiwanese sausages really imparted a unique, subtly sweetish flavour and it worked very well with the cheddar cheese sauce. Try it, the result might surprise you!

The post Not so cheesy Mac and Cheese appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

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I know, what’s the point, you might ask. I am not a big fan of mac and cheese because it is always too cheesy.

“Too WHAT?!” I can imagine my “little” brother, Cheng Lip, ask in disbelief. Now 24, he was the teenage gamer who stunk up our entire house with Parmesan cheese sprinkled over pizza, bread and instant noodles. He loves cheese over anything. Me? I sit as far away from him as I can during buffet lunches.

I never quite understood the hype over Kraft’s Macaroni and Cheese. The cheese is gooey, heavy, and looks artificially orange. I don’t like it and I don’t think I ever will. But then as a non-cheese lover, what do I know?

Kraft Mac and Cheese
So if you’re like me who can’t quite appreciate overly cheesy cheese, you might like to try out this recipe. Ditching a “traditional” mac and cheese recipe, I used penne and substituted Parmesan with sliced cheddar. I also skipped the roux component and simply made it with butter and fresh milk. The result? A less starchy and not nauseatingly cheesy version of of Mac and Cheese that I could eat over and over.

May 13- Mac and Cheese Creamy

Not-so-cheesy Mac and Cheese
Serves 2 as a side dish

What I used:
2 handfuls penne pasta (I used Barilla, um, airflown from Rome. yes, I flew pasta home!)
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup milk (I used regular milk, not low fat, but you can)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 taiwan sausage, diced (are you judging me? fine, you can use bacon)
3 slices cheddar cheese
Spring onions, chopped (optional)
Salt to boil pasta
Salt to taste

Steps:
1. Boil a pot of water, add salt and cook pasta til al dente. Reserve 1 bowl of pasta water. Drain and set aside.
2. In a round “instant noodles” pan, melt the butter using low heat and add the garlic and chopped bacon/ taiwan sausages. Cook til garlic is aromatic and just turning golden.
3. Add the milk and simmer for 3-4 minutes until milk becomes slightly thick. Add the cheese slices. Add salt to taste, if needed.
4. At this point, if the sauce is too thick, add a bit of reserved pasta water.
5. Add in the cooked pasta stir to combine. Add a dash of black pepper and sprinkle chopped spring onions on top. Serve now!

May 13- Mac and Cheese penne

I served this with my Crispy Curry Fried Chicken but this can surely hold its own as a main. And in all budgetpantry fashion, this dish was the result of throwing things together to reduce cost and prevent wastage. I had some leftover milk and taiwanese sausages in the fridge, and I always have pasta in my pantry. I was surprised at how good the pasta turned out. I think the taiwanese sausages really imparted a unique, subtly sweetish flavour and it worked very well with the cheddar cheese sauce.

Try it, the result might surprise you!

The post Not so cheesy Mac and Cheese appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

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