Mac & Cheese (Tomato) for Toddler

“Mac & Cheese with a small twist to suit my son’s palate.”

As my son loved pasta in tomato base, I thought he would like his Mac & cheese to be with tomato taste, too. Not that he doesn’t take cream based, I just wanted to try out, hoping to make his meal the most pleasant one each time, if possible.

This version of my toddler meals is slightly more elaborated, and thus, a few more ingredients and steps are needed here. However, it’s still easy to follow. The same recipe could be adopted to adult meal, too, by adding a little salt and stuff. :)

Serves 1-2
Ingredients
1/2 cup of macaroni pasta
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of plain flour
100ml of fresh milk
100ml of water
2 slices of cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon of shredded Swiss cheese
1 tablespoon of ketchup

Method
(1) Boil macaroni for about 8 minutes until just softened. Drain, drizzle some olive oil, and set aside.

(2) In separate pot, heat butter on low fire. Sprinkle flour and constantly stir until it turns gluey paste. Add milk and water and simmer.

(3) Melt cheeses in simmering sauce. Return macaroni and mix into thick cheesy sauce. Add ketchup and stir to combine well. Cheese sauce should coat well on all macaroni. Heat off and serve warm.

Note: Suitable for 12 months and above.

Tips: It’s ok to use any form of cheese. Shredded, sliced, cubed, etc. I just used whichever found in my refrigerator.
* Try to use ketchup without High Fructose Corn Syrup in it, for children’s meal making. They do not need this extra artificial sugar in their diet.
* Instead of water, use chicken stock for better flavor, especially for adult’s cooking. It tastes better. Alternatively, sprinkling of some salt, for the stronger palates. :)