Suprisingly Good, Sneaky, and Healthy Macaroni and Cheese

I found a recipe for healthy macaroni and cheese over at Super Healthy Kids. I have to admit that I wasn't quite sure about this recipe, and I didn't think I could fool my kids. But I did, well, at least one of them. The secret ingredient in this recipe that makes it "healthy" is a squash puree. It took some convincing to get my oldest child to eat the two peices of macaroni that I put on his plate. He was cautious from the beginning because it wasn't orange. My second child took a bit of the portion I gave him and exclaimed "I like it!" Whew! Then he ate a good sized portion. This recipe makes a lot, so cut it in half if you want, or it is great warmed up for lunches. (My husband has been taking it to work all week and really enjoys it too.)

Healthy Macaroni and Cheese

3 cups macaroni noodles, cooked

3 TBLS Olive Oil
3 TBL flour
In sauce pan, stir olive oil and flour constantly till thickens. Then add:

12 oz can evaporated milk
1/2 cup squash puree (I used yellow squash, but if you use an a butternut or other orange fleshed squash it would make the sauce look more orange.)
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cheese (I use medium cheddar, but I bet sharp would be even better.)

Stir all ingredients over medium heat until sauce thickens.


Combine. Let sit for 5 minutes to thicken up.

Some hints...I had a hard time getting the oil and flour to thicken but once I added the squash puree, it thickened right up. And it actually thickened up so much that once I added the milk it was lumpy. But I threw it all in the blender and it all pureed very nicely. Then I threw it all back in the pan and added the cheese.