Whole Grain Gluten Free Mac & Cheese and a balanced 3 course meal for kids

Know what you Eat - Just one cup of brown rice will provide you with 88.0% of the daily value for manganese. This trace mineral helps produce energy from protein and carbohydrates and is involved in the synthesis of fatty acids, which are important for a healthy nervous system. Peas are one of the few members of the legume family that are cooked as fresh vegetables. Green peas provide very good amounts of 8 vitamins, 7 minerals, dietary fiber and protein. Celery is an excellent source of vitamin C, a vitamin that helps to support the immune system. Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin K. Carrots are by far one of the richest source of carotenoids.

I had to make something for a small guest one of my friend's daughter(4 yrs old), who came in for lunch and a play date with my kids. Went for this simple and delicious one and they all loved it. I prefer brown rice pasta to wheat, they do taste way much better, you should be able to get Tinkyada rice pasta in health and organic food aisle in your food store.

Ingredients

Whole grain brown rice shell macaroni(uncooked ) - 2 cups
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Frozen green peas - 1 cup
Water

Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp
Grated Cheddar Cheese(Organic rennetless) - 1 1/2 cups
Flour - 1 teaspoon
Milk - 1/4 cup
Black pepper - 1/2 tsp or more to taste
Onion powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Oregano powder - 1/2 tsp

Method

1) Thaw the frozen green peas, cover it with enough water, add 1/2 tsp salt (more as per your taste) cook till tender and set it aside.

2) Bring 2 quarts of water with the teaspoon of salt to a boil in thick-bottomed pan, add the macaroni and cooked through but slightly firm. Drain the water from the cooking pan, and leave the macaroni, add the cooked peas in the pan and keep the stove in low setting.

3) Dice the butter into small cubes and melt it in a saucepan over low heat.Once the butter is melted, begin whisking in the flour.When all the flour is incorporated, continue stirring and cooking for a few minutes. If you plan to be making a white or light-colored cheese sauce, be sure to keep the heat low enough that the flour does not brown. Now add milk and whisk the mixture until its smooth. Allow the sauce to simmer until it has lost its "floury" taste (this will take about 20 minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and gently blend in the cheese and add pepper, onion powder and oregano. If the cheese doesn't seem to be melting sufficiently, you can return the pan to very low heat, but watch it carefully and remove as soon as the cheese is melted.

4) Now add this Cheese sauce to the cooked macaroni and peas and combine thoroughly
and serve hot immediately.

I served this with Soup and for the recipe you can click here, the only addition i did to the soup is adding 3/4th cup of cooked mung bean, mashed finely to make this a complete balanced meal and adding a small piece of beetroot to all the vegetables while cooking to give a nice color. I served Sweetened Mixed Nut Balls for dessert.

Event Participation
1) This goes to What you are Cooking for your Guests hosted by Raji of Rak's Kitchen.
2) This also goes to Well balanced three course meal event hosted by Yasmeen.

3) This goes to C&B Cheese Cheese Cheese hosted by Dido Divya.

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