8oz small elbow macaroni
Cooking spray
1 cup prechopped onion
1 cup preshredded carrot
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1 pound lean ground sirloin
1 cup tomato sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, divided
Preheat oven to 350°.
Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain. Lightly coat pasta with cooking spray.
Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and carrot, and sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add ground beef; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add tomato sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes or until most of liquid evaporates.
Add pasta to beef mixture in pan, stirring to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Place milk, flour, nutmeg, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan; stir with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add 1 cup cheese, stirring until smooth. Pour cheese mixture over pasta mixture; stir. Top evenly with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
6 comments
Do you use a particular kind of small elbow macaroni?
thanks
As long as it doesn’t contain enriched white flour or a slew of chemicals, you’re on the right path. LOL
The kind I use, personally, is the whole foods organic brand that has organic durum wheat and egg. That’s it.
Thanks Erica..I don’t cook at all. I work overseas in Iraq and will be home in 3 weeks for a vacation and I want to try to start cooking and eating healthier..so I truly appreciate your response 🙂
Erika, I have a question that I hope you can help me on. I so would love to cook more natural and health foods but with my crazy hours at work and then children at home (5). I find that the whole foods more natural foods are more expensive, not to mention I have a husband who does about 85% of the cooking (one because he is just an awesome cook and everything he makes is yummy (though it’s a lot of comfort food – fried – buttered – you name it) since I work late and not home well after the rest of the family has already eating. So went of track a bit there, do you recommend any whole food or natural foods that aren’t that expensive and that could be good for the whole family. One other questions is I have been toying around with the thought of Nutra-System since I seem never to find time to eat and when there is I’m just too dang tired.
Thanks again for any help from a 5’3 210lbs white girl who is love with her soul mans cooking 🙂
Hmmm…
On nutrasystem: https://blackgirlsguidetoweightloss.com/fit-chick-watch/janet-jackson-now-promoting-nutrisystem-and-now-i-flip-out/
On saving money on grocery shopping: https://blackgirlsguidetoweightloss.com/tag/saving-money/
You say that “whole foods are more expensive,” but your husband does the cooking? WHAT, exactly, is he cooking? Frying? Frying is MAD expensive. To be honest, frying, buttering and battering are really expensive practices on clean eating… perhaps hanging up the expensive cooking techniques would help with the cost of eating cleaner?
Thanks for the feed back Erika and I will try to convince this man to change is ways, not an easy task but with proper motivation it can be done….I just don’t want to stop cooking altogether 🙂 I think if I give him some of these taste recipes it might help…heck have him read your blog! Thanks again