Cheese & Pasta Mini Cups
My two girls are growing up too fast. One turns 8 next week, the other one is still our 3 year old “baby”. I feel I am still not ready to let go of the world of fairies & princess. It is a kind of cocoon, a shelter to be living in this bliss. All the notes to the tooth fairy have been carefully tucked away ( the “tooth fairy” sometimes forgets to take her tooth, but leaves the gift.. so it is not a fair deal…)..
“Pakuku”(Computer), the “kolar bears” (polar bears), “fever” (beaver), the “balance bean” (Balance Beam) of the gymnastic class, the rabbit’s need to go to the doctor when they are sick, the red hands, blue hair & purple faces, the ability for Dora’s backpack to fly without any wings, all stand uncorrected…on purpose. Every single moment is precious, every word, smile & tear treasured & kept safe in our heart – these precious magic will stay with us forever!
Coming to feeding these magical princess’ is quite a different story. No magic happens during the meals. The food does not disappear, lunch boxes does not get emptied, & almost nothing seems to fly other than my tortured imagination to what will make them eat. Macaroni & Cheese seemed to be enjoyed by most of the peers of my girls, but not by them. Of late tho’ something happened… could be one of those temporary phases, but there is a sudden liking for this gooey, cheesy thing. The recipe below got innovated when I had some left over mac & cheese.. & this definitely seemed to fly. It is pretty much add whatever you want kinda recipe, so feel free to use things that the child might enjoy…
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Cooked Pasta: Boil the pasta as per instructions - Al Dente (Any small sized pasta like mini macaroni or mini shells)
- 1 Cup Grated/Shredded Cheese ( Any Cheese or any combination of 2 or 3 cheeses – cheddar, mozarella…..)
- 2 Tablespoons of Flour
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Herbs (optional- any herbs you want to use…. I used dried Parsely)
- 1/2 Cup Very Finely chopped/shredded Cabbage & Celery (You can use any kind & combination of vegetables)
Note: Additional things to use in this may be Minced Meat, Shredded Tofu, Beans.. .Let your little one decide..
This can be easily tweaked to make it an adult meal. . just add some garlic, roasted peppers, sundried tomatoes, more herbs, & I would definitely use some spiced cheese!
Preparation:
Lightly grease muffin pans/cup cake liners or silicon cups.
Combine all the ingredients above & spoon it into muffins pan or cup cake liners.
Bake at 375 Degree F for about 15-20 minutes or till the cheese melts & start to brown on the top.
Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes.
Carefully take out the mini cups – they would be set by now. Serve Warm.
The kids loved it. It is loaded with veggies, carb & protein in one cup. However it is best served Fresh Done. I would not recommend storing them in the refrigerator & reheating them – the vibrancy of the taste disappears
Sending this to MM: Kids Lunch. an event started by Meeta & this time hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 all Seasons.
Last Saturday, 28 March 2009, we observed the Earth Hour.
We switched off the lights, & whatever other electrical gadgets we could. The plan was to sit outside & gaze the stars, but the weather did not permit that. It was a new thing for the kids to be without Power, but it was because of their plea that we had to extend the Earth Hour in our home for another extra half hour. It was just magical, & perhaps one of the best one & a half family hour we spent. My hubby played the harmonica, my daughter tried to join him in with her keyboard. We talked of the silly times & the silly things that they did when they were really little… Now they want to have it once every week.. Not a bad idea at all!!
Related Posts:
The Perfect Pizza Margherita
My Bunnies were Happy Too
Iron Skillet Spaghetti
Tags: baked mac & cheese, cheese, comfort food, cups, feeding the kids, how to make mac & cheese, kid's meal, Lunch menu, mac & cheese, mac & cheese recipe, mac & cheese with a twist, mac & cheese you can hold in your hand, macaroni & cheese, Pasta & Pizza, quick kids meal, Vegetarian recipe
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:35 am
Meal times are a war of wills if the right stuff is not served. The pasta muffins are perfect, give them anything in the shape of a cupcake/muffin so questions will be asked.
DD reminded me of the Earth Hour and we did follow thorugh on ours. I was cooking in the candle lit light and wondered how it all used to happen without a glitch back home.
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:43 am
These pasta muffins are adorable! My daughter would love them too! Great idea!
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:46 am
S has lost interest with cheesy macaroni but I think she will like this, am going to try it out
Earth Hour — we were driving to visit a friend in the city
S rememberd the lights out, but there were most houses on the road with lights on.
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:50 am
that looks soo yummy! And beautiful post Soma, loved reading about your fairies. I turned off the lights for that one hour too, could not step out cos of the weather, so lit a candle and did some random cleaning around the house
)
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:55 am
You are so enjoying the girls I see. Beautiful Muffins there, slurp!
Trisha was never interested in girly (neither was I anyway!
) stuff, so I never bothered with any of those.
We forgot about Earth hour. Photos of candle light looks gorgeous.
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:52 am
These look delicious. It sounds like they’d make a great appetizer too!
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:10 am
Hahaha..soma,am joing your saga of fairies too…same story here..and yes,eating too..lovely..its all precious i too think soma…Once if we loose all those,its lost forever..let them enjoy
your cups look attractive and yummy..helathy too..esp..can attract kids..would love to try soon
the last pictures are awesome…what a splendid way of celebrating !!
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:23 am
My kids would lap these up. My rabbits became kangaroos a few years ago, taller than me & pretty hungry!! These look yum!!
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:34 am
I have made with tofu long back! Kids somethimes makes us think out of the box for their food! They are cute!
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:44 am
very cute mini cups…i am sure your kids enjoyed these:)
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:16 am
Love to read about your princesses.
I’ll add some chicken to the adult version of the dish.
Am sure you will love to relive the long loadshedding hours (if you have ever gone thru them) … but it is always a good feeling that you know you can use that switch whenever you want to.
Right now we are going thru gruelling long hours of no electricity.
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:33 am
very cute mini cups…i am sure your kids enjoyed these:)
OH! You’re my new favorite blogger fyi
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:38 am
These cups look so cute and delicious!
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:50 am
These really look amazing and are calling my name
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:55 am
The candle pictures are fantastic
Loved the cheese and pasta cups..Its a creative recipe..Looks so yumm!!
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
oh wow !! this is so good !!! well done !!
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
love the 2nd pic… these cups are soooo cute.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Beautiful post Soma….those Mini cups looks very cute…I am sure my lil one will also enjoy this…will try it out soon…..
Photos of candle light looks gorgeous!!!
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:27 pm
I lovedddddddd this post Soma..It was so nice to hear you talk about the kids n now I am more than ever ,craning for babies..he he..:D..But I have in mind ,your other rants as well(abt pampering n all..:D) ..I knw..hard to make kiddies eat..I might go mad at that time ..wailing n yelling..:D..This is such a great option..they’ll sure gulp it up..:).. Actually I feel like taking a bunch n having..:P..Looks cute n yum..:)
That was so nice to hear about that Earth hour..We were as usual roaming like nomads..:D..The pics looks fab n it was a pleaure to read about it…got that feeling u knw..:)
Have a great weekend..!!
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:43 pm
your gals are gourmets already. mac and cheese is for the hoi polloi.
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:23 pm
lovely recipe… very kid-friendly and like you said, very easy to convert to adult-friendly
love the pictures
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Cheese and pasta cups looks delicious. Candle light pics look marvellous.
We too followed Earth hour, though most of the houses had the lights on.
April 4th, 2009 at 12:18 am
My 4 yr old daughter is in this spree where she thinks she can exist without just milk and yoghurt!!!
The cups looks delecatable.
April 4th, 2009 at 12:21 am
I meant “with” not without.
April 4th, 2009 at 4:31 am
The kids were unwell on that day and went to bed early… I would have done it early, but it wasn’t dark enough when they went to bed.I observed the hour on my own ( hubby being away). Now they want to do it…let’s see
April 4th, 2009 at 6:02 am
Those cups are a nice idea! And the Earth Hour pix are beautiful.
April 4th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Very nice looking cheese cups, which kid or big kid will not like these? We switched off all the lights, but had to sit in the living room as the weather was not good. But we cheated and dimmed one light there.
Beautiful pictures of the candles.
April 4th, 2009 at 9:51 am
they look really gorgeous. the cups are a wonderful idea
April 5th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Happy Sunday! This is going to be fun!. Enjoyed “& Pasta Mini Cups | eCurry – The Recipe Blog” although maybe not everyone did. Doing something very similar at this very moment. Just subscribed to your feed.
April 5th, 2009 at 9:36 am
All you mothers are SO creative with food!
And the weekly Earth Day idea is brilliant. I think I will follow your lead too!
April 5th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Thats a really nice idea – K loves pasta and was wondering how to send it to her in her snack box (she just started school today) without too much of a mess – now I know how!
April 9th, 2009 at 10:00 am
This is lovely !!! not just the recipie !! the photography as well !!
April 11th, 2009 at 10:49 am
What a novel way to make mac ‘n cheese. Shall do this, my daughter will love it!:)
April 13th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Delicious. One of the great comfort foods which I have never outgrown. And what a clever idea to bake them in EZ-release silicon cups.
April 17th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Thats so beautiful..thanks soma..
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:42 am
Looks fantastic. Don’t have kids yet but will surely make these for my husband and I.
August 7th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
How.. many does it make? and can i not put in any vegetables?
September 24th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Innovative way to serving pasta thanks for recipe.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
[...] tried to make these macaroni and cheese cups the other night. Don’t get me wrong, it was tasty and everything, but they didn’t [...]
May 6th, 2010 at 7:32 am
My partner and I served up this recipe for our dinner a few days ago. The whole family adored it, I’ll be cooking it frequently from now on, it truly is good to uncover fresh ideas for tasty recipes also straightforward ways to cook them. Thanks for giving them.