Healthy Spin on Mac & Cheese with kale!

Morning all! How you?

Today I’m off to an elementary school in Massapequa to donate muffins to 300 elementary school kids for their nutrition week. I love doing events like this because I love seeing their little faces when they eat and enjoy healthy foods. Yesterday I basically spent getting ready for this, which is why –> no blog.

But I did manage to make a fantastic lunch…that doubled as dinner. Yes, I ate this 2x yesterday. No I’m not kidding. First let me explain why such a special lunch in the middle of the week…. my amazingly, hardworking, talented sister got a job with the NBC page program! She’s wanted to be a part of this program (yes, Kenneth on 30 Rock) for years now. Admission to the program is more selective than Yale or Harvard! Chris was picked over 7,000 other people. (If you’re friends with me on FB and you saw I wrote 60,000…I was just a tad off…)

She’s also been asking me to make mac and cheese for months now, so yesterday was the day!

Healthy Whole Grain Mac & Cheese

1 pound macaroni (I used corn pasta)
3 eggs, scrambled in a bowl (not cooked)
1/4 cup pecorino romano
2 tbsp panko or whole wheat breadcrumbs
2 handfuls kale, broken up into pieces (about 2 cups)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used lowfat, 3 cheese blend)
3-4 slices fresh mozzarella (or extra shredded cheese)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot, cook pasta to al dente. Drain pasta and add to a large casserole dish. Pour eggs and spread cheese over pasta and mix well so it’s all incorporated. Add kale and incorporate to dish. Sprinkle with garlic powder, sea salt and pepper and mix again. Top with pecorino romano, breadcrumbs and fresh mozzarella. Bake for 20-25 minutes until crispy on top.