Confetti Macaroni & a Trip to Kraft Kitchens

I've been invited to a Kraft Kitchen event in Toronto next week. And it's interesting that although I have Kraft peanut butter in the pantry and bags of shredded Quatro Fromagio in the fridge, the first thought that came to mind was Kraft Dinner, or KD as we North Americans fondly call it. I remember growing up in the 1950's and, on the rare occasion that my mother would succumb to our pleading and whining, she would serve the tiny macaroni with neon orange powder in the blue box.

And, I admit, I don't remember serving it again until my girls were of that age... and even today, on the odd occasion of dreary weather or feeling sickly and needing a bit of my childhood to make me feel better. It was a great standby dish when my girls were in their early teens and could make some lunch or dinner on their own if I had meetings to attend to. One time, they thought it would be funny to add some blue food coloring. I guess they forgot about the color wheel where blue plus neon yellow equals bright GREEN. A fond memory of mine especially on St Patrick's Day! But I digress...

Now that I'm heading to Toronto, I thought I'd check out their website and discovered a wonderful world where moms can find healthful and fun recipes and ideas for kids. There are great ideas to inspire young chefs like these and, for the picky eater... lots of choices to get them to eat some vegetables.

My own picky eater, Boaz, who used to eat anything, has become much more .... discerning? No.... just plain finicky, so I was excited to try the Confetti Macaroni recipe which has you add 1 cup of grated carrots and 1 cup of grated zucchini to the pasta while it's boiling and some shredded mozzarella to the cheese & milk once the vegetables and pasta are drained.

One thing I really liked about the dish is that the macaroni itself is made with whole wheat and freeze dried cauliflower. Poppa and I thought it was delicious, but I had forgotten that Boaz is anti-green at the moment and the flecks of zucchini had him turn away before even one spoonful got to his mouth. Note to Grandma.... next time carrots only!.

Since it is a quick pasta dish, I'm sharing with this week's Presto Pasta Night, hosted by Debbi Does Dinner and you still have time to send your pasta post to crabbymomofthree (at)comcast (dot) net and cc ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com.

I can't wait to see what I find at the Kraft My Way Event next week.