Macaroni somehow earned the title, but any short pasta that cradles the cheesy sauce will work. Not only is macaroni and cheese delicious and comforting, but it’s also amazingly flexible. Who wouldn’t, when that vegetable is tossed with pasta, swaddled in a rich cheese sauce, and sprinkled with garlicky breadcrumbs? No matter what you add, this fresh herb mac and cheese is just plain tasty.Ask any mom: Even veggie-averse kids will enthusiastically eat just about any vegetable when it’s baked inside homemade macaroni and cheese. You should feel free to use this as a baseline of sorts and add the veggies or meats of your choice. It was triple great – I now know my directions can be followed by someone else, I didn’t have to make it that night, and I got to eat this delicious stuff. Somehow, she deciphered my scratch, made it exactly how I intended, and did a phenomenal job. Whitney loves to cook, and she’s amazing, so she offered to make it. With four crazy kids running around while trying to get dinner together, this mac and cheese was falling by the wayside. Last weekend, our friends Ben and Whitney came over for dinner with their two kids, so I thought it would be the perfect place to try it out with friends. I had come up with this fresh herb mac and cheese recipe and had it written out in my book. To anyone but me, it pretty much looks like nonsense chicken scratch. I use it everyday to come up with recipes. When I started this blog in April, my dear friend Erin gave me a journal to use for blog and recipe ideas. That probably sounds silly to say about a 3 year old, but when I get to see him taste new foods and flavors, and talk about what he likes, I think it’s really fun. Plus, I love getting to help him cultivate his tastes. I have given him plain Kraft mac and cheese plenty, and I know that he won’t get a terrible disease doing that every once in a while, but I do want to try to add a bit more nutrition when I can.

However, when mac and cheese is served solo, it just doesn’t seem like the healthiest of meals to give my toddler.

I suppose that’s a general love of all kids, but he gets so excited about having it, that it’s really fun to give it to him. My three year old son loves mac and cheese.

Kids and adults both will love this stuff. Creamy mac and cheese filled with broccoli and ground chicken sausage, and topped with a Panko breadcrumb and fresh herb topping.

Spices for mac and cheese sauce