Day 30: Baked Mac & Cheese

So..this is coming a day late but here it is.

I am happy to say the daily blogging is over. Goodbye 30 day blogrimage. Not that I didn't love doing it. I'll still be cooking almost every night, and they will still be healthy meals. I just don't have to blog about it every night! I've found the daily blogging with uploading pictures and writing recipes to be far too time-consuming. With what seems like such little time I have, I really don't want to spend it blogging daily. I think I will still use this blog..I really have enjoyed doing this, but not every day!

Baked Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons plain dry breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1 10-ounce package frozen spinach, thawed
• 1 3/4 cups low-fat milk, divided
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 8 ounces (2 cups) whole-wheat elbow macaroni, or penne

Directions:

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil. Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat an 8-inch-square (2-quart) baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Mix breadcrumbs, oil and paprika in a small bowl. Place spinach in a fine-mesh strainer and press out excess moisture.
3. Heat 1 1/2 cups milk in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until steaming. Whisk remaining 1/4 cup milk and flour in a small bowl until smooth; add to the hot milk and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce simmers and thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Cheddar until melted. Stir in cottage cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
4. Cook pasta for 4 minutes, or until not quite tender. (It will continue to cook during baking.) Drain and add to the cheese sauce; mix well. Spread half the pasta mixture in the prepared baking dish. Spoon the spinach on top. Top with the remaining pasta; sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture.
5. Bake the casserole until bubbly and golden, 25 to 30 minutes.

::Tip of the Day:: Make your own breadcrumbs. 
To make fresh breadcrumbs, tear whole-wheat bread into pieces and process in a food processor until coarse crumbs form. One slice of bread makes about 1/2 cup fresh crumbs. For dry breadcrumbs, spread the fresh crumbs on a baking sheet and bake at 250°F until crispy, about 15 minutes. One slice of fresh bread makes about 1/3 cup dry crumbs.