Macaroni and Cheese Mishap

You may already know that you can substitute applesauce for the fat (butter, mararine, oil, shortening) in recipes when baking to improve the nutrtional value of your food. I recently saw a spot on a local TV show about making your baked goodies more healthy.

I learned that you can also use pureed white beans, like great northern beans, in place of fat. I tried it with pumpkin bread and it worked pretty well. So I was inspired to try it in other things.

My Little Miss LOVES Mac and Cheese. But I tend to feel a little guilty feeding her the practically nutritionless dish. So I decided to try the bean trick with Mac and Cheese. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of margarine (406 calories and 45.6 g of fat, not to mention the trans fat they dont tell you about). By substituting 1/4 cup of beans(55 calories, 0 g fat, 3 g fiber and 3.5 g protien), you significantly improve the nutritional value of the dish. Sounded good to me.

So I dumped the beans in the food processor.

Which resulted in some icky mush.

I added the beans in place the the margarine the the recipe calls for. This one may have been a bust. The Mac and Cheese ended up runnier than usual, and the beans gave it kind of a grainy texture. I certianly wasn't a fan, and I don't think I convinced Little Miss either. I guess we'll just have to try the half-whole grain and save the bean trick for baked goodies.