Basically this is macaroni and cheese with broccoli and ham added in to make a more complete meal. It’s real comfort food.

2 cups uncooked macaroni

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp worcestershire sauce

2 cups milk

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups cut broccoli

1 cup diced ham

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup parmesan

Heat oven to 350. Cook macaroni as directed. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted.

Drain macaroni. Gently stir macaroni, broccoli and ham into cheese mixture. Pour into ungreased casserole dish. Top with breadcrumbs and parmesan. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.

I’m aware this isn’t the healthiest of meals, but mmm-mmm it’s good! The broccoli makes it at least a little healthy anyway. Now, you can adjust this to be less fattening by decreasing the butter to 2 tablespoons, using skim milk and reduced-fat cheese. You could use whole-grain macaroni too if you want.

It went over pretty well with my family. The boys actually really loved the broccoli the most (or ‘bobby’ as Bennett calls it). Tony went back for seconds so that was a good sign! I’ll have to try the healthier version next time and see if they like it as much.