Purchase a box of regular macaroni noodles and keep in your pantry. When you make a box of Macaroni and Cheese, throw in a handful of plain macaroni noodles. You won’t notice the difference in taste and you will get an extra serving out of the box!
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I do this all the time with the Kraft Deluxe Mac and Cheese. My kids love it, but it’s not enough for all 3 of them. I add a cup or so of elbows and there is so much sauce they don’t taste the difference!
I always add a ton of chopped veggies (usually romaine, carrots, sometimes celery, scallions) and a splash of apple cider vinegar to tuna with mayo. Makes a can of tuna go a LOT further. And tastes great – my mom in law demands my tuna salad as “payment” when she babysits. ;-)
I do this with Hamburger Helper if we are in need of a quick meal. Add in a little extra pasta and any chopped veggies or frozen veggies and you have a complete meal!
I also saw a recipe for garbage soup , which sounds wierd but it is just taking leftover veggie out of the fridge with leftover meats , beans and throwing it all in a pot with boiling water to make yummy soup, Add in spices, choppen veggies onions, frozen veggies etc. Whatever you have lying around. You could even probably throw in leftover rice.
For Tacos //// You can also add in veggies like canned tomatoes , green chilies, bell pepper, and cooked rice to taco meat which makes it healthier and you are using less meat. You can also add any kind of cooked beans. YUM.
We don’t make boxed mac n cheese often, but when we do, I will keep this in mind! We don’t have any macaroni noodles, but we have TONS of pasta of different kinds (rotini, spaghetti, etc.) that I got super-cheap when Kroger had a really good sale going on about a month ago. (They worked out to about $0.19 per box … and these are your typical-sized boxes, not super-tiny or anything.)
Awesome idea, thanks!!
This post made me think of my grandmother — she raised 8 children during the Great Depression, and she had so many tricks for stretching a meal. I only realized a few years ago that most people do not add milk to their scrambled eggs or omelets like she used to, and then it took me even longer to realize why she did it (makes the eggs go farther, as well as keeps them moist). I think of her every time I add a bunch of chopped veggies to the ground meat for tacos — the pound of meat goes much farther, and the kiddies get extra veggies.
I have found this really quick & easy Mac and Cheese recipe. My kids love it. It is so much better than the box kind and it is cheaper.