The other night, the boys requested hot dogs for dinner. And so I thought that I would go all out with an ‘All American’ spread. That meant, hot dogs, mac and cheese, corn on the cob, pickles (because you know my household is obsessed) and American potato salad.

I did begin to think – ‘how can I cram a few more veggies into this dinner?’ And decided that the Mac and Cheese and the American potato salad were the best places to start.

I also thought about how I could have the majority of this dinner prepared during nap time – so that we could go down to the beach straight after school for a swim and come home to dinner ready to go.

It was a winner – and so if you love a late afternoon swim in the summer time, then I highly recommend giving this a go!

Recipe: Mac and Cheese

• 1 cup of macaroni
• 1 cup of caulifower
• 1 cup of brocoli
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 1 tbsp of flour
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 cup of cheese
• 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp of olive oil

Bring a pot of water to the boil and add in the macaroni, cauliflower and the broccoli florets. Cool until al dente and then drain.

Into the same saucepan, add the butter and flour. Cook off and then slowly add the milk, always whisking. Add the cheese and then return the macaroni and veggies to the pot.

Toss the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, oil and salt in a bowl and then sprinkle on top. Now, if you’re making this in your little ones nap time, you can now leave it aside until dinner time when you just need to bake it.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden and heated through.

Have you ever whipped up a recipe from my blog? I would love for you to let me know…So I don’t feel as if I am just writing all this stuff down for nothing… If you choose to whip up one of my recipes , then I would love for you to share it on social media, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #goodfoodweek.