Macaroni May #1

May is here and with it comes sports and cramped schedules. If you've got practice in the evening then there is precious little time between when the kids get home and when they go out again and it's hard to find the time to cook food that doesn't suck. One of the great fall back foods is macaroni and cheese. You keep in in the cupboard, it's always there to be ready to eat in 20 minutes, the kids always eat it fast. The only problem is that it sucks. It's not good nutritionally, it has way too much artificial stuff in it, and it's hard to feel like you're doing good parenting when you make it. At least for me.
What to do?

It's ok, but I can do better. Much better.

I'm convinced that macaroni isn't the cure all that it seems to be. In the same 20ish minutes that it takes to make a box, you could actually make a good dinner with better food, or at the very least, supplement the macaroni so it's only a minor player in the meal. The first order of business in Macaroni May is to set a cooking standard. How much time does it really take me to make macaroni and cheese, from pot on the stove to macaroni on the plate. In that time can I prepare add on's that make the meal not suck so much? In that time can I make whole other noodle based meals that are awesome? Nutritious and delicious? 
For a calibration meal I made a box of macaroni and cheese and added ham steak and frozen mixed veggies. On my sucky electric stove it took 20:55 from the time I turned the water on to when I started scooping the macaroni out. A gas stove would be faster, but I don't have a gas stove, I have a sucky electric stove, so that's my calibration time. The veggies I boiled in water in the microwave and that only took 8 minutes. The ham steak took about 10. If you haven't had ham steak, look around your store and find it. Instead of buying a whole ham, you're essentially just buying a thick slice off the big end of the ham. It's cheap and you don't have a whole ham to deal with. Fry it in a pan in it's own juices until it's warm. Done. It's not the best meat in the world, but it's quick, it's protein, and pretty much all kids will eat ham fast enough to get out the door for soccer. With this meal I had a big pile of veggies, a protein source, and a smaller pile of macaroni and cheese. Nutritionally it's so much better than just making a couple of boxes of macaroni and it doesn't take any longer. It's not the best meal in the world, but it gets us out the door on time and it's fairly well balanced. It's also a great baseline. I've got four more Tuesdays in May to write about food. Can I make better, tastier, more nutritious meals, that are still based around cheap pasta in less than 20:55? I think I can. I think I can pretty much kick macaroni's ass. Stay tuned.