Special Hours and Information – Read More HERE
James Karpac Orthodontics
Dublin Office

Gahanna Office

Mon (Gahanna) 8:00am – 5:00pm
Tue (Dublin) 8:00am – 5:00pm
Wed (Gahanna) 7:30am – 4:00pm
Thu (Dublin) 7:30am – 4:00pm
Fri / Sat / Sun closed
James Karpac Orthodontics

Braces-Friendly Back-To-School Recipes: Mac and Cheese Muffins

It’s that time of year! The summer is winding down and school is starting! Packing lunch for school days can be tricky when you’re keeping in mind the care of your braces. You can’t just pack an apple with your sandwich and call it a day anymore. We’ve found some really fantastic ideas for portable, bite-size food that you can take with you wherever you go—and they’re not just smoothies in a thermos!

Check out this recipe below for Mac and Cheese Muffins! They’re portable, soft, bite-size, and healthy! Click this link for the original recipe:

For more creative bite-size recipes using your mini muffin tins, check out this link:

Happy baking, and happy back-to-school!

Mac & Cheese Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS:
4 cups cooked whole wheat or high fiber macaroni
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup skim milk
1 garlic clove, minced
3 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
3 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 egg
1 egg white
1 (10 oz) package of frozen chopped spinach, defrosted, drained and patted dry (or you could use 1 cup cooked fresh spinach)
Salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1 Pre-heat the oven to 400. Lightly mist a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
2 In a small sauce pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour, mixing it into the butter until thick. Stir in the milk and garlic and raise the temp to bring the mixture to just under a boil. Add the cheese and whisk mixture together until thoroughly combined into a cheese sauce.
3 Remove the cheese sauce from heat and then mix in the egg and egg white (binding agents) until combined.
4 In a large bowl, combine the pasta, spinach, cheese sauce, salt and pepper and mix together. Spoon the mixture evenly into the cups of your prepared muffin tin.
5 Bake for 10-15 minutes until the tops slightly brown. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin.

WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PLUS:
4 per muffins (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)

NUTRITION INFORMATION:
149 calories, 15 g carbs, 1 g sugars, 6 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 9 g protein, 2 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)