Belleicious Kids Macaroni Cups

Greetings from the All Things Southern kitchen, folks! I’ve got a fun announcement to share. Last year my daughter Jessica launched Kitchen Belleicious, a cooking site devoted to fearless cooking. Well, her readers’ response has just totally fueled her culinary passion. So much so that she’s now launched Belleicious Kids, geared to creating healthy bites for the young ones! Good for her! Jessica loves to take the processed foods the Baby Beau Czar loves and recreate ‘em. Her motto is “Anything they can do, I can do healthier!” Today I’m gonna share one of her special creations with y’all, Belleicious Kids Macaroni Cups! Let me show you the ropes.

• “Belleicious Kids Macaroni Cups”
• 4 cups cooked elbow macaroni or your kids favorite shape
• 1 1/2 sleeves of whole wheat Ritz Crackers
• 1/2 stick melted butter plus 4 TBSP cold butter
• 1/2 cup eggplant (minced in food processor)
• 1/2 cup zucchini (minced in food processor)
• 2 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs – beaten
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp pepper

We’ll begin by preparing a box of plain elbow macaroni and setting it aside. Now, we’ll take a sleeve and a half of whole wheat Ritz crackers and crush ‘em until they’re fine crumbs. We’ll combine them in a large bowl with a cup of grated cheddar cheese and a half stick of melted butter and divide the mixture among our greased muffin tins, creating a crust by pressing it firmly into the bottoms and up the sides.

Next, we’ll combine two beaten eggs with a half cup of whole milk, a 1/3 cup of sour cream, and four tablespoons of cold butter. Stir in a half cup each of minced eggplant and zucchini. Mix well and pour into the cooked pasta along with another 1/2 cup of grated cheese. Season it with salt, pepper and nutmeg. (Yeah, that eggplant and zucchini was tricky, wasn’t it? Like mama, like daughter!)

Now, we’ll spoon the macaroni mixture into the individual crusts and top with the remaining cheese. Bake until the cheese is browned and slightly crispy, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before unmolding. Or, freeze ‘em by placing the whole muffin tin in the freezer for 30 min to an hour. Ms. Belleicious says that afterwards you can place the macaroni cups in a freezer bag and when you’re ready to serve, just pop in the microwave for 35-40 seconds or the oven at 400 for 5-7 minutes! They’re delicious, they’re handy to have in the freezer and they’re BELLEICIOUS from Belleicious Kids.Com!

P.S. I just noticed she has Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Pop Tarts up today! Yum!