Both of which in my books are reasonably healthy. You see, I like a dinner with carbs and if the main part of the meal is carbs, then I’ll try to incorporate more veggies than the recipe states. So the first recipe isn’t your conventional mac and cheese but I think it tastes so much better anyway :)

Mac and Cheese, slightly adapted from here.

What you need:

• 300g macaroni or other small pasta shapes
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp flour
• 2 tsp mustard
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup grated edam or gruyére cheese
• 3 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 2 ham steaks, cubed (I used bacon)
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• Celery
• Mushroom
• Broccoli and any other veg you want to add

What to do:

• Heat oven to 180°C. Cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water for 10 minutes (or according to packet instructions) until just tender to the bite. Drain well.
• At the same time, combine oil, flour and mustard in a saucepan and place over a medium heat for 1 minute, stirring to form a smooth paste. Blend in milk and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, whisking continuously until a smooth sauce forms. Add grated cheese and stir until melted.
• Stir in cooked pasta, tomatoes, ham/bacon, veg and parsley, then season with salt and pepper.
• Spoon mixture into a greased oven dish or 6 individual ovenproof dishes. Scatter with grated parmesan cheese and bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until macaroni cheese is hot and the cheese on top is golden brown. Serves 6.

Stuffed capsicums

What you need:

• However many large capsicums you would like (these are more a side dish than a main though) and reds are nice because they are sweeter
• Cooked rice or to make things easier a pack of your favourite flavour of Uncle Bens rice
• 1 red onion, diced
• chopped broccoli
• chopped tomatoes
• chopped camembert (feta works well too)
• sliced mushrooms
• olive oil
• mince

What to do:

• Cook rice if not using packet rice
• Brown mince
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
• Chop off tops of capsicums and take out seeds with a spoon
• Combine all other ingredients (except olive oil) in a bowl
• Spoon mixture into capsicums and then drizzle olive oil over the top and top with a few chunks of cheese :)
• Bake for 30 minutes