children and mac

As long as the cheese is real cheese, yes it's an ok source of calcium but not much more than that. It's also very high in sodium, calories and high in fat if made per the instructions on the box. Nothing wrong with a small portions but if she's going to make it for him on a regular basis she can make it a bit healthier by cutting the butter in half, use non-fat milk and only about 3/4 of the cheese packet. Otherwise the boy may start putting on unnecessary and unhealthy extra weight.

This is what I used to do: I have a device called a Salad Shooter, if you've ever heard of one. It's like an electrical shredder. Anyway, I would take a package of the frozen broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots and put them in the salad shooter (still frozen). It basically chops them up into itti bitty pieces. Then I put them in the water as I boiled the macaroni. Once I poured the cheese over it all, you really couldn't see the vegetables! Thats one way I got vegetables into my kids without them really knowing.