feeding those boys

I often think, how in the world will we ever be able to feed these boys when they are teenagers.  But to be honest, it isn't always the easiest to do now.  Fast food isn't an option, which isn't a bad thing, and most meals must be made completely from scratch.  And I'm trying to be as healthy as possible.  When we first got back from the States some great friends took turns making us dinner.  A true blessing when you come back after seven months and left the pantry BARE.  Anyway, one friend made us potatoes au gratin with pieces of ham.  It was super simple but SO good (actually all our friends brought wonderful meals but this one gave me one of those hmmm moments) and the guys devoured it.  Since I'm trying to serve less carbs at dinner time, I looked for a way to swap the potatoes for something else.  This is what I came up with.  

Broccoli and Cauliflower au Gratin with Ham

(please excuse the picture being of a mostly finished dish)

I scoped out a few different recipes (mainly using this one) for my sauce (minus the velveeta, cause lets be honest, if I've got velveeta on hand, it isn't going in a casserole).  Here's my adaptation.  

Broccoli and Cauliflower au Gratin with Ham

1 large head of broccoli

1 large head of cauliflower

1/4 onion

8-10 ounces ham

3/8 cup butter

3/8 cup flour

3 cups milk

1 1/2 pounds cheddar cheese, shredded

Salt and Pepper to taste

3/4 cup bread crumbs

Additional cheese for topping

-Wash and cut broccoli and cauliflower into bite size pieces.  Steam broccoli and cauliflower until just tender.

-Chop onion up to desired size and lightly brown in olive oil (I like mine pretty fine).

-Cut ham into small cubes.  Put ham and vegetables all together (mixed well) in a 9x13 dish.

For the sauce:

-In a sauce pan melt butter and completely whisk in flour.  

-Add milk and continue to whisk over medium heat until it starts to bubble and thicken.  

-Once sauce is fairly thick, add in cheese and stir until completely melted and combined.

-Add salt and pepper to taste.

-Pour cheese sauce over the ham and vegetable mix and mix it together well.  Top with bread crumbs and extra cheese.

-Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bread crumbs are slightly brown.

My boys love it.  I don't even make anything to go with it.  One dish meals are fine. by. me.  The other night Kirby said he would like to put it on some bread and eat it in a sandwich.  That's kinda weird, but whatever.  There are several substitutions you could make to make it a little lower in fat, but I'm a huge fan of real butter instead of processed soups to make sauce.  Also, processed soups are harder to find here.  Using low fat cheese would cut the calories and fat WAY down too.  But those kinds of cheese go against my beliefs of what food should be.  

Anyway, I'm just happy they like it so much.