As a kid, my body didn’t really do dairy all that well, and my doctor suggested I cut dairy from my diet completely. Five-year-old me learned this meant she couldn’t eat mac and cheese anymore. Tears ensued. Luckily, I was eventually able to reintroduce dairy into my diet and found that cheese no longer any problem. So in this blog series, I’m trying out wacky, kid-friendly recipes, hoping to give families with cheese-loving kids fun, easy, and delicious meals to make together as I search for dishes that adequately make up for my cheeseless childhood.
If you’ve been following this blog series, you’ve probably realized that I am not a good cook. Not even a little bit. For that reason, I had a lot of contradicting emotions when I decided to take on this series. I was excited for the opportunity to try out some recipes and get some practice, I was relieved that I wasn’t going to get myself into anything that I didn’t think a child could manage, and I was terrified that I would mess up anyway. And I did. I really did. But, for the most part, it all went pretty okay. And I did learn a lot, from both my success and my failures.
I learned that shredded cheese is a necessity when it comes to mac and cheese waffles. I learned I can’t be trusted within ten feet of a waffle maker. I learned that, when people have enough dedication, they can find a way to pair cheese with anything. These pairings don’t always work (looking at you, ramen grilled cheese). But sometimes they do (#chocolatemacforlife). The world of cheese, I discovered, is limitless.
While this blog was a great excuse to eat a lot of cheese and force myself to cook, I also wanted to find recipes that kids and kids-at-heart would really enjoy. The dishes made here were all relatively inexpensive and extremely quick to make—perfect for both busy parents and for a child’s attention span. And these wacky dishes were always fun to make, even if they weren’t always too fun to eat.
As this series comes to a close, it’s time to ask the all-important question: Have the past few weeks made up for my cheeseless childhood? I’ve gone over the numbers, and it looks like I have a 60% success rate. Technically speaking, this is a failing grade, but it’s also a majority, so I’m going to say the answer is yes. Yes, this series managed to just barely make up for my cheeseless childhood.
I hope you enjoyed these crazy recipes (or at least 60% of them) as much as I did. If you take away anything from this blog series, let it be that white chocolate and cheese do belong together.
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Feature Photo Credit: “Seven-month baby…” by Madhourses | Shutterstock
Sarah Cummings
Sarah Cummings is a native New Yorker braving the Boston winters to study Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College. In her spare time, she can often be found rock climbing, cuddling the neighborhood cats, or integrating goat cheese into her every meal.
