Oven Baked Macaroni and Cheese

For martini night I wanted to cook something hearty, but still on the healthier side.  Believe it or not, I made a healthy version of macaroni and cheese, a staple in comfort food.

Ingrediants:

Whole Wheat Macaroni Pasta, Fresh Broccoli, Low Fat Cheddar Cheese, "I Can't Believe it's Not Butter- Light", Flour, Skim Milk, Fat Free Chicken Broth, Bread Crumbs, Red Onion, Parmesan, Salt and Pepper, and Cooking Spray

While I cooked the macaroni and broccoli, I sauteed the red onion with butter.

Once the onion was cooked I mixed in the flour and then added in the milk, and chicken broth until thick.

Once the mixture was thick, I removed it from the heat, and mixed in the cheese!

Once the cheese was mixed in,  I combined the cheese sauce with the pasta and broccoli and transfered the entire thing to a baking dish, and topped it with breads crumbs, parmesan and a little cooking spray.

Then it went into the oven for 15 minutes, followed by the broiler for 3 minutes.

Then it was time to serve!

Now for the martini's..........

This week we did the Journalist martini which included Gin, Sweet Vermouth, Dry Vermouth, Triple Sec, Fresh Lime Juice, and Angostura Bitters.

The Angostura bitters was the unique ingrediant in this martini, this was the first time I have ever tried bitters, so I taste tested it on its own, and it was actually pretty good!

For the garnish we used candied ginger.  We also taste tested this, and it definitly has a kick to it!

After we prepared the garnishes we shook all the ingredeiants together and were ready to taste!

And the result: We really enjoyed this martini, and would definitly make them again!