It's the simple things - macaroni cheese

It's funny how the simple things can often be the best. I was scouting around for lunch ideas, and came across Michelle Trute's recipe for macaroni cheese from Cooking with Conscience Book 1. Macaroni cheese is one of those childhood staples which is sometimes scorned; however, making this dish was like catching up with an old friend after a long absence. Even better, Michelle's version of macaroni cheese is lower fat than the traditional version, and is spiced up with mustard.

To make this dish, you will need the following:

120g dry macaroni, cooked according to packet instructions
1 1/2 tablespoons reduced fat margarine
3 tablespoons plain flour
2 cups skim milk
1/2 teaspoon mustard
100g diced low fat ham
1 cup canned corn kernels, drained
100g grated low fat cheese

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease a medium casserole dish.

Melt margarine in a medium saucepan over the stovetop, and add the milk to the saucepan. In a cup, stir a little cold water into the flour to make a thick paste, then add to the milk mixture while stirring the milk constantly over the heat. Continue to stir the milk mixture until it thickens into a white sauce, then stir in the mustard, ham, corn and cheese, and continue stirring over the heat until the cheese melts. Combine the sauce with the cooked macaroni, pour into the casserole dish and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Serves 4-5.