HEALTHY Bacon and Pasta?!

I think I have stumbled upon an amazing secret.  It is possible to eat macaroni and cheese - with bacon - and have it be low fat!  I know, I know: I didn't believe it either, but I found a recipe that made this claim and so I had to try it out.  Their secret ingredient?  Pumpkin.

Basically, the sauce is made from pumpkin puree, low fat evaporated milk, and low fat cream cheese.  This seemed strange, because how can you have mac and cheese without cheese!?  Then there is salt, pepper, garlic and scallions - and of course bacon.  Mom said she remembers hearing that dieters should not be afraid of bacon; when used sparingly, it adds tons of flavor to your food.  The recipe calls for 1/4 cup (but I tripled the recipe, and thus tripled the bacon... which felt unhealthy but it was worth it!)  I was very intrigued, and cautiously optimistic.

The ending result?  Amazing.  You can't really taste the pumpkin, and it feels like a super rich, creamy macaroni and cheese.  The crumbled bacon give you the perfect smoky flavor to contrast the cheesy sauce and noodles, and the scallions give it a little kick.  I am in love with this meal.  Here is the best part: even though Mom claims to hate all mac and cheese, and Rach refused to eat because she didn't feel good, Kenzie loved it.  But more importantly: Nick ate two helpings!!!!  Yes, the same Nick that refuses to eat things like vegetables, fennel, cloves, and goat cheese!  We secretly hid the empty can of pumpkin and claimed that it was made with "low fat cheese."  He was scarfing it down, making comments about the "strange orange color."  Finally I had to tell.  He took it surprisingly well, but then worked on picking out the bacon from his last helping.  It was pretty entertaining when he announced that this was his last meal before his diet, and I could tell him that this is diet! Genius!

Yes, I even made a salad.

This has me thinking: adding a little bacon, and using pumpkin as a sauce, can make a bad-for-you meal good for you.  It makes me want to learn more little diet tricks like these.  I might have to go through Dad's old Weight Watcher's cookbooks!

One last note: you know me and leftover ingredients.  I had some pumpkin left after the dinner, and I wanted to use it up, so I made a pumpkin spiced baked oatmeal.  I like baked oatmeal and love to have something to grab for breakfast.  It's in the oven now, so I will keep you posted how that goes!

Recipes:
healthy bacon and pumpkin pasta
pumpkin spiced baked oatmeal