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Archive for September 13th, 2010

Vegan Mac-n-Cheese

Sep 13

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes, vegan | 2 Comments

Hi again friends!  Wow, two posts in one day!  That never happens here!  :)   If you missed it, check out the first post today about how time flies when you are unplugged, recapping the great time we had while MSP’s mom was visiting.

So as I’d mentioned previously, I finally tried making some Vegan Mac-n-Cheese.  In case you are new to FitFeat, I am not a vegan but I try to minimize (and completely avoid whenever possible) anything made from cow’s dairy.

I love a little comfort food every now and then, and one of my favorites is macaroni and cheese.  Most people these days know that eating a pasta made from refined white flour isn’t our best option, and we also know that boxed, processed food (like my old childhood favorite Kraft M & C in the blue box) is especially not a smart thing for our bodies.

I own a copy of The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone, love her book and her message, so I chose to head over to her site to look for a recipe to start with as my inspiration for a vegan mac-n-cheese.  You can click over to the original recipe if you’d like to try it as it’s written.  Because it is readily available on the internet, as opposed to in a book for purchase, I’ll list here the ingredients I used and how I went about making it since it’s a little different.

THE NOODLES:

  • 16 oz package brown rice elbow pasta (I use Tinkyada)
  • 1/8 to 1/4 cup Earth Balance soy free buttery spread (for use after noodles are cooked)

Brown rice pasta takes longer to cook than traditional pasta, around 17 minutes.  So start your noodles cooking, then go back to make your “cheese” sauce:

THE SAUCE:

  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/4 cup light soy sauce
  • 1 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 clove minced garlic (I used pre-minced jarred garlic)
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

The original recipe called for 2/3 cup of canola oil and I just could NOT bring myself to put that much into the sauce.  Yes, healthy fats are good for you, but in limited amounts.  So I switched to olive oil and only used 1/3 cup.

Add the sauce ingredients in a blender, with the exception of the oil.  Blend them all together, then with the blender running on low, carefully open the lid and slowly drizzle in the oil.  Then replace the lid on your blender and increase the speed to blend a bit longer.

Once your brown rice noodles are done, drain them and then add the 1/8 to 1/4 cup Earth Balance to your hot pan, melt it around inside, then add your noodles back to the pan.  I like to do this so my noodles don’t stick to the hot pan and also because I was aiming for a little ‘buttery’ flavor in the mac-n-cheese.

Start to pour in your cheese sauce and stir, using only as much of the sauce you need to coat the noodles to your liking.  Put the rest in a container to use when you reheat your mac-n-cheese leftovers (or try adding some to warm veggies – very good!)

Add some salt and pepper to your taste:

And then dish a little serving to enjoy for yourself.

Keep in mind the while the brown rice noodles are much healthier than refined white flour pasta noodles, they are still high in carbs and calories.  I like to keep my serving to less than 3/4 cup and use it as a side dish, or boost the volume & nutrients of it by stirring in some leftover roasted veggies, like mushrooms and zucchini.

THE VERDICT:

I loved it.  It’s certainly not what you might expect a mac-n-cheese to taste like, but it fit the bill of comfort food to me.  MSP wasn’t a fan, and could taste the paprika right away.  His mom wasn’t a big fan either.  But for ME, I’ll make it again.  I had this as leftovers 5 times from the first batch, because I liked it a lot.  I love having something creamy and warm to eat, while knowing that I’m still making a smart choice with the ingredient selection.  Next time around, I think I’ll back off the paprika and back off the soy sauce a bit, and see if MSP likes it better that way.

If you have any thoughts as to what you think you’d do to tweak it, please share!  I always love your input!

***

The countdown is on!  Only one week left till school starts!  I hope this week flies by like the last one did, because I cannot WAIT to get started!

– Shari B. =)

Time Flies When You’re Unplugged

Sep 13

Posted by Shari B. in Fit on Vacation | 6 Comments

Hi blog buds!

I can’t believe how fast the time has flown by since my last post!  When I last left you I was getting the house ready for the impending arrival of my mother-in-law, and then in the blink of an eye the visit it already behind us!  I had figured I might squeeze in a blog post or two during her visit, but we were having so much fun and kept so busy that it just never happened!

We were busy having Grilled Pita Pizza parties:

Posing for self-snapped pics:

Playing Wii games (even Mr. Potato-Head blinks for photos!):

Taking sunrise hikes:

Viewing the wildlife:

And taking in some of the AMAZING scenery Colorado has to offer:

Also, we shopped, we talked, we ate, we talked, we drank, we talked… there is a theme here.  My mother-in-law and I love to chat.  I think MSP’s ears may have been bleeding by the end of the weekend!  ;)

She was a great sport at trying some “Shari” foods, like green smoothies, black bean brownies, salmon cakes, Ezekial toast with almond butter, falafel plates – all of which she liked.  The vegan mac-n-cheese?  Not so much a fan.  (For the record, neither was MSP.  I love it for some reason…!)

We walked every day, did some Bob’s Yoga, and also danced ourselves silly to the Wii game “Just Dance” (which I still maintain should be worn with a heart rate monitor and counted as a true cardio workout).  I was sweating and beat after an evening of trying to keep up with the crazy dance moves in that game.  It’s so much fun and my abs hurt from laughing so hard!  We all also suffered through “The Backup Plan” (J-Lo, what the heck were you thinking when you signed on to that movie??)

And then next thing you know, four nights had flown by and it was time to head off to the airport!

I know many bloggers still write posts while they are on vacations or having super busy times.  I learned after being on the RV trip with my mom and grandma last year that I had missed out on some of quality time because my blog was new and I didn’t feel right about missing any days.  It made for some stressful moments on my part when I couldn’t get internet access or when I was focused so much on my laptop and not on my family.  I regret that now, as time with our families is so important.  Other than an occasional email check and some work that I had to do, I’ve been UNPLUGGED since last Wednesday:  no Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, WordPress.  And it made for a very nice visit!

Do you find it nice to UNPLUG every once in awhile? Or do you get antsy without daily technology? I find that some days when I get started trying to catch up on Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter, etc., hours get “lost”.  Meaning I may have intended on 5 minutes in front of the PC and then I end up at 16 different sites, or reading way more than I should and now that time is forever gone.   Does this happen to you?

***Last week I made the spicy tofu enchiladas and the vegan mac-n-cheese and promised to post further info on them.  I’m starting the mac-n-cheese one right now so you’ll see it post sometime today!

Have a GREAT day everyone!  Thanks so much for hanging with me during my absence!

– Shari B. =)

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