Mac and Cheese That Is...wait for it...Healthy?!

Recipe: Healthy Mac and Cheese, with a twist
Source: Fitness Magazine
Time: 1 hour
Ease: 4
Taste: 9
Leftover Value: 9
Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

I have made a lot of mac and cheese in my days as a wife, and even before that during my days as a college student.  Of course, it has not always been homemade.  In college, I thought nothing less of myself than to serve up mac and cheese from a box.  Today when I reach for that box of mac and cheese I always think, "You can do so much better".

Here's the catch.  Here's the reason that keeps me serving up boxed mac and cheese when it's 6:55 pm and I haven't started dinner yet and Hubby will be home in 20 minutes: Hubby loves boxed mac and cheese.  In fact, he constantly tells me that if he came home to hot dogs and boxed mac and cheese once a week for dinner, he would love it just as much as the semi-gourmet variety that I try to constantly set before him.

Hot dogs and mac and cheese...once a week?

My skin crawls at the thought.  It's almost as bad a thought as having a 'leftover night'.

I'm a snob, I know.  The first step to dealing with your issues is admittance, right?

The even stranger thing in this wacky world of mac and cheese is that any mac and cheese I have made without the box, Hubby has still preferred the box.  I was slightly offended, especially after I had made my slow cooker mac and cheese for Thanksgiving and my entire family tasted it then held hands and sang a song of thanks to the heavens for the deliciousness that was my mac and cheese.

Instead of sticking with this mac and cheese which all the normal people in the world said was perfection, I continued to seek out a homemade mac and cheese that would cause Hubby to resound my praises far and near.

I almost thought it couldn't be done.  Until we started this healthy kick to lose weight (20 pounds and counting...) and I scoured the internet for healthy mac and cheese recipes.

The secret to this delicious mac and cheese is Rocco's Secret Weapon.  Ordinary mac and cheese involves a lot of milk and sometimes, butter.  When flour is added to this it makes what is known as a Bechamel sauce  This adds texture to mac and cheese, but unfortunately with the additive of a lot of fat.

By the way, not to be a hypocrite or anything, I love fat.  I just don't love what it does to my thighs.

This puree is weird, it's smelly, but it works.

Cut up an onion, 9 cloves of garlic (ordinarily I use minced garlic because I always have that on hand), and 1/2 cup of water.  Place in a microwave safe bowl.

Here is where it gets a little strange, but I promise, well worth it.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave for 10 minutes.

I never let mine go the total 10 minutes because of what starts to happen to the plastic wrap.

After it is done cooking in the microwave it should look something like this:

Next, blend it all together.  You can use whatever kitchen machinery you prefer to do this.  My preference is my immersion blender.

I absolutely love my immersion blender.  My life is complete now because of it.  I make the most delicious mashed potatoes with it, the smoothest smoothies, and this fabulous onion-garlic puree.

I'm planning to do a giveaway eventually of an immersion blender.  That's how much I love them.  Every kitchen in America should have one.

The onion-garlic puree can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.  I never do this, but I should because for as much as I love it, it is quite a process mixed in with the other steps of this recipe.

Start the recipe by boiling water.  This next step I added.  I recognize that it makes this 'healthy' mac and cheese a little less 'healthy' in a health nut's standards, but for me it makes it perfect (and without adding too many extra calories).

Fry some bacon.  I try to only fry four to six pieces.  Four for the mac and cheese, and two for me to nibble on.

Bacon.  The soul reason I could never be a vegetarian.

I ask you, is there a more enticing sight?

The answer is no.

If you're trying to be outrageously healthy, use whole wheat pasta.  I tend to hate whole wheat pasta because it tastes like cardboard rather than the glorious complex carbohydrate that it should be.

So sometimes I'll use the good stuff that wasn't too unhealthy in my grandma's day.

After the pasta is done cooking, using the same pot that the pasta was cooked in (because it's all about less dishes at the end of the night, right?) simmer the onion-garlic puree with 1/2 tsp of dry mustard and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Once combined, add one cup of shredded cheddar.  Wait a minute, this is healthy mac and cheese and all so make sure it is reduced-fat cheddar.

But I won't tell if you let some of the good stuff slip in though.

It'll be our secret.

When the consistency looks like this:

remove the pot from the heat.  Whisk in 1/3 cup of nonfat yogurt.

The recipe says to use the 'Greek' stuff, but any ole nonfat yogurt will work.

Once the sauce has reached a smooth consistency, toss the macaroni into the pot with the sauce.

*Note: If you've noticed that my pot changed, you would be right.  It has taken me several makings of this recipe to finally have pictures for the most important steps.  I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I left out the mixing of yogurt and cheese.  You understand, I'm sure.

Mix the macaroni and the sauce together until the macaroni is well coated.

You have two choices of what to do with your bacon.  What I do completely depends on my mood.  Sometimes, I'll mix it in with the macaroni and cheese.  Other times, I will pour half of the mac and cheese into the dish, top it with half of the bacon, then repeat.

Either way it will all flow together into a beautiful combination kissed from the angels in heaven above.

Pour the mixture into a baking dish that you already sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  (See again, healthy.  Most mac and cheese recipes will tell you to rub the dish down with, gasp, butter!)

Again, let me reiterate, butter is my friend.

I love butter.

Sprinkle a handful of Panko crumbs over the top, if you're into that sort of thing.  I find that it adds the perfect subtle crunch to the final product.

Then, sprinkle 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.  I highly recommend using freshly grated Parmesan.  It is incredible.  Please, promise me you won't use the stuff that Kraft has pre-grated for you.  It is not the same.

P.S.  There is a time and place for everything.  I love my grated Parmesan cheese, but it does not belong on top of my mac and cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 425.

Oh my goodness.  It is the baked ziti of mac and cheeses!

This recipe makes four servings, a serving weighs in at 438 calories.  Put a little greens on your plate and you can feel content that you've eaten dinner for under 500 calories.

That is, so long as you only have one serving.

Which, tonight, I found it extremely hard to do.

Deviled English Muffins

Recipe: Make-Ahead Muffin Melts

Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/make-ahead-muffin-melts/

Time: 1 hour total

Ease: 2

Taste: 4

Leftover Value: 6

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Down the Drain!

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, hands down.  I wish I could say it was dessert, but I don't think that really counts as a meal.  So alas, it is just breakfast.

Unfortunately, I don't often get creative with breakfast.  I like pancakes, eggs, and bacon.  That is my go to for a great breakfast.  Always has been always will be.

Of course, that really isn't what I eat for breakfast on any ordinary day.  An ordinary morning involves me running around my kitchen throwing a bunch of options for breakfast and lunch into my purse as I zoom out the door guaranteed to make it to work on time just by the skin of my teeth. 

In case you're wondering, pancakes, eggs, and bacon don't throw well into a purse.

Anyway, these 'Make-Ahead Muffin Melts' seemed like the perfect thing.  You just mix up bacon, hard-boiled eggs (which, as you know, I can make on my own now), cheese, and a few condiments.

Like so.  The awesome thing about this is that you can go ahead and refrigerate this mixture and come back to it hours later for the next steps.

At this point, I noted to myself how strangely similar the scent and look of this mixture is to another popular egg recipe.  Yet, I thought that somehow the goodness of bacon would overpower and make me love this recipe.

When ready to eat, you simply plop the mixture onto halved English muffins and then broil 'em for a few minutes.  It really couldn't be easier.

Even now they still look scrumptious.  However, here was my problem with them.  It tasted like a glorified deviled egg.

Do you like deviled eggs?

If you do, then don't listen to me.  You'll probably love this.

I do not like deviled eggs.  I like hard boiled eggs, and all the other elements that go into deviled eggs, but not deviled eggs.

I took one bite and thought to myself, "Oh my, this tastes exactly like a deviled egg".  Then I thought, "Where's the bacon?".  So I went in for another bite hoping this time that the only thing I would taste was bacon.

And that's when I decided to microwave some french toast sticks and call it a day.

Hubby was kind enough to eat all of his.

He likes deviled eggs.