Tag Archives: low cal mac and cheese

Quinoa, Who Loves Quinoa?!

. From Scratch Cooking, yum . ,

About seven years ago before this quinoa craze took off, I discovered it while going through my complete diet and lifestyle overhaul. I was looking for something that I could actually eat (because at that point in time, even a glass of water threw my stomach into a downward spiral of stabby-death pains.) I needed something gentle that packed a big punch. I could pretty much only eat yogurt and knew I needed to get some protein in me to keep me healthy….enter into my life, our beloved quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah). The delightful, kind-of-grain from the Incas.

A single serving size (1 cup) offers:

  • 220 calories (70 percent carbs, 15 percent fat, 15 percent protein)
  • 40 grams of carbohydrates (13 percent daily value)
  • 8 grams of protein (16 percent of daily value)
  • 3.5 grams of fat (5 percent daily value with no saturated fat)
  • 5 grams of fiber (20 percent of daily value)
  • A glycemic load (blood sugar spike) of only 18 out of 250
  • 20 percent of daily value of folate (I ate it a lot when I was pregnant with Grant!)

Quinoa also contains all eight essential amino acids, the building block for protein!

(source: mother nature network – mnn.com)

So, there is your daily lesson on quinoa. Another good tidbit to know if you have never cooked with it, without flavor, it tastes kind of boring. Like nothing really, maybe a little nutty or slightly earthy-ish, but not really like anything. So it takes on the flavor of whatever you are cooking with very well.

Well, I have had my eye on this little doozy for a while. Quinoa Mac and Cheese with Broccoli! (from AroundTheTableRI) So. GOOD. and EASY!

Here are some tips and recipe adjustments I made:

  • The original recipe called for almond milk, but I don’t like cooking with almond milk (as I have stated before, too nutty of flavor for my liking) and so I substituted with rice milk.  Still kept the fat content way down if that is something concerning to you. And since quinoa is so absorbent, I didn’t have to worry about this dish being runny (like I do my mac and cheese). It just soaked up all of the extra milk/cheese goodness and made it amazingly flavorful. It was really cheesy and creamy and the eggs helped make it a nice consistency (and not nearly as messy as eating regular quinoa!)
  • I used sharp cheddar, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. The mozzarella gave it a nice gooey-ness, the cheddar and parm gave it a sharp cheese flavor.
  • I would double the amount of broccoli only because I love anything broccoli
  • Panko. ‘Nuff said
  • I doubled the recipe and we ate it as a main dish. Later on in the week I reheated it with additional cheese on top and served it as a side
  • Guessing by the level of enthusiasm as this was literally shoved in mouths (some with hands, some with forks), it was a hit with both boys
  • I also mixed it in with some marinara later, later in the week only for Brody to shovel in his mouth…with equal gusto as day one (good way to get even more vegetables in his little belly)

Another keeper!

Comfort Food – Lo Cal-ish, Baked Mac and Cheese with Broccoli

. From Scratch Cooking, yum . , ,

It has been an unseasonable spring here in Colorado, no snow, no rain, and really, really warm temperatures. I. am. not. complaining. However, Saturday night brought in a cold front and yesterday just begged for some homemade mac and cheese. BUT, being dairy intolerant, that makes things a bit difficult. Oddly enough (and I think this may go for a lot of us dairy intolerant folks) I actually tolerate cheeses with low fat content, cheddar, swiss, colby etc. so the thought of mac and cheese isn’t completely out of the question.)

Strange fact: When I was pregnant, I was no longer dairy intolerant, both pregnancies. The moment I had them both, bam, back to my normal, f’ed up stomach.

I also had a head of broccoli that I needed (and wanted) to use and so I combined two recipes I found on Pinterest and came up with this Lo Cal-ish, Baked Mini Wheels and Cheese (no Macaroni) with Broccoli.

Approved by all family members, even those less than 1 year of age

The reason why I blended two recipes is because I am trying to perfect my cheese sauce by using rice milk….Rice milk does not have a lot of fat in it so it makes the sauce rather watery. Or not so much sauce at all but more so runny cheese water. So, I was looking for a recipe that called for an egg to help thicken up the sauce, I found this recipe from Pioneer Woman  Cooks. And then I found this recipe for Skinny, Broccoli Mac and Cheese from Skinny Taste.com and was inspired to add broccoli. So this is kind of the recipe that I mashed up from the two:

  • 8 cups Dried mini wheels (I wanted leftovers)
  • 1 whole Egg Beaten
  • 4 Tablespoons Butter
  • 4 Tablespoons Flour
  • 2-1/2 cups Rice Milk (This is what made it skinny!)
  • 2 bunches of broccoli
  • 2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard, More If Desired
  • 2 tsp arrowroot (optional)
  • 1 pound Cheese, Grated (I used Sharp Cheddar and Parm (1 1/2 cups cheddar, 1/2 cup parm)
  • 4 Tablespoons Panko Breadcrumbs
  • Garlic power, salt, pepper to taste
  • Spray Olive Oil

Like, this much broccoli…which, for 8 oz. of pasta, was not enough

I followed the recipes from Pioneer Woman Cooks to make the cheese sauce but again, used rice milk instead of whole milk like the recipe recommend. And this is why I wanted a recipe with egg in it…I knew that protein would help thicken up the sauce, and it did. But not enough, so I added 2 tsp. of arrowroot, which is a more natural, corn starch-type product and it worked. My sauce was of sauce consistency. Not cheesy, gooey, and thick, but you want low fat or can’t use milk? You have to compromise somewhere.

As for the topping, I went with Panko because I never can seem to get breadcrumb topping right, Panko, I can do. I added maybe a a few shakes of salt, no more than 1/8 tsp of salt and a dash of garlic powder and covered the top, then sprayed it with olive oil spray to get it crunchy. Oh man, it was so good….so, so, so, so good. So good that I ate so much testing it, by the time dinner came I was full…that good.

What’s more, both kids devoured it for lunch today, I love it when at least one meal a day is this easy.

It is also another perfect day because of the chill and the rain outside…the perfect day for more comfort food.